CAMARILLO : Zoning Change Approved to Allow Recycling Facility

The Camarillo City Council has taken a first step toward approving a proposal that could divert all of Ventura County’s recyclable trash to Camarillo.

Over the objections of a few residents, the council voted 5 to 0 Wednesday in favor of a zone change allowing large, 24-hour recycling facilities in the city.

The zoning change came at the request of Gold Coast Recycling Co., which is vying to build what would be the first recycling facility to serve the entire west county, and possibly all of the county.

Gold Coast now operates a recycling facility in Ventura that occupies half a city block, employs 27 workers and sorts 230 tons of paper, glass, metal and plastic each day.

A company spokeswoman said the proposed Camarillo recycling center would be five times as large, employing 150 workers on two shifts.

It would be located in an existing building on 34 acres at Mission Oaks Boulevard and Dawson Drive.

Three residents objected to the zone change, including two who live directly across the freeway from the proposed location.

Resident Charlotte Hoffer, 65, said she doesn’t live near the site but she doesn’t want to see a large recycling facility anywhere in the city.

Hoffer said the recycling plant would be noisy, would lead to increased truck traffic and would attract transients who collect and sell cans.

But Gold Coast spokeswoman Nan Drake said the proposed plant would be totally enclosed and in a manufacturing center away from residential areas.

Before Gold Coast could open its new plant, it would need city permits and approval from the Ventura County Waste Commission, which is also considering a proposal by a Los Angeles company to build a recycling center in Oxnard.