COMPANY TO RESUBMIT RECYCLING CENTER PLAN.

Byline: Deborah Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer

An Oxnard company proposing a recycling plant at a former egg farm in Moorpark will ask the Board of Supervisors today to overturn the Planning Commission's earlier denial of the project.

``Our approach will be to get them to look at what is already on the record,'' said Joseph Reisdorf, a consultant for M-Maintenance and Clean-Up. ``That was the problem with the Planning Commission. I think they based their decision, rather than on the facts and the evidence, on the concerns of some of the neighbors.''

Reisdorf said the project would use about 14 acres of the 208-acre Egg City, formerly the world's largest egg production facility. There it would process leftover concrete and lumber from construction sites throughout the county, particularly the Moorpark and Simi Valley areas.

If approved today, the operation could be up and running within two months, Reisdorf said.

About 20 percent of the waste entering landfills comes from construction or demolition sites, said David Goldstein, an analyst with the county Solid Waste Management Department.

Most cities already have programs to recycle household trash such as cans, bottles and yard scraps, but now must slash their construction waste stream to meet state recycling requirements, he said. No other facility in Ventura County fills that role, he said.

Neighbors say they have no problem with a recycling facility specifically for construction waste - they just don't want it near their homes. The recycling plant should be located at a county landfill or in an industrial zone, they say, not in this rustic enclave of orchards and equestrian trails.

``For approximately 20 square miles, it is all zoned agricultural and open space, and the property itself is in zoned agricultural,'' said Tim Hagel, a Moorpark resident who has been active in opposing the project.

``What we're trying to protect (against) is converting the agricultural open space into heavy industry. Once someone gets their foot in the door and sets heavy industry in an agricultural zone, it starts chewing at it. It sets precedents for heavy industry.''

Concrete dust from the operation could settle on the avocado and citrus orchards surrounding it, Hagel said. And trucks hauling scrap to and from the plant might worsen traffic and safety problems on Broadway and State Route 23, residents have complained.

``We would love to see the property developed,'' Hagel said. ``We would love to see another agricultural use instead of heavy industry.''

Yet Reisdorf points out that the land is not a pristine rural area as it stands. The site already is covered in concrete slabs and laced with water and electrical lines dating to its 30 years as an egg farm.

Indeed, he said, the company carefully located its proposed project on a small, northerly section of the site to ensure the least disturbance to surrounding land.

``That portion was selected specifically because it was surrounded by steep hillsides on three sides,'' he said.

And although the company has looked at other spots throughout the county, he said, ``This was just the best site.''