SIMI VALLEY : Court Hears Suit to Block Youth Center

A Ventura County Superior Court commissioner heard arguments Thursday in a lawsuit that is delaying construction of a Simi Valley youth center.

Attorney Matt Green, representing the Alamo Court Homeowners Assn. and the owner of an office complex, argued before Commissioner John H. Pattie that the proposed Boys & Girls Club of Simi Valley will spoil the mountain and park views for nearby residents and office tenants.

He urged Pattie to order the Simi Valley City Council to reconsider its approval of the $3.3-million facility on Lemon Street, just north of Alamo Street, at the southwest corner of Rancho Tapo Community Park. Green said the city should have conducted a full environmental review that would have addressed the mountain view issue.

The attorney said his clients support the Boys & Girls Club. But he added, “The court must not allow a government body to skip the environmental analysis.”

Green’s father, Lloyd Green, is a partner in CPC Enterprises, owner of the Park Plaza office complex. The new club would be built on parkland immediately north of the offices.

Attorney Robert O. Huber, representing the club, argued that Lloyd Green has sued strictly for economic reasons. “He wants the view so that he can sell it to his tenants,” Huber said.

Attorneys for the city said the homeowners and the office complex owner are wrongly trying to use environmental impact laws to delay the project.

The nonprofit youth club, with 2,000 members, now leases a former school site. But Becca Merrell, executive director of the club, said the school is too small and does not have a gymnasium, which the new clubhouse will have.

Pattie said he would issue a decision in two to three weeks.