Rural Residents Resist Plan to Open Recycling Center

The folks who live along Waters Road in the remote hills outside Moorpark moved to the country to escape the sights and sounds of urban sprawl and all its noisy byproducts.

But now an Oxnard businessman has leased the abandoned egg hatchery at the end of the narrow strip of road and plans to truck in 100 tons or more of wood, concrete and cardboard every day to package for recycling.

The proposal has galvanized the residents of this deserted canyon community, who have launched a fierce campaign to stop the recycling center from opening--calling and writing local officials and mobilizing forces to testify at upcoming hearings.

“It would really destroy the character of the community,” said Dr. Raymond J. Kristopaitis, who lives nearby. “This is a sleepy, quiet rural neighborhood with ranches, equestrian centers and citrus orchards.

“I moved from the San Fernando Valley a couple of years ago to get out into the country,” Kristopaitis added. “Suddenly there’s going to be 100 dump trucks a day going down this narrow two-lane highway.”

Complaints that residents have been left out of the planning process prompted county planners to grant a two-week extension for public comments on a draft environmental report. That report, completed last month, concluded that the project would have no significant environmental impacts on the community, except for a decrease in ground-water supplies.

Residents hope to force a more comprehensive environmental report, which could take months to finish. Businessman Sal Plascencia had hoped to start operating the recycling center next month.

Plascencia concedes that his operation is a money-making venture, but said it also would cut back the amount of construction debris buried each day in dumps like the one in Toland Canyon.

“Right now, I take 14 to 20 loads to the landfill every day,” Plascencia said. “I believe this is something good for the community.”

Staff planner Becky Linder, who wrote the draft report, said she may reevaluate her findings after receiving more information from public works and other county officials.

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But she said that after completing her initial review of the proposal, it appears to be a worthwhile project because of the reductions in landfill deposits the project would provide.

“It’s a good thing,” Linder said. “I hope we can resolve all of the concerns of the residents so they feel the same way.”

Many of those who live near the former hatchery say that allowing that many trucks a day along Waters Road will destroy their lifestyle and force them to consider selling their homes and businesses.

Hilda Gurney won a bronze medal in equestrian dressage in the 1976 Olympic Games. These days she runs a 10-acre equestrian center next door to the proposed recycling center.

“We would have to sell out,” Gurney said. “I could not keep this business here. It’s not possible to have a riding school on a road that has 100 dump trucks coming up every day.”

Bob Hallman agrees. Hallman has owned the Meadows, one of the few private equestrian show grounds south of Fresno, for 18 years.

“This is a $2-million operation,” Hallman said. “We have hundreds of people come in here from all over the world. Do you know how fast we will be out of business with these trucks coming in and out?”

But Plascencia said his vehicles are “small dump trucks” that no one would notice coming in or out of the 160 acres he already has leased.

“It’s not a tractor-trailer, and it’s not a big rig,” he said. “There’s not going to be any heavy loads.”

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The trucks would average about 2 1/2 tons each, depending on the material, and would run one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon, Plascencia said.

“It’s not going to be all day, in and out,” he said. “It’s impossible to guarantee, but I don’t think the people there will even notice. They’re going to be like pickup trucks going up and down the road.”

Any decision on whether to allow Plascencia to use the former hatchery to recycle his debris is weeks away.

The application requires at least the approval of the county Planning Commission and will probably be decided by the Board of Supervisors, Linder said.

Supervisor Judy Mikels, whose district includes the proposed recycling center, already has fielded dozens of phone calls from angry residents of the area.

She visited the site earlier this week, but has still not made up her mind whether to support the project.

“It sounds like the type of project I could really get behind,” Mikels said. “I have no problems with the benefits, but my concern is whether it’s in the right location.”