City council didn’t vote on construction of compactor
By JASON AUSLANDER Special to the Daily Press
A trash compactor being installed underneath the Santa Monica Pier has nearby business owners holding their noses and wondering if they’ve been bamboozled by the city.
“They’ve been talking about a trash compactor for a year and a half, but they never said it was going to be on Ocean Front Walk,” said Marcia Jacobs, owner of the Carousel Cafe, located right next to the compactor site. “We were really blindsided.”
However, one city official said a notice announcing the project was posted at the site for four months and that Jacobs also received a notice from the California Coastal Commission in the mail.
“For (Jacobs) to now say that no one ever told her about it is really objectionable,” said Mark Richter, economic development manager for the city of Santa Monica, adding that he saw Jacobs at some of the Pier tenant meetings where the project was discussed.
Construction on the $40,000 compactor began two weeks ago and is expected to be completed in three to four more weeks, Richter said. It’s located on Ocean Front Walk, directly under the Pier, and 35 feet from the Carousel Cafe, which is at 1601 Ocean Front Walk.
The compactor is needed because the city’s garbage trucks are too heavy for the Pier to support, Richter said, adding that the trucks do $40,000 a year worth of damage to the wooden structure.
He said various other nearby locations were considered, but the city settled on the present location for the compactor because it wouldn’t have to spend any more money on infrastructure, such as roads to accommodate the trucks, and the beach wouldn’t lose any parking spaces. Once the compactor is installed, it will be landscaped so it is “not visually obtrusive,” Richter said.
Jim Jungwirth, owner of Big Dean’s Cafe, 1615 Ocean Front Walk, said he is most concerned whether the compactor will generate problems with cockroaches, mice and other vermin.
“We don’t have a cockroach or a rat (problem) right now and we want to keep it that way,” he said.
“We don’t have a cockroach or a rat (problem) right now and we want to keep it that way.” — — JIM JUNGWIRTH Owner of Big Dean’s Cafe
Richter said the compactor will be sealed when not being used and that vermin will be controlled by maintaining the facility and keeping the surrounding area clean. Also, he said that any liquid refuse would flow into the sewer via a drain and that the compactor has a built-in odor control device.
Trash will be taken from Pier businesses to the compactor three times a day in the off-season and five times a day during the summer. Compacted trash will be picked up daily, usually in the morning, Richter said.
Jacobs said she wasn’t sure if she and her landlord had any legal recourse, though she was sure the compactor will aversely affect her business.
“I’m just trying to get it stopped,” she said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 3, 2002. Read the original PDF.