A small herd of llamas used for security and to keep down weeds at two West Side petroleum product storage facilities will be allowed to stay after city officials concluded the animals did not violate zoning laws.
“It is the determination of the building inspectors that they have found no zoning violation at this time,” said Keerthi Ravoori, director of administration for the Zoning Department. “We’ve done our thing, and we’ve found nothing.”
Ameropan Oil Corp. had been keeping a small herd of llamas and sheep at its facility at 3301 S. California Ave. and at sister company Bell Oil Terminal, 3741 S. Pulaski Rd., for about 10 years. But city officials said Tuesday they wanted to inspect the businesses to determine if they were in violation of zoning ordinances.
Ravoori said Wednesday the department initially thought the companies were breeding the animals for business reasons, which would have been illegal under the zoning.
Ameropan Vice President Bob Biesadecki, who manages both companies, said he was glad the city won’t force the firms to remove the animals.
“We are attached to them,” he said. “The guys all bring something for them to eat at lunch. It’s not a fun job working at the terminal, and it gets kind of boring and the animals kind of break up your day.”
Ald. Ray Frias (12th), whose ward is home to Ameropan, praised the decision. “I think that’s great–kudos to the department for coming up with the right decision,” he said.
Company officials couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday on the city’s decision.
The llamas and sheep have been a fixture at both locations since 1990, when the companies’ owner, Rolf Wittich, settled on the animals as an alternative to lawn mowers, which he feared could strike something that would spark an explosion.
While their initial purpose was to eat whatever the sheep wouldn’t, he found the 250- to 400-pound llamas scared away trespassers.
The generally docile and gentle relatives of the camel are very curious and will approach anything that strikes them as unusual–which apparently, includes trespassers.
Llamas are often used to guard sheep herds, because they bond with the sheep and chase away predators.
Lisa Kallal, 29, of Lincoln Park, a member of a rowing club that trains in the Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal, which borders Ameropan, said she’s glad the animals will stay.
“We row by them every day, and we just kind of look forward to them,” she said. “It’s kind of a nice surprise after all the other drab work going on down there.”
