L.A. Planners Won’t Downzone Gaffey St. for Light Industry : Neighborhoods: Homeowners and Councilwoman Flores lose in a bid to force out two fuel tank farms and a scrap yard.

Rejecting the pleas of San Pedro homeowners and Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, members of the Los Angeles Planning Commission said Thursday that they will not rezone North Gaffey Street to phase out heavy industry, including two fuel tank farms and a scrap metal storage yard that residents have been complaining about for years.

Instead of downzoning the property to allow for only light industry, the commissioners instructed the planning staff to draft a provision that would curtail the scrap yard’s hours of operation while permitting it and the tanks to remain but not to expand.

The move infuriated Flores’ deputy, Mario Juravich, who said: “I was shocked by the commission’s insensitivity.”

But commissioners, who also decided to prohibit future scrap metal storage operations at the site, said they needed to balance the interests of the residents with the interests of industries that must be near the Port of Los Angeles to do business.

“This is and will continue to be an industrial area,” said commission President William Luddy, adding that it would be a mistake for the panel “to pretend otherwise.”

Commissioner William Christopher said: “I don’t know that we can wave away the tank farms.”

The commission is expected to take a formal vote on the matter in two weeks. But that will not end the dispute over North Gaffey Street; whatever zoning changes are implemented must also be approved by the City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee, and the full council.

If Flores feels strongly about the issue, she can attempt to persuade her council colleagues to overrule the commission. But Juravich said Thursday that he is not certain what the councilwoman will do.

San Pedro homeowners have been complaining for nearly five years about noise and pollution from the Hiuka America scrap yard at 2100 Gaffey St. Residents say the company, which ships scrap metal worldwide, is unsightly and makes noise by doing business in the middle of the night.

Hiuka America has made an effort to address the complaints by installing fencing around its property and shifting its scrap metal piles so that its nighttime operations are far away from the homes. But residents say the company has not done enough.

More recently, residents have also complained about the adjacent oil tanks, which they say pose a threat to their neighborhood. After a series of hearings, the planning staff recommended to the commission that more than 90 acres of property on both sides of North Gaffey be rezoned to permit only light industrial uses.

Such a move would have forced the eventual phasing out of the tank farms and the scrap yard by making them nonconforming uses, a designation that would prevent them from upgrading their facilities.

At Thursday’s hearing, Noah Modisett, president of the San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners Coalition, argued that eliminating the tanks is just as important to residents as is doing away with the scrap metal yard. He told commissioners that the tank farms present a “public safety problem” and that by rezoning the area, they could alter the course of San Pedro’s future.

“You might not strike a blow for immediate freedom down there,” he said, “but you can make a difference five years from now and that’s what we’re asking for. Please help us.”

But the commissioners apparently found the arguments of property owner Ed Miller more persuasive. Lawyers for Miller, who leases 87 acres of land to the tank farms and Hiuka America, said that the scrap yard is at the root of the residents’ complaints and that to target the whole area would be to take a “meat-cleaver approach” to a problem that requires a scalpel.

“We’re not taking issue with the fact that that facility has got to go,” said lawyer Burt Pines, referring to Hiuka America.

David Creigh, president of Hiuka America, told the panel that his company has been trying for three years to find a new location closer to the Port of Los Angeles. But, he said, there is no room at the port. He said his company would be happy to move if it can find a new site and if it can sublease its property on North Gaffey Street.

After the hearing, Creigh said he was concerned about the commissioners’ intent to limit his company’s hours of operation. “We’re not going to go out of business,” he said. “If we have to litigate, we’ll litigate.”