Residents in Rio Linda, California, have voiced anger after plans for a large halal slaughterhouse were allowed to advance because of a procedural technicality.

Bahadur Amiri submitted an application to the Sacramento County Planning Commission last year seeking to convert a 20-acre property on Palladay Road in Rio Linda into what he called a “small-scale slaughterhouse.”

The proposed facility drew fierce opposition almost immediately, with nearby residents objecting to an unrestricted “kill floor” being built close to their homes.

Opponents have repeatedly raised concerns about the project’s potential environmental effects. Some residents also said they fear they could hear animals being slaughtered at the site.

Despite the backlash, the Sacramento County Planning Commission approved the halal slaughterhouse project in July. On August 24, commissioners narrowly rejected an appeal filed by members of the Rio Linda–Elverta community, Fox 40 reported.

Commissioners split 2-2 on the appeal. Under Sacramento County code, however, the tie meant the appeal was denied, allowing the project to proceed.

The decision went against a recommendation from the planning advisory council, giving some local residents hope that the dispute may not yet be settled.

Still, the rejected appeal clears the way for Amiri to begin the licensing process without additional public hearings.

In his application, viewed by the Daily Mail, Amiri argued the slaughterhouse, which he is naming ‘Greenfarm,’ is ‘specifically designed to meet the cultural and religious needs of the Afghan and broader Muslim communities in the area, who currently lack a local space for ritual animal slaughter in accordance with Islamic law.

‘The facility will allow for humane, halal slaughter within a fully-enclosed, fenced covered building, ensuring that all activities remain private and discreet.

‘The facility will also include appropriate waste management and sanitation measures, fully complying with all relevant laws and regulations to ensure environmental safety and animal welfare,’ the application reads.

If approved, the site, which currently houses an abandoned single-family home as well as several barns and animal enclosures, would house livestock and accept customers for up to 30 custom slaughter services each week.

But community members spoke out against the proposal one-by-one at the hearing on August 24.

‘We live about 600 feet from the back of their property and we see it all,’ one woman claimed. ‘My kids play in a seasonal pond that we have in our backyard, and it flows directly from their property. Are they still safe to play there?’

She then went on to claim she would be able to hear the animals being killed at the property.

Michelle Anderson, who said she lives catty-corner to the site, also noted she has a well on her property.

ALSO READ: California Animal Rescuer Charged After 300 Dogs and Cats Found Living in Filthy Home

‘I’m really concerned about the water and what it will do to my water, and I won’t know until it’s too late,’ she bemoaned. 

Anderson also worried about peace of mind in the home she had hoped to retire in.

‘Let’s talk about the smells and the fact that we have a nice breeze out there,’ she said.

One man who spoke at the hearing further said he is a ‘strong believer in personal property rights.

‘I believe you should be able to do whatever you want on your property as long as it’s legal, and that it doesn’t have a substantial negative effect on neighbors in your community – which I believe this project does,’ he argued.

Others also expressed their concerns over traffic increases, reduced property values and animal exploitation.

But the planning board also heard from Amiri, who defended his proposal as he lamented: ‘It’s not easy when you’re just by yourself and the whole community comes against you.’

He noted that he addressed many of the issues residents raised in the past.

‘It’s going to be [a] sealed tank,’ Amiri said. ‘This operation is not going to happen in the middle of the yard, [it] is going to be inside the building and that building will be inspected by the building department.’ 

In the end, Planning Commissioner Joseph Devlin agreed that the business could promote a more sustainable food system for the region.

‘We are, and have claimed to be, the Farm to Fork capital of the world,’ he noted. ‘However, one of the probably biggest gaps within that Farm to Fork is the actual acquiring and harvesting of meat that is locally sourced.’ 

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Planning Commission and Amiri for comment. 

Nick Reiner says he has been unable to access “even $5” from his multimillion-dollar family trust while jailed on accusations that he murdered his parents, Hollywood figures Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner.

Reiner, who has been held in a Los Angeles jail since December 2025, is intensifying an unusual legal dispute over a trust estimated to be worth about $1.6 million.

The 33-year-old contends that funds he believes are legally his remain out of reach as he awaits trial in the deaths of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner.

His siblings, however, remain strongly opposed to allowing the trust money to be used toward his legal defense.

In two court filings submitted Thursday, Reiner’s attorneys said their client cannot use any of the money for everyday purchases at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility commissary.

“In the meantime, Nick still has not been able to access even $5 from his trust to buy basic subsistence items from the jail commissary,” lawyers Anita P. Wu and Geoffrey A. Neri wrote.

The latest filing underscores a deepening family rift over the trust, which Rob and Michele Reiner created for their son during his infancy.

Sources previously told the Daily Mail that Reiner’s brother and sister, Jake and Romy Reiner, are aligned in their refusal to help him use his inheritance as a financial reserve in defending against allegations that he brutally killed their parents.

