CITY SET TO WORK WITH RECYCLER RENT-A-BIN, IN MIDST OF GROWING RESIDENTIAL AREA, TRYING TO MEET CODE.

Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- Rather than deny a permit outright, the city's Planning Commission has chosen to work with owners of a Saugus recycling center in the midst of a burgeoning residential area to help bring the business up to code.

The facility has operated for years -- at times illegally, the city says -- and it must undertake improvements to be a good citizen and good neighbor.

The company says it helps the city meet the state's mandate of diverting 50 percent of trash from landfills, and says it wants to follow the rules.

``Because we have such a high diversion rate compared to anything in Santa Clarita now, we will, within our ability, get the financing and do the engineering, do anything they request,'' said Howard Randall, president of Rent-A-Bin. ``It would be senseless to resist building something that would not serve both parties.''

Rent-A-Bin has operated a salvage yard on two-plus acres on Santa Clara Street since about 1986, after buying the property from an auto parts salvage company in business since the 1930s. Randall and the city disagree about whether the venture was illegally converted to an outdoor recycling facility, but since the late 1980s it has operated as one.

``Based on staff's research and talking with Los Angeles County, (the county) has verified in writing that an outdoor materials recovery facility was not allowed in the (zone) when it was under the county of Los Angeles,'' said Jeff Hogan, a senior planner for the city.

In 2002 the city cited the company for violating numerous city codes and having no land-use permit. Randall was ``under the impression'' the company's use of the property was grandfathered from county codes, he said.

The property is alternately paved and unpaved and some areas lie within the Santa Clara River's floodplain. Yard clippings, wood scraps, dirt, rocks, construction debris and other materials heaped in piles on the ground are separated by type and are generally shipped out within 24 hours, Randall said.

Planned nearby but not yet built are the 1,089-home River Village project, the 499-home Keystone tract, a junior high school and a YMCA. The city says winds could carry dust and odors from the facility to the developments, which at the closest point are roughly 500 feet away.

Hogan said Rent-A-Bin has not submitted any quality-control measures for the facility. Also, the recycling center encroaches on the northernmost edge of the Keystone site; Randall says that was an oversight.

The city has asked Rent-A--Bin for improvements, which may include building an elevated enclosure for organic materials, installing masonry or wrought-iron fences in place of the existing chain-link and corrugated metal fencing, and adding landscaping.

The river only flows when it rains, but the project's design does not restrict currents -- so raw materials could be swept away. The same buried bank stabilization that was required to protect 15 homes in the River Village development should be required for the recycling center, Hogan said.

The matter has been before planning commissioners three times and an environmental analysis might be performed before it returns to them again to help determine what changes are feasible.

On another front, a state-of-the-art recycling facility planned for the approved 160-acre Needham Ranch industrial park on Sierra Highway is in limbo pending lawsuits against the development.

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