UPDATE : The Simi Valley Planning Commission voted 3-1 Wednesday to recommend City Council approval of a planned development permit for a proposed apartment building at 1575 Erringer Road. Commissioner Ivana Mayer voted against the project and Commissioner Allan Mann was absent. The 3-1 vote included a recommendation supporting related zoning and land-use changes.
ORIGINAL STORY:
A four-story, 66-unit apartment building is being proposed on a field that was once a part of a long-closed Simi Valley hospital.
The Simi Valley Planning Commission is scheduled to vote on a planned development permit Wednesday for the apartments on the now vacant 4.57-acre site at 1575 Erringer Road, off Heywood Street and near Rancho Simi Community Park.
The vote also involves deciding whether to rezone an adjacent, city-owned 0.19-acre parcel to high density residential from commercial. The city has agreed to deed the parcel to the developer in exchange for two more affordable-rate apartments, bringing their total to five, according to a city staff report.
Wednesday’s vote will also cover whether to remove the city's 0.19-acre parcel from the Arroyo Simi Greenway Specific Plan, said Sean Gibson, the deputy environmental services director and city planner. The triangular city parcel is next to the bicycle path along Arroyo Simi creek.
The Planning Commission will decide whether to recommend the project and its related zoning and land-use plan changes to the City Council, which will make the final decision, Gibson said.
The city staff report lists the applicant as Adrian Stern of Encino, who could not be reached for comment. Records from the Ventura County Assessor's Office show the land consists of two parcels owned by Heywood Street Associates LLC. State business records list Stern as the LLC's agent.
According to the staff report, Westlake Village-based Itule Real Estate Group has been involved with developing the apartments. The developer’s 4.57-acre site is already zoned high density residential, and the apartment building would sit on 1.46 acres, which includes the city’s 0.19-acre parcel, according to the staff report.
The apartments would consist of a single, four-story building facing Erringer Road, Senior Planner Elizabeth Richardson said Monday. The site is in an area with a mix of stores, restaurants and residences.
The project is compatible with the surrounding community, which includes condominiums to the east and the previously approved 91-unit Churchill Apartments on a 3.11-acre site west of the project site, Gibson said.
Concern over the possibility of increased traffic led Neighborhood Council No. 3, which is located in the area, to vote 7-2 on Jan. 11 to recommend the Planning Commission reject the apartment project.
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But city staff accepted the developer’s study, which was conducted by a traffic engineer and which showed the apartments would not create a significant increase in traffic, Richardson said.
The Neighborhood Council’s reasons to oppose the project also included the developer's decision to increase the number of stories to four from three, according to the council's minutes.
Normally, high residential density would only allow three stories, but the developer qualified for a fourth story under state law because of the affordable units, Richardson said. The developer also qualified to boost the number of apartments from 58 to 66 because of the affordable units, she said.
Dave Mason covers East County for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at dave.mason@vcstar.com or 805-437-0232.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Simi Valley Planning Commission votes in favor of 66 apartments at 1575 Erringer Road
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