Simi Considers Spreading Air Cleanup Cost : Environment: Adviser urges fees be paid for all new developments--large or small.

The developers of new homes and businesses in Simi Valley would have to pay fees or take other steps to offset the additional air pollution they cause, under revised air quality rules being considered by the City Council.

The county’s other nine cities have agreed to follow guidelines drafted in 1989 by the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District.

But in 1990, Simi Valley council members rejected the district’s air quality rules, saying they penalized some developers unfairly and could discourage new businesses from locating in Simi Valley.

“As a bedroom community, we were looking to enhance the commercial and industrial base,” Mayor Greg Stratton, who served on the council at the time, recalled Friday. “Those guidelines were pretty hard on the commercial and industrial development.

“We wanted to come up with our own guidelines.”

On Monday, the council will review preliminary air quality rules, prepared by a consultant, that are aimed at spreading the cost of cleaning the air.

The county district’s rules require only large developments to pay steep fees to cover the pollution they may cause.

But the city’s consultant has recommended that air quality fees be spread among all new developments, large or small.

“That’s an interesting approach,” said Bill Mount, deputy director of the air pollution control district.

He said his agency’s rules are advisory, and Simi Valley is free to modify them. “It’s their option,” Mount said. “We aren’t trying to shove these down anybody’s throat.”

The guidelines are needed because state and federal authorities have ordered local governments to examine how new developments will affect air quality before approving such projects.

The county district’s 1989 guidelines encourage developers to design their projects to create the fewest possible car trips--a key cause of smog. For example, a building with a restaurant or dining room inside could result in fewer lunchtime car trips by employees.

A developer could also be required to pay a fee to offset additional new pollution. The local government would use this money for pollution-reduction programs, such as clean-fuel shuttles and mass transit services.

But Stratton said Simi Valley officials objected to the way the county rules calculated how much pollution a new business would generate.

In some cases, the mayor said, opening a new plant or shopping center could reduce pollution because local residents would no longer have to drive out of town to work or shop.

“We just saw that any major employer was going to get hit” under the county district’s rules, Stratton said. “We didn’t think that was fair.”

As one example of possible inequities in the county district’s rules, city officials said the Home Base shopping center in Simi Valley would have had to pay $970,000 in “trip reduction fees” under the 1989 guidelines.

Instead, the city applied less stringent 1983 guidelines, requiring the builder to pay only $46,545.

Councilwoman Judy Mikels said Friday it might be fairer to fight air pollution by imposing additional fees on motorists, not developers.

“We seem to be using the wrong whip to beat the problem,” she said. “Those cars are on the road anyway. If they’re not using that shopping center, then they’ll just use another one. Just in and of itself, opening a new shopping center does not create more cars.”

If council members approve preliminary air quality rules Monday, the final guidelines will be returned for adoption within four months, city staff members said.