Planners to Consider Car-Processing Plant
After months of delays, a proposed $25-million car-processing plant near Port Hueneme that could bring 250 jobs to Oxnard will be the subject of a public hearing tonight.
Pacific Vehicle Processors’ plan goes before the Oxnard Planning Commission as the company seeks approval to convert 38 vacant acres south of Hueneme Road into a plant for preparing imported vehicles before they are shipped to dealerships.
The plant would allow the company to implement a new contract with Volkswagen and its Audi luxury division to handle an additional 100,000 vehicles annually beginning next spring, officials said.
The plant would wash, repair and accessorize cars from Mexico and Germany before they are loaded on trucks and trains destined for U.S. showrooms.
Traffic and environmental concerns from residents, wetlands advocates and city officials have delayed the Planning Commission hearing since January.
The delays threatened the project, but the company has since gained an extension on its contract with Volkswagen, said James Kilpatrick, the company’s vice president of marketing.
If the commission approves the project, Pacific Vehicle Processors would then seek City Council approval Sept. 17. Construction could begin by October, Kilpatrick said.
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