Groups in Wilmington Oppose Junkyard Pact

Wilmington residents are seething about a decision by a Los Angeles City Council committee to allow a major expansion at an auto salvage yard that borders on a residential neighborhood.

The Planning and Land Use Management Committee voted Tuesday to allow Ecology Auto Parts at 1710 Eubank Ave. to expand its salvage and wrecking facility into an adjacent property, nearly doubling the size of the operation.

In a compromise crafted by Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, whose district includes Wilmington, the committee approved the expansion on the condition that Ecology phase out all operations at the site by the year 2005. The salvage company must also install fences and landscaping, widen street access from Lomita Boulevard to alleviate traffic congestion and close an entrance on Eubank Avenue.

Neighbors have complained that traffic to the salvage yard congests streets. They also say that allowing Ecology to expand will lead other similar businesses to believe they are welcome in Wilmington. Members of the Wilmington Home Owners and the Wilmington North Neighborhood Assn., who have been battling to curb the community’s junkyards and industrial businesses, assailed the Flores compromise Wednesday.

“We got sold down the river,” said Gertrude Schwab, president of the Wilmington North group. “We were told in January by (Flores deputy) Mario Juravich that the councilwoman would back whatever decision we made. We represented the true feelings of the community in opposing Ecology. But when the committee chairman asked Mario, he said the councilwoman supported the expansion.”

Flores was out of town this week and unavailable for comment, but Juravich said the compromise is the only way to ensure protection for residents of the area.

“My honest feeling is that the people won the war, and I think they don’t realize it,” Juravich said. “It was a choice between two alternatives: permit the expansion and give them a precise phase-out date, or deny it and get no improvements or phase-out.”

In other action Tuesday, the Planning and Land Use Management Committee also signed off on three final zoning changes in the Wilmington-Harbor City Community Plan, paving the way for the City Council to approve the plan within the next few weeks. The plan will guide growth and development in the two communities for the next 20 years.

The decision on the Ecology site will not be subject to provisions in the Community Plan.

Among the recommendations approved Tuesday is one to reclassify the land over the lucrative Wilmington oil field as “urbanized.” The reclassification could force the Exxon Corp. to cap as many as 90% of its oil wells in the area by Jan. 1, 2000. Under the “urbanized” classification, fewer wells per square acre are allowed, but oil from existing wells could be extracted by running lines to centrally located pumping facilities.

Despite the committee’s recommendation on Ecology, residents say they hope to derail the proposal before the full City Council.

“We are in touch with the community, and we are not finished fighting this yet. We will have more petitions, and maybe a demonstration,” said Peter Mendoza, president of the Wilmington Home Owners.