Judge Temporarily Reinstates Simi Valley Bathtub Maker’s Permit

A Ventura County Superior Court judge temporarily reinstated an operating permit Thursday for a Simi Valley bathtub and spa manufacturer one week after the city planning commission ordered it to cease operations.

The ruling allows Hydro Systems to resume manufacturing while it appeals the city planning commission’s decision. The commission voted 3 to 1 last Friday to suspend the operating permit because the corporation had violated city codes barring emissions of “obnoxious odors” in areas zoned for light industry.

Attorneys for Hydro Systems, which plans to ask the Simi Valley City Council to overrule the commission, told Judge Edwin M. Osborne that the corporation would be forced out of business unless allowed to continue operations while the appeal goes forward.

“It’s a small victory,” said Larry Burroughs, vice president for manufacturing. “But we are delighted.”

Residents of a neighborhood 300 feet east of Hydro Systems’ plant, near Moreland and Madera roads, have worked for five months to close the plant, complaining that its emissions contain styrene vapors--a pungent byproduct of its fiberglass manufacturing process.

Leaders of the residents’ campaign reacted with dismay at the decision. “I didn’t expect this,” Susan Wurtz said. “We sure didn’t have much time to celebrate.”

“We are disappointed, but it is only round one,” City Atty. John P. Torrance said. He said the city will ask Osborne to reconsider his decision at a hearing scheduled Aug. 10 in Ventura County Superior Court.

The judge’s ruling came less than 12 hours after the planning commission voted 3 to 1 against a request to allow Hydro Systems to erect three 75-foot smokestacks to disperse the fumes.

Though staff members from the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District had said the stacks would alleviate the fume problem, the commission voted to side with the city Community Services Department, which objected to the stacks as unsightly.

Hydro Systems resumed manufacturing on Thursday, Burroughs said, and will follow its usual schedule of 4 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton said that by ruling in Hydro Systems’ favor, the judge has indicated that he thinks the City Council and not the planning commission should make decisions determining the fate of the corporation.

“What the judge is saying is he doesn’t like the process this thing has taken,” Stratton said. “We’ve recognized for a long time now that this issue would end up before the City Council.”

Hydro Systems has until July 29 to appeal the planning commission ruling. The City Council would then have 30 days to hold a hearing.