Simi OKs Massive Housing Project for 3 Nearby Canyons : Development: The council acts despite environmentalists’ protests. The site would have to be annexed before work begins.

Despite protests from environmentalists and concerns about possible landslide dangers, the Simi Valley City Council has unanimously approved a massive housing project in three canyons north of the city limits.

The council approved the so-called Whiteface development after a three-hour public hearing Monday night. The project site is at the base of Whiteface Mountain. The land would have to be approved for annexation before any development could occur.

The approved development calls for 1,492 houses, three golf courses and 80,000 square feet of retail space on a 2,686-acre site in Dry, Sand and Tapo canyons. The majority of the housing units--1,128--would be part of a private community for seniors.

The project site extends from the north end of Erringer Road on the west to the north end of Tapo Canyon Road on the east. Most of the development would occur in Sand Canyon because it is the largest of the three canyons.

Half a dozen environmentalists pleaded with the council Monday night to reject the project, or at the very least require that it be redesigned to reduce the grading of hillsides and not disturb a wildlife corridor used by rabbits, deer and bobcats. They said they were not impressed that more than 1,000 acres of the project site would be preserved for parkland.

“We need to preserve open space for the people that already live here,” resident Janice Wilson told the council. “This is earth rape . . . as far as I’m concerned.”

Resident John Barmettler agreed.

“It’s my feeling that the environment is our mother and she loves us very much,” Barmettler said. “It’s my feeling that this development is not an act of love in regards to the environment. It’s an act of greed on the part of the human species.”

Barmettler said it didn’t make sense to approve such a large project when residents are being asked to conserve water because of a continuing drought.

“I can’t believe I’m going to have to flush my toilet less often so rich people can play golf,” he said.

City officials said the project’s three golf courses will be maintained with reclaimed water or from ground-water supplies under the development site.

“If they have to go out and get tankers to haul the water in, that’s what they have to do,” Councilwoman Sandi Webb said. “They can’t use the city’s freshwater supply.”

Although an environmental review of the project found that it would generate significant levels of air pollution and traffic--about 4,000 vehicle trips a day--officials said they were satisfied that the developers will take the necessary precautions to reduce the problems.

Council members said in addition to preserving a large area of open space, the project will help fill a need for the city’s growing senior population.

“It will be a good addition to our housing mix,” Mayor Greg Stratton said, adding that “the quality of the development is what led me to give it overriding consideration.”

The council, however, acknowledged that it did have some serious concerns about the project site.

Noting that much of the property is prone to landslides, city officials told the developer to use special grading techniques and to use imported fill where necessary to ensure against subsidence problems.

“The developer understands the problem,” Stratton said. “It will be fixed.”

Eric Taylor, a representative of Lowe Development Corp. and Hermes Development International, said hundreds of soil tests have already been done on the project site to identify unstable areas and that more tests will be conducted before any grading occurs.

“This is not an easy route. We admit that,” Taylor said. “But . . . we will mitigate the geological problems.”

Laura Kuhn, the city planner overseeing the project, said the city will probably file a formal application with the Local Agency Formation Commission to annex the development site within the next 60 days.

Kuhn said she did not expect any problems with annexing the land because it is consistent with the county’s guidelines for orderly growth, which require that all major development occur within a city’s boundaries.

LAFCO officials said it would take about six weeks before the agency reviews the proposal. At the time of review, the agency will hold a public hearing on the annexation request.