Ralphs recycling center permit dumped

A proposed recycling center that nearby residents feared would make their neighborhood a haven for transients has been voted down.

The Huntington Beach Planning Commission voted Tuesday to deny the permit for a suggested recycling center to be built behind a Ralphs supermarket on Brookhurst Street and Adams Avenue.

The center had drawn sharp opposition from nearby residents of the Huntington Bay community, who said it would attract transients, have an ugly appearance and bring unwanted traffic. Fifteen residents spoke in the public comment period, saying they feared it would make their neighborhood unsafe and promote trespassing.

“This is inappropriate for our neighborhood,” said Paul Haussler, president of the Huntington Bay Homeowners Assn. “It is a recipe for disaster.”

Commissioners said they agreed, voting 6-0 to nix the center. Commissioner Blair Farley was absent that night.

“Residents don’t want it, the police department doesn’t want it, and I’m certainly not going to stand in the way,” Commissioner Fred Speaker said.

Commissioner Joe Shaw said he was “disappointed by the lack of flexibility” shown by the owners of the store and the landlord.

While most such centers are in the front parking lot of a shopping center, this kiosk was to be behind the store — right next to a gate into Huntington Bay.

Ralphs and the landowner have told the city that a front-lot kiosk wasn’t an option on the property.

Police Chief Kenneth Small wrote a memo to the commission, saying that the nearby Santa Ana River Trail held numerous transients who would frequent the center if built. His memo said the potential benefits weren’t worth the risk of increased crime.

The store is required by state law to have a recycling center nearby, a rule that many supermarkets have scrambled to fulfill; if it can’t, it is required either to redeem bottles and cans inside the market or pay $100 a day.

Ralphs had its own representation at the meeting, an attorney that said the market had a right to build the center.

“There have been no past complaints of any problems” in the city’s five existing centers, attorney Paige Gosney said. “The difficulties with this center have come as a surprise.”

The denial was the second for the center, which was rejected in May by the city zoning administrator before the store owner appealed. Another appeal, to the City Council, is possible if made within 10 days.

MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at [email protected].