Simi Council OKs New Shopping Center

The Simi Valley City Council has endorsed construction of a shopping center on one of the prime commercial sites in the city.

The council voted 3 to 2 Monday night to reject a move to overturn the city Planning Commission’s approval of the project, pending its redesign to ease the flow of traffic. The 185,909-square-foot shopping center, which will be anchored by a Target department store, is being developed by the Mackel Co. of North Hollywood and Pacific Development Group of Newport Beach.

Two council members, Mayor Pro Tem Greg Stratton and Ann Rock, asked the council to reverse the Planning Commission’s December approval of the project, saying that the Target center is not in accordance with the city’s general plan, which calls for a larger “subregional” shopping mall in the area.

In recent months, Simi Valley officials have been campaigning for construction of a large mall in the city, hiring a third assistant city manager who was given the job of attracting builders. Stratton said he is worried that the Target shopping center might scare off potential mall developers.

“I think most people realize the mall won’t be the size of a Northridge or a Thousand Oaks,” Stratton said. “But, the more shops we have in town, the less likely the majors will come in” and build one, Stratton said.

But Thomas S. Mackel, president of the Mackel Co., said the smaller shopping center is “a project that’s needed in Simi. We didn’t hear any outcries from the community. It became an issue of how it fit in with the general plan.”

The project is planned for a 14.8-acre site between Cochran Street and California 118, east of Sycamore Street. Rock said the parcel is the last of 70 acres in the city zoned for a subregional shopping center.

25 Other Shops

The design of the shopping center has the Target store facing an existing Mervyn’s department store on opposite ends of the parking lot. About 25 shops will be connected to the Target store.

“Land is such a premium now,” Rock said at the council meeting. “If we accept this definition of a subregional center, we stand the chance of making others think twice about developing here. They’ll think: ‘Well, they’ve already got a subregional, so why build here?’ ”

But Bob Wieting, Planning Commission vice chairman, said that there still are several prime locations for a shopping mall to the east and west of the proposed project.

In City’s Tradition

Wieting said the Target project fits into the city’s tradition of approving a variety of shopping centers. Although the city has approved shopping centers in a “piecemeal fashion, it was not the responsibility of this project to pull them together in a coherent fashion,” he said.

The shopping center site and 55 surrounding acres are classified in the city’s general plan as a suitable location for a subregional shopping mall. But the 55 acres have already been developed with a variety of small service-store centers, Rock said.

Council members have agreed to reclassify those 70 acres in a general plan update, which is scheduled to be completed in March, Rock said. Two or more new locations will be found and designated for subregional shopping centers to attract developers, she said.