Citrus Heights City Council tables ban on new recycling centers

By Sara Beth Williams–
The Citrus Heights City Council on Wednesday opted to table banning any future recycling centers and instead favored enhancing current regulations on existing recycling centers.

Wednesday night, city staff presented to the council several recommendations regarding existing recycling centers in the city, continuing a discussion that began in September of 2024.

The recommendations included: requiring use permits for new recycling centers, instead of minor use permits, which would result in forcing a public hearing, requiring centers to be located in a Convenient Zone, which is within a one-mile radius of existing major retailers, as established by CalRecycle, requiring new recycling centers to be indoor-only, and allow for minor expansion of existing recycling centers.

Councilmember Kelsey Nelson favored combining all four recommendations, but several public commenters cautioned against establishing more stringent regulations, such as Use Permits or only allowing indoor-only recycling facilities.

One commenter cautioned the council against establishing Use Permit requirements specifically, stating that stricter regulations could prevent grocers in Citrus Heights from complying with new Senate Bill 1013.

Tim James, representing the California Grocers Association, explained that without a recycling center in a one-mile radius, the law requires grocers to either accept recyclables in-store, or they have the option to create a nonprofit dealer cooperative. According to James, a cooperative would allow multiple retailers to come together and develop more “creative” ways to provide recycling opportunities, such as mobile recycling options.

Councilmember Tim Schaefer and Vice Mayor MariJane Lopez-Taff agreed with James, and emphasized the need for further conversation with grocers, not just recycling center operators.

“I would much rather have the industry regulate themselves than me put out some new regulation,” Schaefer said.

Senior Planner Alison Bermudez with the Citrus Heights Planning Division said during a presentation to the City Council that, in order to address concerns raised about blight, the city took video surveillance of the local recycling centers 24 hours a day for a one-week time period in order to verify concerns.

Currently, Citrus Heights has four recycling centers: one on Zenith Drive, two on Greenback Lane, and one on Auburn Boulevard near Greenback Lane.

Following a review of video footage and concerns from the community, the city listed several concerns regarding recycling centers, including parking congestion and that centers were visually unattractive, which contributes to the “perception of blight.” Abandoned shopping carts were seen at centers, and as well, illicit activity was seen near recycling facilities outside of operating hours.

Nelson, along with Councilmember Porsche Middleton, emphasized that issues of blight needed to be addressed now, rather than later, and that regulations should be enhanced at current recycling centers, even while conversations are being had with grocers.

Bermudez said the city has met with current recycling center operators, and they have been “very willing to adjust procedures” to help address concerns regarding blight. In an effort to support the local businesses and the shopping cart ordinance, the city asked recycling centers to stop accepting recycling materials from customers who bring them via a shopping cart that belongs to a business.

“What happens is, customers will fill carts with recyclables and take it as close to the recycling center as they can, then they’ll unload the cart and make sure that they walk up to the center, leaving the abandoned carts around the edges,” Bermudez told the City Council.

Bermudez acknowledged several benefits to having recycling centers, including that centers provide jobs and business ownership opportunities and allow for community members to help improve the environment and put money back into the local economy.

“There has been an improvement since we started this conversation. I think all four centers that we have, have made improvements over the months,” Citrus Heights Mayor Jayna Karpinski-Costa said, while also acknowledging that the problem of blight still exists.

The council did not recommend changing the ordinance to require any new recycling center applications to be located within a Convenience Zone, as established by CalRecycle. Currently, there are 12 Convenience Zones throughout the city, according to Bermudez, with two more areas on the border of Citrus Heights and Fair Oaks that may become Convenience Zones in the future because of the establishment of new retailers. The city has four recycling centers serving only four Convenience Zones, according to a slideshow presented to the council by the Planning Division.

According to Bermudez, the city has one recycling center for every 21,000 residents, which is “way more” than the neighboring jurisdictions, in terms of the size of the city’s population.

The council directed staff to continue the conversation regarding any potential new recycling center options with local grocers. Schaefer opted to do nothing else at all, but the four remaining members also asked the city to address and enhance current regulations and assist existing recycling centers in accessing necessary funds to modernize facilities.