SIMI VALLEY : City to Draft Own Air-Quality Rules

The Simi Valley City Council has agreed to proceed with plans to draft its own air-quality guidelines for the construction of residences and businesses.

These rules would tell developers what changes they must make or fees they must pay to offset the additional air pollution their projects would create.

Other cities in the area have adopted the air-quality rules drafted in 1989 by the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District. But Simi Valley officials decided that these rules were unfair and hired a consultant to help the city prepare its own guidelines.

The council received a progress report Monday on the consultant’s work. The proposal calls for imposing low fees on all new building projects, instead of high fees only on large new projects, as required by county rules.

Council members also told city staff to make sure the new rules give developers credit when a new plant or shopping center merely diverts traffic from other stores or employers.

Such projects do not create more car trips or pollution, so the developers should not be penalized, council members said.

Chamber of Commerce and Building Industry Assn. leaders will be asked to comment on Simi Valley’s proposed air-quality rules before the standards are returned to the City Council for final approval in three to four months, said Laura Kuhn, a deputy city planning director.