Sacramento County looks to ban dozens of recycling centers

Jonathan Santana thinks Sacramento County might want him out of the recycling business.

Like about three dozen other recyclers in the unincorporated county, Santana runs his business out of a shipping container in a parking lot. Because of complaints of blight and loitering homeless people, the county is considering tweaks to an ordinance that would run these “cargo” recycling centers indoors or out of business.

“If [the county] passes the law, I’m not going to be able to rent indoors because it’s going to be upward of $3,000 for the rent, and I can’t afford that,” he explained. “It’s the only business I have, you know?”

It might not be for much longer.

The county’s Community Development Department received an estimated 50 complaints in the last year involving recycling facilities—namely those working out of long blue or green cargo containers often found outside of grocery stores or gas stations.

A proposed change to existing county policy aims to prohibit these specific businesses by requiring recyclers to obtain minor-use permits from the zoning administrator and operate inside an enclosed building instead of from the current modular containers. If the policy passes, 90 percent of recycling centers of the cargo variety stand to be affected, according to county principal planner Tricia Stevens.

The Sacramento County Planning Commission is set to hear the revised ordinance on March 10. A final decision by the board of supervisors is expected sometime in April.

“This is not about discouraging recycling,” Stevens told SN&R. “We’re trying to update our recycling ordinance to increase design standards so they’re not a blight on the community.”

Stevens said the complaints her department receives concern loud noises, unkempt premises, tattered tarp covers, broken fences and homeless people loitering on-site with shopping carts full of recyclables.

Stevens said that when the facilities in question keep recyclables outdoors, they often look like big piles of trash, which prompts surrounding business owners to complain. “Most of the complaints that we receive are from other businesses in the shopping center where the recycling facilities are located and their concerns are taking up parking, as well as the unsightly operation,” she added.

Angie Rivera, owner of JA Recycling Center on Florin Road, fears revisions to the existing ordinance will ultimately run her out of business. “Everybody’s trying to meet the regulations the county wants,” she said. “We just want to be able to work and make some sort of living out of it.”

Rivera said she’s complied with county code enforcements on several occasions, fixing signs and adjusting the size of the corral that surrounds her facility. She said smaller recycling-center business owners like her choose to operate out of cargo containers simply because it’s more affordable.

Rivera used to own a second facility, which closed due to financial hardships. That’s something that Santana also experienced. “I’ve already lost one facility, and this one is all I got left,” he said.

Santana said he struggles with his current monthly rent of $1,200. He added that his customers would lose out on a source of income if he goes out of business. “This [ordinance] will not only affect the owners, but also the customers,” he told SN&R. “All people of all income types recycle at my place, and some cannot get jobs.”

On average, these containers cost between $98 and $115 to lease monthly, in addition to the rent of the lot spaces, which is decided by the property’s landlord. According to Rivera, rents near $1,000 a month for a majority of recycling-business owners.

The other hassle can just be finding a willing landlord from whom to rent space. “The minute you say, ’I’d like to open a recycling center,’ some will say ’no’ because it does bring an element of people like the homeless, and they do start searching through the neighborhood garbage cans,” Rivera said.

But some landlords are on the side of the small businesses, like Riaz Mohammed, co-owner of the Valero gas station where Santana Recycling is located. Mohammed is also Santana’s landlord. “They are here making an honest living,” Mohammed said. “[The ordinance] doesn’t make any sense. People are poor. It’s absurd. I’m happy to have the recycling business on my property. It helps me that they’re here all the time. It’s better for the entire community.”

The California Grocers Association also came out in opposition to the proposed changes. In a letter to the planning commission, local government-relations manager Tim James wrote that the revisions would have “dramatic negative impacts.”

The reason, he explained, is something known as “convenience zones,” which refer to a half-mile radius around full-service grocery stores where many recycling facilities are found. These zones, established by the state Legislature, exist to ensure that recycling centers are easily accessible to the public.