CITY ASKED TO RECONSIDER RECYCLING-FACILITY DECISION.Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, -- A local environmental group that is fighting a planned industrial park project in Newhall asked the city Thursday to reconsider a recycling facility that would be the first project built there. The head of the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment labeled the recycling center a transfer station, and said the group opposes putting the operation there. ``It will be a place where they bring garbage trucks and dump them, operating almost as a landfill but no landfilling,'' said Lynne Plambeck, SCOPE's president. ``It's got a (materials recovery component) but the majority of the square footage is a transfer station.'' The Santa Clarita City Council in August approved the Needham Ranch industrial park project at Newhall's southern gateway. The city Planning city planning, process of planning for the improvement of urban centers in order to provide healthy and safe living conditions, efficient transport and communication, adequate public facilities, and aesthetic surroundings. Commission reapproved the recycling facility Sept. 5. The 160-acre industrial park is planned on Sierra Highway Sierra Highway is a road in Southern California, United States. It runs from Tunnel Station near the north limit of the City of Los Angeles, where it intersects with San Fernando Road and Foothill Boulevard, as well as Interstate 5, and continues north to Mojave, mostly paralleling , south of San Fernando Road San Fernando Road is a major street in the city and county of Los Angeles. It starts off in Castaic as The Old Road, passing through Santa Clarita and the Newhall Pass, where upon its intersection with Sierra Highway near the junction of the Golden State (I-5) and the , and would include light-industrial and commercial buildings on 580 acres. Undeveloped areas would consist of parkland, trails and open space dedicated to the city. City officials are counting on the recycling center to meet a state mandate to divert 50 percent of waste from landfills. The fully enclosed en·close also in·close tr.v. en·closed, en·clos·ing, en·clos·es 1. To surround on all sides; close in. 2. To fence in so as to prevent common use: enclosed the pasture. 178,200-square-foot recycling center would apportion ap·por·tion tr.v. ap·por·tioned, ap·por·tion·ing, ap·por·tions To divide and assign according to a plan; allot: "The tendency persists to apportion blame as suits the circumstances" about 77,700 square feet of space to recycling and about 81,000 square feet for transfer and recycling. A loading dock and offices would occupy the other areas. A city official disputed the group's argument that floor space defines the center's goal, noting that trucks and machinery take up a lot of space. ``This is most definitely a materials recycling facility for recycling, and, yes, it has a transfer component to it,'' said Travis Lange, the city's environmental services The various combinations of scientific, technical, and advisory activities (including modification processes, i.e., the influence of manmade and natural factors) required to acquire, produce, and supply information on the past, present, and future states of space, atmospheric, manager. ``The city would not be pushing for a facility that transfers trash to a landfill, the city is pushing for a facility to recycle (items) and take waste to a landfill.'' Sometimes people mistakenly throw trash in with recyclables, and Lange said the center must be prepared to dispose of To determine the fate of; to exercise the power of control over; to fix the condition, application, employment, etc. of; to direct or assign for a use. See also: Dispose it. Paper, plastic and glass items are to be separated, and in some cases glass must be separated by color. The appeal, filed Wednesday, cites grading, the area's visibility from other vantage points, truck trips, oak tree removal, plant surveys, court decisions, air pollution, nearness to a wildlife corridor and water supply safety among the unresolved issues. Several local projects have been litigated by environmental groups who say water supplies are insufficient, while developers say the underlying issue is often stopping growth. Jeff Hogan, a senior planner for the city, said the issues raised in the appeal were resolved in the recently certified environmental impact report for the Needham Ranch project approved by the council. ``The (report) analyzed 4.2 million square feet of industrial buildings that assumed vehicle trips, oak tree removals, plant surveys, water, grading, air quality, impacts to the wildlife corridor ...,'' Hogan said. Conveyor belts conveyor belt One of various devices that provide mechanized movement of material, as in a factory. Conveyor belts are used in industrial applications and also on large farms, in warehousing and freight-handling, and in movement of raw materials. sort and distribute the discarded items to areas where they would be loaded on trucks. The appeal notes an addendum addendum n. an addition to a completed written document. Most commonly this is a proposed change or explanation (such as a list of goods to be included) in a contract, or some point that has been subject of negotiation after the contract was originally proposed by was required for documents for a Saugus housing development to disclose water safety issues. Hogan said that is not so, that the final environmental report was found to adequately address the matter. Plambeck said the group's board unanimously approved the appeal, but declined to say how many votes that entailed. SCOPE did not oppose the recycling facility or transfer station at established commercial locations, she said. Burrtec Waste Industries, the city's exclusive commercial waste hauler, would build the recycling center, but the city has helped scout locations and might someday some·day adv. At an indefinite time in the future. Usage Note: The adverbs someday and sometime express future time indefinitely: We'll succeed someday. Come sometime. option to buy the center. Finding a big enough site away from homes, close to a freeway, in an industrial zone and where noise and traffic issues can be managed has been a problem. ``There has been a lot of effort put into this location,'' Lange said, adding, ``there are not a lot of locations in this city to put a place like this.'' The Oakland-based California Oak Foundation joined SCOPE in lodging the appeal. Approximately 1,408 oaks would be removed to build the industrial park. ``We have a problem when oaks are wantonly wan·ton adj. 1. Immoral or unchaste; lewd. 2. a. Gratuitously cruel; merciless. b. Marked by unprovoked, gratuitous maliciousness; capricious and unjust: wanton destruction. cut down when it's possible to use creative means and sustainable practices over time,'' said Janet Cobb, the nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. group's executive director. ``We're going to do one good thing but a very bad thing to get there. It's probably possible to site that in another place, or possibly be more creative in the site plan itself.'' Cobb said her group often works with local partners, and SCOPE contacted them. On the appeal, the group's name is denoted alternately as a foundation and a conservancy. The Santa Clarita City Council is due to hear SCOPE's appeal in November, Hogan said. judy.orourke(at)dailynews.com (661) 257-5255 |
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