Petition to Prohibit Metal Shredder Denied

A proposal to severely restrict metal-shredding yards in Colton, Calif., city has failed to qualify for the ballot, officials said.

Nearly two-thirds of signatures on a petition were inspected and found to be invalid, City Clerk Carolina Barrera said.

Supporters of a ballot initiative that would prohibit the facilities near homes, schools and parks submitted nearly 2,400 signatures to Barrera last month.

The signatures were checked by the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters Office and returned to Barrera last week.

She said 1,497 of the 2,375 submitted signatures were flawed. She said almost 800 more valid signatures were needed to qualify the measure for the ballot.

"Some people signed twice, some didn't live in the city, some weren't registered, or some had P.O. Boxes," Barrera said.

Jim Tabilio, spokesman for the group trying to qualify the initiative, disputed the count.

"We know for a fact that we submitted sufficient signatures because we checked every name against the registered voters' list," Tabilio said.

"If they disqualified two-thirds of the signatures, we want to know why," Tabilio said. "Our view is they have disenfranchised voters in the city of Colton."

Barrera mailed a letter to proponents of the initiative informing them the petition was insufficient. Her letter did not explain what was wrong with the signatures, Tabilio said.

Tabilio said most signatures were collected at the homes of registered voters. Several hundred more were returned from a mailer that was sent to registered voters using the official voter list.

Barrera said the registrar's office is rechecking signatures. It's possible the total might change slightly, but not by enough to change the outcome, Barrera said.

Barrera said initiative proponents have until Dec. 21 to challenge the results.

Tabilio said the group will make an appointment to review the signatures this week. "Obviously, we're going to be examining them closely," he said.

The proposed initiative would prohibit metal-shredding yards within one mile of homes, schools, parks, child-care

centers and recreational sites in the city.

Pacific Rail Industries, which has owned a scrap-metal recycling yard for nearly 30 years, would be barred from operating a shredding facility under the initiative.

The company received approval from the Planning Commission and City Council last year to expand its operations and install a shredder on its property.

The shredder site is 650 feet from the nearest home. Zoning laws prevent such operations within 500 feet of residences.

Shortly after the shredder was approved, opponents sued to stop the project on environmental grounds.

In October, a San Bernardino County Superior Court judge ruled the city must rewrite parts of its environmental report because it failed to address traffic, air-quality and hazardous-materials impacts.

The city must correct the problems in the report and recirculate the document for a 45-day public review before it goes to the Planning Commission for a new hearing.

The commission is expected to consider the project again in April.

"It's further evidence of the strong community support we have in Colton," said spokesman Eleazar Elizondo, after being told the petition was found to be unsatisfactory. "We've been a good neighbor for 30 years. We continue planning to be a good neighbor."

Elizondo said the shredding operation would create about 40 new jobs and the company would buy about $800,000 a year in electricity from the city.

"We just want to do our work and grow our business," Elizondo said. San Bernadino (California) Sun