Planning Commisson OKs Yakult Facility

The Fountain Valley Planning Commission approved plans Wednesday night for Yakult USA's 98,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.

The facility will be built on the former Three Star Nursery site at 17325 Newhope Ave., and has been in the planning stages since October of 2010. The facility is expected to bring in about 150 jobs. Impact studies estimated that the plant would create no significant increase in traffic, due largely to the fact that its driveway will allow only for right turns in from and and out onto the southbound side of Newhope.

"We went so many places," said Dr. Hideyuki Shibata about Yakult's search for a suitable site. "Fountain Valley was very good in terms of its infrastructure adn the environment, and the land itself was very clean. Some other places were used for some kind of chemical factory, but this land was used for plants, so it was the best for us."

The facility will also feature an area on the second floor that will be used to conduct tours of the plant, and Dr. Shibata said the company would like to invite students from Fountain Valley's schools to be among the first to see it once it's built.

The commission also approved conditional use permits for Hertz, which will be opening a local rental car office at the corner of Newhope Avenue and Talbert Avenue, and for Miyagi Boxing Gym, which will be opening a training facility at 18928 Brookhurst St.