Planning Commission Rejects Recycling Center

A recycling collection center will not open on the city’s eastside thanks to a unanimous vote by the West Hollywood Planning Commission on Thursday night.

SoCal Recycling was asking for a conditional use permit to open a 480-square-foot recycling center at 7710 Santa Monica Blvd. The center would have been behind a locked fence, only accessible through the narrow alley between Spaulding and Stanley avenues, open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday.

For 12 years, SoCal Recycling operated the recycling center two blocks away in the back corner of the Arco station on Santa Monica Boulevard and Curson Street. When a new owner leased that gas station in May 2012, the recycling center’s sublease was not renewed. Thus the center was forced to look for a new location in the area, SoCal Recycling president Armond Abramian explained to the Commission. 

Over two dozen residents spoke against the center, chiefly concerned with the type of patron recycling centers typically attract, often vagrants who hang out in the neighborhood afterwards, sometimes going through residents’ trash looking for more recyclables and stealing items from their yards.

One speaker dragged a garbage bag filled with empty bottles and cans across the floor as he approached the podium to demonstrate the noise the customers can make en route to the recycling center.

Several speakers also cited concerns about the odor that typically emanates from recycled materials that generally aren’t washed beforehand, a smell that gets exponentially worse when collected together, especially in hot weather.

The commissioners understood all these concerns (especially the odor), sympathizing with the disruption of life the center would cause, several saying they would not want a recycling center near their homes.

The Commission was especially concerned about an apartment a mere 22 feet away from the collection center. City code requires there be at least a 50-foot distance.

The commissioners criticized city staff for not trying to make contact with residents of that apartment about the proposed center. Likewise Commissioner John Altschul criticized staff for not holding a neighborhood meeting beforehand, especially after receiving a petition against the center with over 150 signatures.  

“You have a petition signed by 150 people. You have a concern of a quality of life that is gigantic. Why was there no consideration of having a neighborhood meeting?” Altschul asked.

Commissioner Marc Yeber was equally disturbed by the overall project and the lack of analysis done by staff in the staff report.

“This is one of the most ill conceived projects I’ve seen come before us,” said Commissioner Marc Yeber, who also suggested the city needs to develop enforcement methods so vagrants don’t go through people’s trash and cause disruptions in the neighborhoods.

The commission rejected the project on a 6-0 vote. Commissioner David Aghaei was absent.