Operations Extended for 5 Months at Lopez Dump : Waste: Raucous hearing ends in a compromise decision. Neighbors accuse city of reneging on promise to shut landfill.

Culminating months of debate over the future of the last city-owned dump, the Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to extend by five months the life of Lopez Canyon Landfill before closing it July 1.

The decision, which was reached following a chaotic three-hour hearing, was a compromise measure that attempted to satisfy landfill neighbors who complain about the dump’s odors and traffic, and city officials who say it is the city’s cheapest trash disposal option.

But whether the vote finally ends the long-running battle over the dump remains to be seen.

Landfill opponents repeatedly noted that when the city adopted the last extension for the dump in 1991, it approved a provision that promised to seek no further extension beyond Feb. 6, 1996.

“So, this time it’s legally binding and last time it wasn’t,” said a sarcastic Sandy Hubbard, president of the Lake View Terrace Improvement Assn., a homeowners group that has fought the dump for years.

She said her group is considering suing the city for violating that promise.

Councilman Richard Alarcon, a longtime dump opponent whose district includes the landfill and its neighbors, said he considered the compromise a victory even though he has ardently argued for months against any extension.

“It would have been a better victory if it were closed in February, but there were not the votes for that,” he said.

But considering the city’s history at Lopez Canyon, Alarcon said he fears that the Bureau of Sanitation may return to the council before July 1, asking for another extension.

“I think we should all be skeptical until the gates close at Lopez Canyon on July 1,” he said.

Although the permit for the landfill expires in February, the 400-acre facility has enough capacity to accept trash until 2001. About 80%--or 3,500 tons--of the city’s trash ends up in Lopez Canyon Landfill.

Public works officials had recommended a one-year extension, citing studies that say the annual cost of hauling the city’s trash to private landfills is about $8 million more than it is to dump in Lopez Canyon.

To make up for the extra cost of diverting trash to private dumps after July 1, the council tentatively adopted an “extra capacity” fee for residents who request extra trash containers.

The city currently charges nothing for an additional 30-gallon trash container, but sanitation officials proposed a $5-per-month fee for the extra containers. The fee is expected to raise up to $8 million per year.

Sanitation officials said the fee acts as a financial penalty for residents who fail to recycle and reduce trash disposal.

The five-month extension was proposed to give city officials time to implement the fee, which must be brought back to the council for a final decision sometime next week.

But Councilwoman Rita Walters argued against compromise and the fee, saying many low-income families and senior citizens in her South Los Angeles district will not be willing to pay the extra fee and will simply dump the extra trash in the streets.

In response, the council instructed the Bureau of Sanitation to waive the fees for low-income residents.

In the course of reaching the compromise, however, council members introduced so many amendments and modifications that for nearly half an hour the council meeting lost all order and became a shouting match, with council members interrupting each other, hollering “Point of order! Point of order!” By the end, the council voted on eight amendments, with a different outcome each time.

At one point, while several city lawyers and legislative analysts huddled in a corner to straighten out the mess, Councilman Marvin Braude made a motion to end the session and start anew on Friday.

“This is disgraceful,” he said. “I move that we adjourn.”

The meeting was attended by 150 people, mostly Lake View Terrace residents who urged the council to keep its promise by closing the dump in February.

“A promise is a significant thing for a government to make to its people,” said the Rev. Tom Rush, a Pacoima-area priest.

Among the opponents who spoke were two former council members, Ernani Bernardi, a 32-year council veteran who previously represented Lake View Terrace, and Zev Yaroslavsky, who resigned from the council in December to take a seat on the county Board of Supervisors.

They both charged that the council would shatter the trust of residents by approving an extension.

Bernardi also noted that the council voted in the early 1980s to close Mission Canyon Landfill in the Santa Monica Mountains even though the dump still had about 80% of its capacity left unused.

“People in the East Valley should be given the same consideration,” he said.

But several council members noted that the city faces a $250-million deficit next year and cannot afford the extra cost of hauling trash to private dumps. They said the added cost of hauling trash to private firms could be used to hire additional police officers.

“I assume we all made promises to provide efficient constituent services,” said Councilwoman Laura Chick, a strong supporter of the police force.

In the end, it was a compromise proposal offered by Councilmen Nate Holden and Mike Feuer that got the support of a majority of the members.