SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - A local business is looking to bring back a California Redemption Value (CVR) recycling center to Santa Maria, which has been without one for several years.
On Wednesday, the Santa Maria Planning Commission will review an application for a Conditional Use Permit by AGS Recycling Inc. to open a center on a 0.39-acre site located at 1128 West Church Street, just off of West Main Street and North Blosser Road.
The proposed business would re-establish a buy-back place for people to recycle CVR bottles and cans in Santa Maria for the first time since rePlant closed all of its nearly 300 locations across the state in 2019.
AGS Recycling Inc, which operates facilities in nearby Orcutt, Guadalupe, rural Arroyo Grande and Morro Bay is looking to open a permanent site in location that is currently being operated as an automobile repair shop.
If approved, the site would be redeveloped into a center to be used for the collection, purchase, weighing, and temporary storage of recyclable materials (aluminum cans, glass bottles, and plastic bottles).
Earlier this year, the Planning Commission reviewed the AGS proposal on Feb. 19th and April 16th.
During those discussions, a staff report wrote the public voiced concerns regarding the increase of unsheltered people in the general area, cleanliness and odor, pests and rodents, abandoned shopping carts, alley traffic, alley fires, and an overall increase in crime.
The Santa Maria staff report added that based on public feedback, the Planning Commission requested staff and the applicant to explore solutions that would mitigate the concerns shared at the study session.
During the meeting on April 16th, AGS responded to the public concerns by providing the City with a list of solutions that business would enact to help mitigate those worries.
The proposed solutions included, power washing the site twice a week, hiring an exterminating company to perform monthly services, closing public access to the alley from the project site, contracting with a security company to provide surveillance cameras with sensors, installing motion-activated exterior lighting, posting “No Trespassing” signs, reporting abandoned shopping carts to the City, keeping the dumpster and outdoor storage container locked when not in operation and maintaining the site landscaping to eliminate any hiding places.
The Santa Maria Planning Commission will meet on Wednesday, May 21, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. at Santa Maria CIty Hall.
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