SIMI VALLEY : Council Grudgingly OKs Housing Plan

A revised housing plan for Simi Valley was endorsed this week, but not before city officials took the opportunity to attack state and regional agencies for imposing what they termed senseless requirements on local government.

Since early February, city officials have been preparing a state-mandated revision of the housing plan. State law requires all cities to update the housing elements of general plans every five years.

According to members of both the City Council and the Planning Commission, the revision of the city’s housing plan is unnecessary. The measure, approved at a meeting Thursday, involves only superficial changes in the existing ordinance, officials said.

“If ever there was a case of meaningless legislation, of legislation for the sake of legislation, this is certainly it,” Councilman Glen McAdoo said.

McAdoo also criticized the housing growth figures provided by the Southern California Assn. of Governments, which form an integral part of the city’s housing plan. Aimed at ensuring that each city in Southern California meets its share of housing needs, the guidelines for Simi Valley suggest figures that McAdoo and other city officials maintain are impossible to meet.