OJAI : Planners to Study Rubbish Yard Risks

The Ventura County Planning Commission has decided to ask state Department of Fish and Game officials if an expanded storage yard for Ojai Rubbish Co. could pollute the Ventura River.

Responding to an appeal from county environmentalists, the Planning Commission decided last Thursday to take another look at the permit that approved the expansion of Ojai Rubbish Co.’s yard in an unincorporated area just north of Ventura.

Some commissioners have complained about the county’s permit process, which allowed Ojai Rubbish to install underground fuel tanks and expand its facilities without a proper land-use permit.

County Planning Division staff members later approved the yard’s expansion, not covered in the original land-use permit, without conducting an environmental review.

“The issue is it was all done after the fact,” said commission Chairwoman Betty Taylor. “I think it is a major modification when you talk about a 10,000-gallon tank and a gas pump. That’s major stuff.”

Company owner Morteza Yassini of Moorpark, who moved the rubbish hauling business from Ojai to 4213 Crooked Palm Road northwest of Ventura in 1987, said environmentalists have harassed him for three years even though he believed he had obtained all the necessary permits.

Since receiving the original planned development permit in 1987, Yassini nearly doubled the concrete area for garbage truck parking from 24,000 to 40,669 square feet.

At Yassini’s request, the county Planning Division approved the changes retroactively on March 3 after it levied a $700 fine. The Environmental Coalition of Ventura County has objected to the Planning Division giving an approval without an environmental review.