A Maple Ridge petting zoo says it’s going to spend the holidays getting its operation up to code after the city shut it down for a variety of bureaucratic offences today (December 3).

Meadows Family Farm Petting Zoo opened in 2015 as a modest family business, its website recounts.

It proved a popular attraction but before long, the city of Maple Ridge warned the petting zoo that it needed to obtain a business license and approvals from the B.C. Agricultural Land Commission and the regional authority Fraser Health. There were also structures on the property related to the petting zoo’s operations that were built without required permits and inspections, according to the Vancouver Sun.

That article recounts how a back and forth with the city followed. Extensions were given but apparently never met. Now Meadows Family Farm Petting Zoo has closed for the winter and said it might not reopen in March 2020 unless it can clear up these troubles with the city.

“We were told the deadline would be fluid, but now they are denying they ever said that,” the petting zoo’s owner, Leanne Lefebvre, told the Sun.

Meadows Family Farm Petting Zoo is located at 24331 Dewdney Trunk Road.

“Our pet chickens, bunnies, goats and sheep started to attract attention from many people passing by, and after visiting many of the petting zoos the lower mainland has to offer, we decided Maple Ridge needed one too, and we were going to build it,” its website reads.

A Maple Ridge media release says the farm was closed for safety reasons.

“The city has taken this action to ensure the health and safety of our citizens and maintain the integrity of the business licensing process that applies fairly to all Maple Ridge businesses,” it reads.