South Jordan 'pigeon man' loses long-standing battle with city


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SOUTH JORDAN — Boris Majnaric wasn't around Tuesday when a crew descended on his house to tear down the spacious backyard loft he built for his beloved pigeons.

A 3rd District judge declined to sign an order last week to stop the demolition, ending a bitter legal battle between Majnaric and the city of South Jordan.

The 75-year-old retired schoolteacher who recently spent time in the hospital for pulmonary problems said his doctor advised him to stay away from his home to avoid the stress.

"I will feel very incomplete because pigeons have been part of my life," he said, adding he was living a childhood dream to raise and care for "man's oldest feathered friends."

"It's going to be an empty thing for me," Majnaric said. "I don't think it's fair what they’ve done to me."

Police closed off the street in front of his house and surrounded the yard with yellow caution tape while Utah Disaster Kleenup removed pigeon droppings Tuesday and prepared to dismantle the building. South Jordan animal control officers and public works employees were also in the yard.

The city agreed late Monday to give Majnaric, who calls himself the "pigeon man," 30 days to relocate a unique gazebo that also served as home to the birds.

Neighbors noticed an explosion of pigeons in the area about fours years ago and complained to the city, igniting litigation in justice, district and federal court.

(Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
(Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

Kathy Brown, who lives across from Majnaric, said the pigeons didn't bother her, but people on his side of the street weren't happy with birds "dropping things" on their property.

"The pigeons are his children. He's taken good care of them," she said. "I feel for him, but you have to obey the laws, too."

More than 200 pigeons of various colors and varieties lived in the 384-square-foot, four-room loft in Majnaric's backyard. Dozens more "homeless" birds roosted in the gazebo. The city allows pigeon fanciers 40 adult birds.

South Jordan charged Majnaric with three class B misdemeanors, accusing him of having too many pigeons, failing to band and register pigeons, and failing to keep them in a coop. It also filed a court petition to remove his birds and tear down the pigeon paradise.

After trials and appeals in justice and district court — including one in which a jury found the pigeons were not a nuisance but that Majnaric violated city conditional use laws — and unsuccessful attempts to settle the issue, the city moved to take down the structures. Majnaric also filed a federal lawsuit last year put did not pursue it.

City officials say Majnaric didn't comply with multiple court orders to reduce the number of pigeons.

"We really, really tried to work with him and get the population under control," said South Jordan spokeswoman Tina Brown. "It's just become very clear that population isn't getting down to the level that was agreed upon with the city."


If he had merely kept the birds to the ones that were his, I don't know that we'd have this problem today.

–John Walsh, Majnaric's attorney


Majnaric, who has lived in his home since 1996, said he traveled to California and Oregon to relocate some of his birds. Other local pigeon fanciers also picked them up. He said he hasn't kept any pigeons since mid-January, though birds still show up and roost in his yard.

Brown acknowledged that random pigeons are a challenge but said city officials have public health concerns with them returning and reproducing. Neighbors have said the feed Majnaric scatters in his yard also attracts rats.

Majnaric's attorney John Walsh said he and Majnaric tried every avenue possible to relocate the birds. Majnaric, he said, agreed last summer to move the loft and gazebo himself to a new house in Cottonwood Heights but was unable to meet the zoning requirements.

"If he had merely kept the birds to the ones that were his, I don't know that we'd have this problem today," Walsh said.

Majnaric said his legal fees exceed $40,000 and that he spent thousands of dollars moving the pigeons. Some of his favorites now live on a farm.

"This is how much I love these birds," he said. "I wanted to defend them."

Contributing: Nkoyo Iyamba

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