Residents and businesses in Calabasas are encouraged to choose mobile car wash vendors responsibly. Only vendors who hold a valid City permit are authorized to operate within Calabasas. You can find the list of permitted vendors here: Permitted Mobile Car Washing Companies

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mobile Car Wash Ordinance (Adopted in 2008)

The Calabasas City Council adopted Ordinance 2008-251, regulating mobile car wash operations within the City of Calabasas.  The ordinance requires all mobile car wash businesses to obtain a City Permit and follow certain regulations to prevent pollutants/ contaminants from entering the storm drain system.  Calabasas was the first city in California to regulate mobile commercial car washing.

Purpose

The Clean Water Act requires cities to create enforceable regulations to prevent pollutants from entering storm drains, which ultimately flow into creeks and the ocean. 

Mobile car washing on residential driveways and commercial parking lots often results in illegal discharges, which violates the Clean Water Act.   Such violations could subject the City to fines and notices of violations from the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB).  The RWQCB urges local governments to ensure wastewater from mobile vendors is properly directed to the sewer system or a recycling facility, not the storm drain network.

Definition of Mobile Car Wash/ Mobile Commercial Washing

The ordinance defines “mobile commercial washing” as any paid activity that involves the washing of vehicles- including cars, trucks, motorcycles, recreational vehicles (RVs), or any other vehicle- performed at multiple locations such as homes or workplaces.

This also includes any temporary fundraising car wash events. 

Requirements

The City's permit system requires each mobile car wash operator to apply and receive a permit from the City’s Public Works Department.  The permit is valid for one year and is not transferable.  Each permit holder must ensure that all car wash employees are knowledgeable of the discharge limitations listed in the City’s ordinance and that they use appropriate preventive measures whenever they are engaged in car washing activities.  

 For more information, please contact the Environmental Services Division at (818) 224-1680.

Resources

Ordinance No. 2008-251 Regulating Mobile Car Wash
Application for Mobile Car Wash Operations Permit
Car Wash Brochure
Permitted Mobile Car Washing Companies

In the City of Calabasas, only certain companies are permitted to operate as a trash hauler within the City; please check the Trash Hauling and Disposal Companies List.  If you plan to place the hauler in Public Right-of-Way, an encroachment permit will be required.

• Trash Hauling and Disposal Companies

• Encroachment Permit

• Pool and Fountain Maintenance
• Standard Urban Storm Water Mitigation Plan

• Air Quality and Land Use
• Air Quality Issues in General Plan and Local Planning
• Calabasas Pavement Management System
• Calabasas Urban Forestry Strategic Plan
• LA Regional Urban Water Management Plan
• LVMWD Urban Water Management Plan
• Making Progress - Restoration of the Malibu Creek Watershed
• Making Progress - An Executive Summary
• Non-point Source Program -Strategy and Implementation Plan, 1998-2013
• Sources of Nutrients in the Nation's Watershed
• Steelhead Barrier and Habitat in Malibu Creek Watershed
• Stream Corridor Restoration - Principals, Processes and Practices
• Trash TMDL for the LA River Watershed
• Upper Las Virgenes Open Space Preserve
• Water Recycling and Reuse - The Environmental Benefits

• Press Release

• Construction and Demolition Debris Recycling
  
• Environmental Mitigation Plans Checklist
• Guidance for Preparation of LOCAL Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP)/Wet Weather Erosion Control Plan (WWECP)
• Local Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) for Pool and Spa only
• NPDES - Development Planning Guidelines, Standard Urban Stormwater Mitigation Plan
• NPDES for Single Family Hillside Residence of Less Than One Acre Disturbed Area
• Trash Enclosure Generic Standards

Best Management Practices for Horse Operations in Suburban Communities 

Water Quality

Site Planning

Select the best location for barns, fields, manure storage containers or compost bins, watering systems, and fencing.  If the site is not well planned, it becomes more difficult to prevent diseases, control pests, and prevent pollution. It is never too late to rearrange the site for a horse operation if there is a problem with the current setting.

• Allow for as much vegetated area as possible between the animals or animal wastes and any water body. Locate heavily used areas on higher grounds that will be drier and receive less runoff.

• Watering systems such as troughs should be strategically located to ensure that the animals can access them from all fields.

• Situate the paddock or exercise area close to the barn, allowing easy release of animals to get their daily exercise.

• Separate fields and pastures with gated fences to control animal movement and grazing.

• Install diversions to control runoff.

Pasture Management

Overgrazing is a common problem when large animals are kept on small lots. No matter how much food supplement is provided, horses will selectively eat all their favorite growing vegetation. Less favored vegetation will eventually die out due to constant trampling and over-compaction of the soil by the weight of the animals. The exposed soil becomes vulnerable to erosion causing pollutants, such as sediments and nutrients, to enter water bodies.

A well-managed pasture not only prevents erosion, it also provides horses and ponies with high quality, nutritious feed at a lower cost.

• Maintain the fertility level of the soils in pasture areas for optimum yield. Soil tests should be done once every three years to determine how much commercial fertilizer and/or lime is needed.

• Soil samples must be collected and sent to a soils testing laboratory for analysis. Obtain details for this process from your nearest library or the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District. Soil samples can be collected at any time of the year. If the soil is wet at the time of collection, allow it to dry for proper mixing. Collect ten or more samples from different areas of a field from depths of about four inches below the surface. Thoroughly mix the samples together in a clean plastic pail. From that homogeneous mixture, take a representative sample, and put it into the sampling box (provided) for shipment to the soils testing laboratory.

