FILLMORE : Residents Oppose Water Tank Plans

A report declaring that a proposed 3-million-gallon water storage tank in Fillmore would have no significant impact on the environment is being vigorously contested by neighboring residents.

The City Council listened to testimony earlier this week from about a dozen residents who live on Foothill Drive and oppose installation of the tank because they said it would be unsightly and vulnerable to earthquakes. The current proposal calls for all trees and shrubs to be removed from the site and new vegetation to be planted after the tank is constructed.

After listening to the complaints, the council asked the landscaping firm and project engineers to present alternative plans designed to preserve as many of the existing trees as possible.

The council will listen to additional public testimony June 12.

In the past year, Fillmore planners have examined eight sites for the tank, which officials say is necessary to meet peak demands of up to 4 million gallons per day. The storage capacity of two existing reservoir tanks is 2 1/2 million gallons, which exceeds the current average daily consumption but cannot meet heavy demands, such as those caused by a major fire.

William Winterstein, a Foothill Drive resident, presented a petition signed by 61 residents who oppose the proposed tank because they say a nearby existing tank is an environmental eyesore.

Under a proposal by a landscape architect, oaks, pines and peppertrees planted 40 years ago would be destroyed.

Janet Fremlin Cox, whose family owns the site, told the council, “The owners aren’t happy about the city’s plans for a ‘tank farm’ on Foothill. Since the city plans to take the property by eminent domain, the least you could do is save those trees.”