A long-running dispute between Monterey County, Calif., and several vehicle wrecking yards in the county will flare again April 12 before county supervisors.
Supervisors will hear an appeal filed by Dolan Development Partners, which is seeking new permits to keep several auto-dismantling yards in operation at the Dolan Industrial Park.
The hearing is the latest twist in a lengthy wrangle over improvements to the Dolan Road industrial park, which has been the home of a half-dozen wrecking yards since the early 1970s.
The property, which is split among four owners, came under environmental scrutiny during the 1990s because of the dismantling yards' proximity to sensitive Elkhorn Slough wetlands.
The county granted new permits in 1995 with requirements for storm water runoff systems, oil-grease separators and several other improvements. But the permits expired in 2000, and the county says a water system needed for health and fire-safety rules is still lacking nearly five years later.
Between 1997 and 2003, the county held repeated hearings on whether the wrecking yards were complying with their permits.
The issue came to a head this past October, when county planners recommended against new permits for the wrecking yards. Operators and their supporters said that would be "the death penalty" for businesses with up to 100 employees.
Instead, the county Planning Commission gave the wrecking-yard operators until January to make progress on the water-system requirements. Three of the four property owners complied, and the county is now processing their applications for new permits, Lee said.
But the Planning Commission rejected Dolan Development Partners' application for six wrecking yards on its 34 acres, saying water tests and water-system information were still lacking.
That information hasn't yet been submitted, Lee said.
Dolan Development appealed the Planning Commission decision, contending the hearing wasn't fair and the permit denial wasn't supported by evidence. County planners recommended the supervisors deny the appeal. Monterrey (California) Herald
Latest from Recycling Today
- Nucor names new president
- DOE rare earths funding is open to recyclers
- Design for Recycling Resolution introduced
- PetStar PET recycling plant expands
- Iron Bull addresses scrap handling needs with custom hoppers
- REgroup, CP Group to build advanced MRF in Nova Scotia
- Oregon county expands options for hard-to-recycling items
- Flexible plastic packaging initiative launches in Canada