• Installing a rotational grazing system, dividing a pasture area into smaller fields using gated fences, provides more pasture for the horses. While one field is recovering, the animals can graze in another. This system ensures that overgrazing does not occur. When done properly, the resting period of the fields will allow vegetation to recover with renewed vigor, and the horses will be guaranteed fresh grass for a longer period during the growing season. Divide pastures in such a way that animals can have access to clean water, shade, and salt at any time.

• Where space is limited, it is nearly impossible to maintain a pasture if the horses are allowed to freely graze the entire area. In this situation, subdivide the plot into two or more lots, using one as an exercise lot (with no pasture) and the others as grazing pastures. Allow the horses into the grazing area only when the grass is three to six inches tall. Proper fertilization and irrigation of this plot will provide a considerable amount of grazing pasture and eventually reduce the feed bill.

• When pastures are wet and soft, especially after heavy rains, the horses' hooves can cause considerable damage. It is best to keep them out of the pasture until it dries.

• Interseed your pasture with both warm and cool season grasses to prolong the availability of fresh grass, increase erosion protection, and provide continuous uptake of nutrients that might otherwise contribute to water pollution. When warm season grasses, such as bermuda grass, go into dormancy, cool season grasses, such as Kentucky bluegrass will start their growing period; this keeps your pasture green nearly all year round.

• Weed control is another concern in pastures. A lush pasture of grass and clover (no more than 25 percent) is the best way to keep weeds down. However, if you can't get your pasture dense enough to prevent weed growth, mow the weeds regularly or before they flower to keep them under control. If herbicides are used, identify the weed and determine the most advantageous time to apply the treatment. The ideal time to chemically treat your weeds is when the temperature is about 70° and humidity is low. High temperature and high humidity enhance volatility and reduce effectiveness of herbicides.

Animal Waste Management

Composting

Composting is an aerobic (oxygen requiring) process in which microorganisms break down complex organic components of animal waste and bedding into simple organic soil-like material. A simple and relatively inexpensive composting method involves using a composting bin on a level, impervious surface. This is ideal for horse operations with five or fewer horses. The bin should be easily accessible from the stall and paddock areas. For an operation with one to three horses, a two-bin system installed on an impervious surface is adequate. A four to five horse operation may need a three-bin composting system.

Install the composting bins on a non-porous (impervious) surface. Stack all materials to be composted in one bin until it is full. Then allow the waste heap to go through the composting process while the second bin is being filled up.

Composting duration varies considerably depending on the organic materials being composted and other conditions. An ideal composting system may take 8 to 12 weeks to complete. This progresses to a curing period which lasts for another four weeks. During this time, the pile cools down, and recolonization of other soil microorganisms takes place. Certain conditions are necessary for timely completion of composting:

• Organic materials to be composted must have the appropriate carbon to nitrogen (C:N) ratio that supports growth and activity of the microorganisms that carry out composting. These bugs use up carbon for energy and growth and nitrogen for protein to build up their bodies and reproduce.

• Typical compost piles from horse operations consisting of manure and bedding materials and have a high C:N ratio. This combination composts well by itself, especially if the bedding material is straw. If the bedding material is sawdust, it may take a longer time to compost. The composting process can be increased if materials with higher nitrogen content, such as grass clippings or urea, are added occasionally to the pile.

• Oxygen is needed by the microorganisms during respiration while breaking down the materials. Aerobic composting requires a lot of oxygen, particularly at the initial stage. A tremendous amount of energy in the form of heat is given off, creating an ideal environment for the microorganisms. They operate best in temperatures between 110°F and 150°F. At 140°F or higher, pathogens, weed seeds, and fly larvae in the composting materials are destroyed. However, at temperatures above 160°F, the microorganisms will die. Therefore, it is essential to regulate the oxygen and temperature levels by regularly turning the compost pile over about three times a month. Ideally, monitor the temperature using a long-stemmed thermometer.

• Moisture is necessary to permit biological activities and the supporting chemical processes. Moisture should be about 50 percent of the content. Estimate the moisture content by squeezing a handful of composted material. It should feel like a damp sponge after water has been wrung out of it-damp, but not dripping. Moisture is continuously lost due to the high temperature. Therefore, regularly wet the materials without waterlogging them.

The end product of a composting process is a simple, inert organic material called compost, which consists mainly of humus, plant nutrients, carbon, and microorganisms. It is a friable dark brown material that can be used in lawns, pastures, or gardens, or bagged for sale.

Composting has many benefits:

• It reduces environmental and health risks by controlling parasite re-infestation of horses, eliminating a potential breeding site for flies, and reducing the amount of raw manure-polluted runoff that reaches surface and ground water.

• It provides an efficient manure handling process by reducing the volume and odor potential.

• It enhances soil tilth and fertility for the yard, garden, pasture, or even a "horse-less" neighbor.

Nutrient Management

Integrated Pest Management

Instructions to prepare a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (pdf)

Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) Template (.doc)

Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) Attachments (all .doc/Microsoft Word files):

• Attachment A - Vicinity Map
• Attachment B - WPCDs
• Attachment C - BMP Checklist D
• Attachment D - Runoff Coefficient Calculations
• Attachment E - Run-on Discharge Calculations
• Attachment F - NOI
• Attachment G - Maint., Insp., & Repair Program
• Attachment H - SWQ BMPs Construction Inspection Checklist DS
• Attachment I - Training log
• Attachment J - Subconractor ltr & log
• Attachment K - Notice of Non-Compliance
• Attachment L - SWPPP Checklist
• Attachment M - Annual Cert of Compliance SD Rev 07-10-2006
• Attachment N - Other Plans and Permits
• Attachment O - WPC Cost Breakdown
• Attachment P - Notice of Termination
• Attachment Q - BMPs for this Project
• Attachment R - Sampling Activity Log
• Attachment S - Pollutant Testing Guidance Table
• Attachment T - Discharge Reporting Log