Sparks Are Flying Under Edison’s Wires

Residents opposing an auto recycling business planned for land under Southern California Edison Co. transmission lines in Stanton were turned away from a workshop on the project Wednesday.

Edison officials said the meeting, held at Edison offices in Santa Ana, was intended for public officials only.

“They don’t want the public involved,” said an angry Scott Nickel, a Stanton neighborhood leader who waited unsuccessfully with another neighbor for 30 minutes to gain entrance to the meeting.

Previously, Edison has allowed only businesses such as nurseries and Christmas tree farms under its transmission lines, because they are considered “low impact,” that is, having little effect on neighboring residents.

Now, it’s RV parking and auto dealerships. And near Stanton, Edison and Ecology Auto Co. are proposing an 8 1/2-acre auto recycling center, which neighbors are opposing.

Nickel charged that Edison held the meeting to bypass the public and “convince politicians and snow them” with their plans for right-of-way projects.

Jo Ellen Allen, director of public affairs for Edison’s southern region, said that the company is sensitive to city needs but that the meeting was never for the public.

“Our workshop from the beginning was for Supervisor [Cynthia P.] Coad and representatives of city councils to discuss our processes,” she said. Edison wants to be sensitive to the project’s impact on Stanton, she said.

But Coad, chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors, said it was not made clear beforehand that the meeting would be closed to the public. She said she didn’t realize people had been turned away.

Security was tight at the meeting, with guards checking identification, said Stanton City Councilman David Shawver. He was among 16 guests, including fellow Stanton Councilman Harry Dotson, the mayor of La Palma and city officials from Buena Park, Anaheim, Garden Grove and Placentia.

According to Shawver and others who attended the meeting, Edison officials said that they may have been haphazard in their development approach and now may rethink some projects, including the auto recycling business.

Shawver and Coad stressed that a regional approach was more acceptable than introducing projects piecemeal.

“I don’t think Edison did a very good job analyzing their developments, but they need to take a regional approach” instead of working with cities one at a time, Shawver said.

Coad said one of her concerns was the impression that Edison was allowing greenbelts on its land in South County cities while pushing for unattractive business projects in the county’s older North County.

But Edison responded that development had more to do with short-term leases expiring in the county’s older areas than in newer South County cities.

“The image was that we in Buena Park, Stanton and Anaheim were being singled out,” Shawver said. “They said they would be sensitive to that. I thought that was a concession on their part.”

Shawver said utility officials agreed to listen to possible alternatives, including a restaurant and park, for its corridors near the border between Stanton and Garden Grove.