Ballot Issue Aimed at Curbing Traffic : Simi Valley Roadway Measure Advances

Ventura County elections officials have approved placement of a measure on the November ballot in Simi Valley that would require developers to provide for street improvements needed to avert traffic congestion their projects would create.

The county elections commission said Tuesday it has certified the necessary 3,800 signatures on a petition calling for a vote on the slow-growth proposal. A group calling itself Fight Intolerable Growth and Horrible Traffic submitted the petitions, containing 5,643 signatures, to the city on May 27.

“I’m happy that voters will get a chance to cast their opinion on its merits,” said Paul La Bonte, leader of the group. La Bonte said the measure would be one of the most aggressive of its kind ever adopted in the state.

If the measure passes, the City Council would be barred from approving developments that would create traffic congestion within a 1 1/2-mile radius of the project unless the developer first makes, or pays, for improvements to keep traffic moving smoothly.

The measure, which is opposed by city officials, also would require Simi Valley to establish a “standard level” of acceptable traffic, defined as “generally free-flowing” with motorists only occasionally waiting through more than one traffic light.

Developers whose projects would lead to traffic tie-ups would be forced to provide for street improvements before receiving a go-ahead to build.

City planners and attorneys say the measure could lead to lawsuits from developers, retard economic development and force the city to make road improvements it cannot afford.

“Resorting to Draconian measures like these would be a big mistake,” Councilwoman Vicky Howard said. She said she expected the measure would be attractive to the city’s voters, who are frustrated with increasing traffic congestion on city streets and the Simi Valley Freeway.

The measure is similar to one defeated by 56% of the voters in Orange County on June 7.

“When Orange County voters started projecting what the economic consequences might be they decided that it wasn’t for them,” Howard said, adding she would soon present a resolution urging that the council make a clear declaration of its reservations.

La Bonte said the slow-growth group would mount a door-to-door campaign to combat what he expects will be well-financed opposition backed by a cadre of “outside, big-money interests.”