SIMI VALLEY : City to Again Get Oil Firm’s Proposal
A proposal to build a gas station, mini-mart and carwash near an affluent hillside neighborhood will come back before the Simi Valley City Council later this month on appeal after being rejected in August.
The council on Sept. 28 will consider the proposal by Shell Oil Co. to build the complex at Yosemite Avenue and the Simi Valley Freeway. The project was rejected by the Simi Valley Planning Commission after strong opposition developed from residents living near the site.
Shell then appealed the decision to the City Council.
Wolf Ascher, the city’s deputy director of current planning, said Shell officials argued in their appeal that the station is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood and will not create health or safety problems.
But members of Citizens for a Safe and Scenic Simi Valley have contended that the station would create traffic hazards and crime problems. They also oppose the 25-foot-tall freeway sign proposed by Shell.
The group has vowed to continue fighting the gas station at the appeal hearing.
The Shell station would be built next to a proposed McDonald’s restaurant that received city approval earlier this year, despite protests from the neighborhood.
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