Rats! Third Street Promenade Topiaries Terrify Shoppers: Lawsuit

SANTA MONICA, CA — Rat-infested dinosaur topiaries are terrifying Santa Monica shoppers and diners at Third Street Promenade, a lawsuit claims.

A property owner at Third Street Promenade is suing the city of Santa Monica, claiming that two of the city's dinosaur topiaries are home to rodents.

EJA Associates LP owns the building in the 1300 block of Third Street Promenade, according to The OC Register. EJA leases to Sunsations Travel Store and Hummus Bar Express and wants to remove the ivy and jasmine and add a grating to stop rats from living there. The plaintiff apparently also wants the rodents poisoned or trapped.

The company claims that the dinosaur topiaries are a public nuisance as people are dining outdoors while businesses recover in the wake of the pandemic.

French artists and married duo Claude and Francois LaLanne, known as Les LaLanne, created The Dinosaurs of Santa Monica. The sculptures were added to Third Street Promenade in 1989. They are made from stainless steel, copper and foliage and located between Broadway and Wilshire Boulevard.

The city owns and manages the dinosaur topiaries, along with DTSM, a private nonprofit that maintains and manages operations at Third Street Promenade.

The city released the following statement to Patch:

"The City of Santa Monica is committed to a clean and safe Third Street Promenade, where visitors can enjoy this vibrant public space. Our extensive cleaning program is enhanced in partnership with Downtown Santa Monica to account for concerns we receive, as well as changes to programming and uses. We have received the claim and it is now under review."

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