CANOGA PARK : Recycling Center Draws Complaints

Success has been barbed for Eric Amrani, owner of Universal Recycling Center in Canoga Park.

His center has grown so rapidly that neighbors are now trying to force him to close temporarily, contending they can no longer take the sound of crashing glass, the reek of rotting newspapers, and the rats that they say pop occasionally from the garbage dumpsters.

“For two years our life has been a living hell,” said Arthur Sweet, tenant in the office building next door to the center at 20934 Sherman Way. “We are not against recycling; we just think this guy should move three or four blocks west.”

Amrani established the recycling center for collecting and selling glass, aluminum, paper and plastic about three years ago. Nowadays, the center serves about 200 customers per day, he said.

Amrani was forced to get a conditional-use permit and observe new restrictions after neighbors’ complaints prompted a building inspection. Inspectors determined Amrani’s operation was far beyond what it had been when he was first licensed to operate, a contention with which Amrani doesn’t quibble.

“We had more people coming each day,” he said. “We got too successful, according to them.”

Amrani, however, denies that the recycling center has created odor or other problems and says he is performing a valuable service for the community. His customers seem to agree: Dozens have signed a petition in support of his business, he said.

“I am real serious about it. I will do whatever I can to help them stay alive,” said one customer, Cynthia Henson of Woodland Hills. Henson, a devoted recycler, drives to several locations each month to recycle everything she can, from plastic bags to plastic.

Henson is unhappy that the zoning administrator has now banned Amrani from accepting plastic for recycling as a condition for the new permit. “This is just garbage. It shouldn’t be so difficult for people to recycle,” she said.

Sweet has appealed a city zoning administrator’s decision to allow Amrani to continue operations with a new permit. The appeal will be heard by the Board of Zoning Appeals on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., Room 561-A, City Hall, 200 North Spring St.