The Ojai Post

(8:00 am Tuesday morning at the junction of Routes 33 & 150; two fully loaded but uncovered gravel trucks travel through the Ojai Restricted Zone on their way to Oxand via the 33 and the 101.)

In accordance with the expressed written wishes of the Deputy CEO of Ventura County, Matt Carroll, we are forwarding all of our current complaints directly to Planning Director, Kim Rodriguez for adjudication. We added these latest incidents below to our list of formal complaints:

As a preface, please note:

A) That all of the complaints below apply only if the vehicles in question were either going to or from the Ozena Valley Ranch mining operation.

B) Further, none of the fully loaded double hoppers gravel trucks spotted were covered. Although County staff has echoed John Hecht, the agent for Ozena, and his claims that loaded trucks do not have to be covered under the State Highway Code, a simple reading of the C.U.P. clearly indicates that there is a higher standard in the C.U.P. that Ozena continually fails to meet.

On Page 13, of C.U.P. 5170, Condition 30, (Prevention of Construction Material Spillage) states: "Before loaded trucks travel outside the processing area (i.e. before crossing the Cuyama River) as identified on the Site Plan (Exhibit 4), the permitee shall ensure all trucks leaving the area are constructed, covered, loaded to prevent any of the contents from dropping, sifting, leaking blowing, spilling or otherwise escaping from the vehicle onto private or public roadways or the Cuyama River."

We fully believe that any truck coming from Ozena must comply with the C.U.P. as written.

C) The existing C.U.P. for Ozena indicates that all vehicles must follow Caltrans and the State of California Advisory Guidelines in regards truck length (King Pin To Rear Axle) on rural highways. The 2001 C.U.P. for Ozena incorrectly suggests that this length for Route 33 is 38 feet. In fact, as can be seen from the attached photo, the posted length at the start of Maricopa Highway is actually only 30 feet.

According to Brent Beall, manufacturer of the bottom dump trailers that Valley Bulk, Ortiz and other companies use, the measurement from the King Pin of the semi to center of the rear axle of the pull trailer is 535". This translates into 44.4 feet.

If this is correct, then it would appear that the trailers used by Ortiz, Valley Bulk and other bottom dumpers for all of these years on the Ozena runs over the mountains through Ojai would be in violation not only of the 30 foot advisory posted by Caltrans but also of the 38 foot length incorrectly listed in the 2001 C.U.P. for Ozena.

(Overturned Vally Bulk double hopper taken several winters ago)

D) All of the sightings and complaints below occurred in the narrow definition of the Ojai restricted as was recently promulgated by the Planning Director in a map she created in October of 2008. (County Planning Division officials now claim that the phrase: on Route 33 "Between Casitas Springs and Ojai," does not include either Casitas Spring or Ojai itself.)

As we discussed at our recent meeting earlier this month with County officials, the Coalition does not accept this narrow interpretation.

We feel that the discretionary judgment and arcane interpretation of the English language used by County officials to make this claim runs contrary to interests of the public as it effectively removes safety protections from Nordoff High School, the Ojai Hospital, a church preschool, our main shopping center at the "Y", several senior citizen housing complexes and the community of Casitas Springs -- a neighborhood so destroyed by traffic that they have been begging for a Route 33 by-pass for years.

In the records turned over to us in response to our second Public Records Requests, we finally learned the source of this narrow re-definition of the restricted zone, a map created by none other than John Hecht, the agent for Ozena, and handed out to drivers last year. As Michael Shapiro, our Chairman, noted in regards weigh tickets, allowing Ozena to create this most absurd definition that runs contrary to the interests of public safety and health is a bit like "letting the fox guard the hen house."

E) We believe that the question of whether or not Ozena in regards their C.U.P. has been either , “(A),” a good corporate citizen or, “(B),” they have not been good citizens, can easily be answered by one simple and absolute documentary test of Weigh Tickets.

However, in a meeting last July between Matt Carroll and a representative of the Coalition in which we complained about possible violations, the Deputy CEO, indicated that he thought there had only been few recent complaints about Ozena. Our representitive disagreed and said that these violations were occurring on a daily basis and should be looked into.

Had the County Planning Division taken that complaint seriously last summer and had become proactive about investigating Ozena, rather than becoming defensive, there would be no need for "Stop The Trucks" to resort to filing individual complaints.

Ozena would have either been proven to be “(A),” a good corporate citizen or, “(B),” not a good citizen. All of the time, effort and expense generated by all parties since then, would have been completely unnecessary had the Planning Division taken a "proactive" effort to ascertain the truth.

