Trash Talk

A longtime business associate of South Bay developer Roque de la Fuente is circulating a petition that would put before county voters a measure to allow construction of a large landfill and recycling center on Otay Mesa. Entitled the “East Otay Mesa Recycling Collection Center and Landfill Ordinance,” the proposal would place the development on unincorporated land “approximately 2 miles east of the Siempre Viva Road exit from Interstate 905, one quarter mile from Loop Road and east of planned State Route 11,” according to the petition sponsored by David Wick. Three hundred forty acres of the 450-acre site would be developed for the center, to be open a minimum of nine hours a day six days a week, the petition says. If it qualifies for the ballot and is approved by voters, the measure would amend the county general plan to change the land’s zoning to allow solid-waste facilities and add the parcel to the county’s list of recycling and disposal sites.

Almost a decade ago, Wick and de la Fuente wanted to build a racetrack on land they owned in the area along the border with Mexico, but the project was blocked by intensive Border Patrol operations against a flood of illegal immigrants traveling through the property. Wick’s office said he was out of town until next week and no one else was authorized to speak about the petition drive. … Meanwhile, American Border Patrol, an Arizona-based nonprofit group that says it uses high-tech electronic devices to “bring the crisis called Illegal Immigration to the forefront of the American public’s consciousness,” is out with a clickable color-coded map on its website featuring aerial views of construction progress on the U.S. border fence from San Diego to Brownsville, Texas. Photos that the site says were taken in June of this year are shown with captions noting “many gaps” and “open border” (http://americanpatrol.com/ABP/SURVEYS/BORDER-2009/Border-Main-20009.html).