SIMI VALLEY : 3 Housing Projects Get Preliminary OK

The Simi Valley City Council has given preliminary approval for three housing projects to be built under the city’s special allocation program.

Although eight developers submitted applications in the “All Other Projects Queue,” the council was limited to approving only two projects in this category. The council also approved one applicant’s request in the “Affordable Queue,” which requires that a housing development include a certain number of units at below-market costs.

The developers of the three housing projects must now wait until building permits are available before they can apply for them, said Assistant City Planner Jim Lightfoot. The city issues 43 building permits every three months as allowed by a 1986 voter-approved slow-growth ordinance.

One of the projects approved for a position in the “All Other Projects Queue” is a 112-house development planned for the southwest corner of Royal Avenue and Corto Street. The developer for the project is Griffin Homes.

The other development approved in that category is a 54-house tract to be built at the corner of Stearns and Alamo streets by Mithra Limited Partnership.

The project in the “Affordable Queue” is a 231-house development to be built near the southwest corner of Tierra Rejada and Madera Road by the Milner Development Corp. Fifty-eight of the units will be available at below-market costs, which will be determined at the time of construction.

Council members said the three projects were chosen over the others because they will have the least effect on the environment and on city services.

Developers of the remaining projects will have to wait another year before they can reapply for a position in the queues, Lightfoot said.