We again, urge the Planning Division to take the necessary - and well justified - steps to obtain a full year of Ozena Weigh Tickets and work cooperatively with the public to find the truth.

F) In response to our complaints, John Hecht, the agent for Ozena, provided a Weighmaster Certificate for Alliance but failed to provide one for Tony Virgilio. We have documentation from the state (see below) that indicates Mr. Vigilio's certificate may have lapsed or been delinquent for several months prior to Alliance taking over the operation. If this is true, it would indicate serious gap in the credibility of any record keeping by Ozena in regards Weigh Tickets. We challenge Ozena to offer physical proof that Mr. Virgilio's weighmaster license was in full compliance between June of 2008 and October of 2008.

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Weighmaster Licensed Locations
Suspense/Delinquent Status Division Of Measurement Standards
6790 Florin-Perkins Rd. Ste. 100
Sacramento, CA 95828-1812

Ventura County
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License Status Location Type License Name City Telephone Business Class


009889 D Principal OZENA VALLEY RANCH SAND AND GRAVEL COMPANY (661) 766-2521
56 HWY 33 LOCKWOOD VALLEY RD. OZENA VALLEY 93704

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The New Complaints:


#60: On March 9, 2008 an uncovered turquoise Swader double hopper truck was seen cutting east through El Roblar on it's way to Route 33 south. Vehicles of that size are prohibited on El Roblar.

#61: On March 11, 2009, a Swader double hopper truck was seen entering in the restricted zone heading north at 7:17 am, a possible time violation.

#62: On March 13, 2009, a Swader double hopper truck was seen entering the restricted zone heading south at 3:45 pm, another possible time violation.

#63: On March 14, 2009, an uncovered Swader double hopper truck was seen entering the restricted zone heading north at 8:30 am and south at 10:30 am. More possible time violations.

#64: On March 16, 2009, a Swader double hopper truck was seen entering in the restricted zone heading north at 7:33 am, a possible time violation.

#65: On March 17, 2009, a Swader double hopper truck was seen entering in the restricted zone heading south at 3:15 pm, another possible time violation.

#66: On March 18, 2009, three double hopper trucks passed through the restricted zone and headed north towards the mines between 4:00 am and 4:30 am. Later that same day two double hopper trucks were seen entering the restricted zone heading south at 3:45 pm. All are possible time violation.

#67: On March 19, 2009 an uncovered Lawson double hopper truck was seen speeding as it passed the high school and then entered the zone at 1:15 pm, another possible coverage violation.

#68: On March 20, 2009, four double hopper trucks passed through the restricted zone and headed north towards the mines between 3:45 am and 4:45 am. Later two of those double hopper trucks were seen re-entering the restricted zone from the north fully loaded and uncovered between 7:10 am and 7:20 am. The trucks then traveled all the way down the 33 and 101 to Oxnard. Later that same day two more uncovered double hoppers were reported traveling south through the restricted zone at 1:30 pm. We have possible multiple time and coverage violations for this day.

#69: On March 23, 2009, two double hopper trucks passed through the restricted zone and headed north towards the mines between 5:00 am and 5:15 am. Two double hopper trucks, one of which was an Ortiz bottom dumping style, passed through the restricted zone and headed north towards the mines at 7:15 am. All of these would be time violations as well as possible king pin advisory violations.

#70: On March 24, 2009, two fully loaded and uncovered double hopper trucks coming south at 7:55 am in the morning drove past the high school and turned south onto Route 33 and then entered the restricted zone. The lead truck (see photos) was a turquoise Swader double hopper.

The second truck was a white Neilson double. The trucks were tracked going down the 33. They turned south onto the 101 south bound and followed all the way to Oxnard.

These were not "local deliveries," and would be clear time violations.

#71: Also on March 24, 2009 at the above vehicles were spotted south bound, three north bound double hoppers vehicles were also seen entering the zone. One - at 8:00 am - was the same frequently seen Ortiz bottom dumper, white with green trim, that was spun out in an accident on upper 33 several years ago.

The second was a dark blue double from Lawson at 8:10 am and the third was a Swader at 8:20 am. All would be time violations as well as a possible king pin violation.

#72: On March 25, 2009, three double hoppers violated the zone heading north between 4:30 am and 5:00 am. At 6:04 pm that evening, a fully loaded Swader double hopper may have also violated the zone heading south.

#73: On March 26, 2009, a white double hopper was spotted violating the zone heading north at 4:35 am and the same vehicle was spotted entering the zone heading south two hours later at 6:40 am. That same afternoon another fully loaded and uncovered white double hopper was spotted going south in the zone at 3:27 pm. A Swader double hopper was also spotted in the zone going south at 3:43 pm. More time violations.