A controversial proposal to move a regional car shredder to a Colton, Calif., scrap yard kept the city's Planning Commission deliberating into the night Oct. 12.
The commission was just wrapping up about two hours of public comments at 10 p.m. and had not yet discussed the project or voted on it.
South Colton residents and out-of-town professionals turned out to speak both for and against the project.
Even if the commission approved the project, it still must go before the City Council for final approval.
Debate started years ago over Pacific Rail Industries' proposal to bring the shredder to its Colton yard. The machine tears cars, old appliances and other scrap metal into fist-size pieces for shipment to steel-recycling plants.
Pacific Rail also is asking to increase by 50 percent the amounts of materials and goods it is allowed to unload from railroad cars at the site and to load onto trucks for shipping.
Opponents from the south Colton neighborhood said they fear noise and air pollution. They also complained that their property values would drop.
Some questioned whether the fact that south Colton is a largely minority community makes it a prime target for the project.
"Why in south Colton? Why us?" resident Raul Colunga asked. "Would that be allowed in La Loma Hills? In Reche Canyon? In Cooley Ranch?"
Consultants affiliated with a competing business, Colton Iron and Metal, also questioned the effects of the business on the neighborhood and the environment.
Others praised the project for bringing business to town and pointed out upgrades that would add new fencing and landscaping to the East M Street site.
"I've got news for you," said Art Thompson, a Colton resident who runs a trucking company that works with Pacific Rail Industries. "That landscaping, that wall is going to bring the prices of all those houses up in south Colton."
Owner Charles Siroonian made some changes to his proposal in response to community concerns.
He plans to store hazardous waste from car seats in a structure and to prohibit other hazardous materials from coming to the site. He would surround the 19-acre site with walls, landscaping and fencing.
At the meeting, he displayed poster boards showing photos of metal shredders elsewhere, including one in Anaheim that sits next to a hotel. Press-Enterprise