Panel Rules Operator Violated Dump Permit

A Los Angeles city zoning panel ruled Tuesday that the operator of the Sunshine Canyon landfill operator had violated its land-use permit, but the decision will have little effect because the dump is set to close Sept. 21.

The Board of Zoning Appeals also found that Browning-Ferris Industries, the dump’s owner, did not intentionally violate the lengthy conditions of a zoning variance granted in 1966. Among the conditions violated was that the city be informed of any plans for grading within 50 feet of the hilltops above the landfill.

Browning-Ferris got city permission in 1988 to build an access road near the summit of the dump above Granada Hills. In dispute Tuesday was whether the firm had adequately notified the city that the road was to be within the 50-foot zone.

Robert Alpern of the city Bureau of Sanitation, which oversees the landfill’s permit, said he would not immediately seek to close the dump, but will decide what action to take after a Sept. 6 hearing.