Cambria recycling center could remain, as a collection site | San Luis Obispo Tribune

A change in how Cambria’s current recycling center operates might mean it could stay where it is at the upper end of Tamsen Drive, according to county officials.

And in the meantime, the All American Video store owned by the same couple is holding a selling-everything-to-the-walls, going-out-of-business sale at 1306 Tamsen Drive.

The recycling facility’s conversion would be to a “recycle collection site” — where materials are removed regularly from the site in essentially the same condition in which people deposited them — from the previous “recycling processing center” operation at which employees sort the materials and crush cans and glass.

With the change, the noise generated by those actions would be eliminated, making the reduced operations more compatible with the residential area higher on the hillside, according to Art Trinidade, the county’s chief code enforcement officer. Therefore, the 500-foot buffer between the center and the nearest residence wouldn’t be required.

However, Trinidade stopped short of saying the revised center absolutely would be able to continue operating where it is. He said Tuesday, Oct. 13, that such a decision would be considered after owners Michelle and Rudy Rodriguez submit their application for a minor-use permit for the facility.

That has to be done soon, Trinidade added. “We’re giving them some leeway” to continue operations for a short time.” But after months of back-and-forth discussions and negotiations involving the county, the couple and their attorney, Trinidade said, “we’re done dialoguing. They need to get the permit application in.”

The couple wants to sell the recycling facility soon, Michelle Rodriguez reconfirmed Oct. 11, and believes there are people ready to buy it.

The Rodriguezes plan to move soon to Virginia to be closer to their son and his family, which includes toddlers (aka Michelle and Rudy’s grandchildren). First, however, the couple must sell off the contents of the video store, complete the recycling permit application and, if that’s approved, sell the recycling center that’s been in flux for so long, but operation of which is required by state law.