Cemetery Files Suit to Block Recycler’s Plan

VENTURA — The directors of Ivy Lawn Memorial Park are asking a judge to block the expansion of a recycling center next to the cemetery, a project they fear will bring increased noise and traffic.

In a suit filed Wednesday in Ventura County Superior Court, Ivy Lawn Cemetery Assn. contends that a plan to more than double the size of the Gold Coast Recycling Center and almost triple the amount of waste processed there each day will disturb visitors to the cemetery on Valentine Road.

In addition, the suit contends that the city of Ventura has failed to ask for an environmental impact report as required by the California Environmental Quality Act.

The suit names the city, which acts as lead agency in evaluating the environmental impacts of development projects, as well as project owners E.J. Harrison & Sons Inc. and Gold Coast Recycling Inc. Also named is Santa Clara Valley Disposal Co., which owns the property.

The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction against the expansion, which was approved June 11 by the Ventura Planning Commission. At that time, the city ruled that the applicant did not need to commission further environmental studies, accepting instead a document known as a preliminary mitigated negative declaration, the cemetery’s lawyer, Robert Sawyer, wrote in the suit.

The cemetery appealed the decision, and on July 15 the City Council denied the appeal.

According to the cemetery directors, expansion of the recycling center near the cemetery will create significant impacts, including:

* It doubles the project size from 2.5 to more than 5 acres.

* Tonnage accepted each day will increase from 440 to 1,200 tons.

* Waste hauling vehicles will increase from 170 to 435 each day.

* Employee parking will more than triple from 55 to 164.

Officials with the city and project owners could not be reached for comment.

The expansion project would help fill a requirement that all of western Ventura County’s garbage go first to a recycling center for sorting before heading to the Toland Road Landfill.