‘It’s not an issue of love or not, it’s an issue of how much do you allow someone to take from you,’ a longtime Reiner family friend said.

‘Knowing that he’s using their inheritance for his defense is just too much. They won’t allow that if they can help it.’

Sources previously told the Daily Mail that Jake, 34, and Romy, 28, have felt the need to establish strict boundaries as they grieve their parents.

‘I wouldn’t say [they] abandoned him for good,’ one family friend said. ‘I’d say that they are setting boundaries that are appropriate for their healing, and Nick is not a part of their healing.’

Another source said the siblings were ‘not budging’ over the trust dispute.

Their older half-sister Tracy Reiner, 61, Rob’s adopted daughter from his marriage to Penny Marshall, was also said to support keeping Nick from accessing the inheritance.

Nick’s attorneys insist, however, that the dispute is fundamentally about his right to use money that already belongs to him while he is still presumed innocent.

‘What the Successor Trustee asks this Court to do is enter an order freezing a presumed-innocent man’s own untainted money until after the trial at which his liberty will be decided,’ they wrote.

Reiner has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder over the December 14, 2025 deaths of his father, acclaimed filmmaker Rob Reiner, 78, and his photographer-producer mother Michele, 70, at their Brentwood home.

Prosecutors allege the couple were stabbed to death and Reiner was indicted in July with special circumstances including lying in wait, along with an allegation that he used a knife.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced this week that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty. Reiner could still face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.

But while that criminal case advances, an increasingly acrimonious second battle is raging over the money Reiner wants to spend defending himself.

The Nick Reiner Children’s Trust was created by Rob and Michele in 1993 and names Nick as its sole beneficiary.

His lawyers say the trust contains approximately $1.6 million and argue that at least $558,000 should have been handed to him when he turned 30 on September 14, 2023 – more than two years before his parents were killed.

READ MORE: Abby Hensel, one of the conjoined twins from 'Abby & Brittany,' gets married – NewsFinale

‘Nick turned 30 on September 14, 2023,’ his attorneys wrote. ‘By the Successor Trustee’s own calculation, at least $558,000 became due and payable to him that day. His parents were alive. No one had accused him of anything.’

That timing is now at the heart of his legal argument.

Those overseeing the trust have cited California’s so-called Slayer Statute, which can prevent someone who unlawfully kills another person from financially benefiting from that death.

But Reiner’s attorneys contend that the disputed $558,000 became his years before Rob and Michele died.

‘The Slayer Statute, the sole remaining basis for withholding this money, takes away what a person receives as a result of someone’s death,’ they argued. ‘It does not implicate money that became Nick’s years earlier.’

His attorneys also claim at least $325,017.49 of the trust originated with his grandfather, comedy legend Carl Reiner, who died in 2020.

‘Nick is not accused of causing his death,’ they wrote. ‘Money that was left to Nick by his grandfather is not money received by Nick from or through his parents.’

Reiner’s legal team has also launched an attack on the amount being spent fighting his attempts to access the money.

They claim attorneys representing the trustees have already racked up more than $250,000 in legal fees – paid from the very trust Reiner is trying to unlock.

‘Third, it is Nick who is paying for the fight to keep his money from him,’ his attorneys complained.

They warned: ‘Every month this continues, there is less left – for Nick, and for anyone who might ever claim it.’

The filings also allege that former trustee Paul R Kanin agreed in April to put money into Reiner’s jail commissary account but never followed through.

According to Reiner’s lawyers, Kanin’s attorney requested instructions for making the deposits, which were provided on April 21.

‘No deposit was ever made,’ they claimed. ‘Kanin never withdrew the commitment; it was simply never honored.’

Kanin, who resigned as trustee in May after serving for approximately 15 weeks, has denied breaching his fiduciary duties and maintains that he acted prudently.

Successor trustee Jodi Pais Montgomery has also opposed releasing the money while the murder prosecution remains unresolved, arguing that the trust should be preserved until it is clear whether the Slayer Statute applies.

Reiner’s attorneys say the financial freeze has far more serious consequences than leaving him unable to buy commissary items.

High-powered attorney Alan Jackson initially represented Reiner following his arrest but withdrew from the criminal case in January, citing ‘circumstances beyond our control.’

Reiner is now represented by a public defender at taxpayer expense, but has said he wants to rehire Jackson if he gains access to his trust.

‘The harm here is severe and ongoing,’ his attorneys wrote. 

‘Nick has been deprived of the use of his own money and has been unable to pay for criminal defense counsel and experts since January 2026, prejudicing his ability to defend against double homicide charges with special circumstances.’

Jackson has indicated he could return if the funding dispute is resolved.

‘He’s made a determination that he wants to be able to use his funds that are in his trust account to decide on his criminal counsel,’ Jackson previously said.