VC Star
By David Goldstein
March 8th
The public is invited to attend the grand opening of Ojai Valley Organics at 11 a.m. Monday.
The county-owned site, past the trailhead of the Ventura River Preserve at the end of Old Baldwin Road, has, since the 1950s, served as a burn dump, a garbage transfer station, a recycling center and, until 2019, a location for recycling yard clippings and lumber.
That final use will again be the site’s purpose as Progressive Environmental Industries Inc., the county’s contractor, begins operations.
The site has been vacant for six years due, at first, to difficulties finding a qualified contractor to pursue permits and operate the site. Later, delays continued as the selected contractor met challenges with the permit process.
In 2022, Arturo Gonzalez, owner of Progressive Environmental, borrowed $1.2 million of state funds through the Ventura County Recycling Market Development Zone program. He bought a new grinder and other equipment, expecting the Ojai site to be available soon. Instead, as permitting became more complicated, he deployed the equipment at his similar site in downtown Santa Barbara. The equipment will finally be operational at Ojai Valley Organics by the grand opening.
During the site’s six inactive years, the Ojai Valley has not had a locally available recycler for yard clippings and lumber. Businesses relied on Harrison Industries to haul bins for organics, and the bins also allow bagged food waste. However, tree trimmers, landscapers, residents with home improvement projects and contractors in the wood framing stage of construction often had to haul materials to Ventura or Oxnard, recycling at the Gold Coast or Del Norte recycling and transfer stations. This journey was time-consuming, expensive and did not provide an incentive for keeping recyclable yard clippings and lumber separate from other materials.
Some of the Ojai Valley’s need for local management of organic waste was met by the nonprofit Concerned Resource and Environmental Workers, or CREW. With help from grants provided by Cal Fire and the California Fire Safe Council, last year the group cleared over 221 acres of hazardous vegetation, chipped over 22 tons of material and provided chipping and brush clearance services to 608 properties, according to the organization’s website.
Some recycling businesses encounter a “not in my backyard” response from local residents, but Progressive Environmental didn’t encounter opposition on the reopening of Ojai Valley Organics. Instead, several people formed the “Save OVO Coalition” and took actions such as sending letters of support to permitting authorities when key decisions were being considered.
Ventura County Supervisor Matt LaVere, whose 1st District seat includes the Ojai Valley and who will speak at Monday’s grand opening, also advanced the project. At one point, he assigned his chief aide, Maruja Clensay, to bring together four permitting entities in the county for three meetings that eventually broke a regulatory logjam. Clensay is now Ventura’s assistant community development director.
Nathan Whitman, owner of Pan’s Garden Nursery in Ojai, which sells locally grown vegetables, herbs, natives and rare specialty plants, explained the importance of OVO for Ojai Valley residents and businesses.
Whitman also used to do landscaping, he said. He got mulch from OVO and brought landscape waste there for recycling. After OVO’s closure and then the pandemic, he shut down landscaping operations.
“Now I may revive my landscape business after OVO reopens,” Whitman said.
David Goldstein, an environmental resource analyst with the Ventura County Public Works Agency, can be reached at 805-658-4312 or david.goldstein@ventura.org
