Ballot Plan on Landfill Not Enough : Weldon Canyon: Authorities say the San Diego County firm would still need state, regional and local approvals.

A San Diego County firm that hopes to bypass Ventura County supervisors by seeking a ballot initiative on a dump at Weldon Canyon would still need state, regional and some local approvals, authorities said Friday.

Taconic Resources of San Diego County is negotiating to take over a lease to Weldon Canyon from Waste Management Inc., which withdrew its proposal to build the dump last summer because Ventura County supervisors would not support the project. If it gets the lease, Taconic says it plans to seek a countywide initiative on the issue.

Reaction to that prospect among Ventura County officials was mixed Friday. While some speculated that Taconic could mount a successful petition campaign, others questioned whether a ballot measure could pass and expressed doubt that any such vote would be legal or binding. “I think the perception is that east county voters want a landfill in Weldon Canyon,” said Supervisor Maria VanderKolk, whose district extends from Thousand Oaks to Port Hueneme. “My opinion is that people realize there are a lot of alternatives to landfills, that you can’t keep putting trash in a hole in the ground.”

Supervisor Maggie Kildee, whose western county district includes Ojai, agreed that the county does not need another landfill.

“I want to have the legality of this thing looked at,” she said.

If Taconic is successful in negotiating with Waste Management and Weldon Canyon property owners, the development firm says it plans to seek a countywide ballot question on whether a landfill should be allowed in Weldon.

Taconic, which specializes in solid and liquid waste projects, would then have to produce about 18,000 signatures on a petition by June 8 to get a measure on the November ballot.

If that measure were successful, permits would still be needed from the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District, California Regional Water Quality Control Board, California Integrated Waste Management Board and the local enforcement agency, which in Ventura County is the county’s Environmental Health Division, said Kay Martin, manager of the Ventura County Solid Waste Department.

“On the face of it, I don’t see why people should be afraid to get the voice of the people,” she said. “There are sufficient state requirements to see that environmental considerations are taken care of.”

But others, including Ojai City Councilwoman Nina Shelley, object to taking a land-use decision to voters.

“It is not a fair way to decide whether there should be a landfill at Weldon,” said Shelley, who fought the previous proposal by Waste Management. “The proposal has impacts on only one part of the county.”

But, she said, “Residents, biased as they are in the east and middle county,” would be voting on the measure. “We only have 1.5% of the voting public in Ojai.”

Shelley said she also fears that such a ballot measure would divide the county.

VanderKolk said the larger issue is that voters at large are not equipped to decide the merits of such a complicated, technical project as a landfill.

“They do not have access to all of the information we do,” she said.

But Taconic representatives said the impending defeat of the Waste Management landfill proposal by the Board of Supervisors would have been based on politics, and not information.

“We would only bypass the county supervisors and Planning Commission,” said Richard Chase, general partner of Taconic Resources. “We would still have to obtain other state, local and regional permits. But at least those permits are based, at least largely, on the technical merits of the project.”

He said he believes the firm can win the necessary votes.

“There are substantial groups in portions of the county that would be in favor of Weldon: Oxnard because it has the existing dump, and the people in the east would like the west county trash to stay out of the east county.”

Taconic has entered a similar lease agreement with Waste Management to take over development of a landfill in northern San Diego County. Servcon-San Marcos Inc., a corporation in which Taconic has an interest, is the developer at Gregory Canyon there.

Taconic is also seeking a ballot initiative in San Marcos, where petitioners are gathering signatures.

If allowed, Taconic would develop a Weldon Canyon landfill, but would not build or operate it. Those options would be sold or leased to a third party, Chase said.