Simi Valley to Weigh Plan to Extend Street, Build Business Park : Development: Cochran project would add a major thoroughfare and a 40-acre site for shops and industry.

An eight-year effort to extend Cochran Street in Simi Valley and build a 40-acre park for shops and industry could finally move forward if the City Council votes Monday to share the cost with property owners.

The council will consider a range of options at a night hearing, including sharing the new road’s cost with 14 landowners, said Don Penman, the deputy city manager monitoring the project.

The council will consider paying about $1.6 million of the $4.8 million cost for grading, laying utility lines and extending the roadway one block to connect Madera Road and 1st Street, Penman said.

That extension would provide motorists with a second main east-west thoroughfare for the length of the city.

Bordered on the north by the Simi Valley Freeway and on the south by railroad tracks, the property is considered prime real estate for business and industrial projects. It is zoned for industrial and office use, along with certain commercial uses such as auto dealerships and large retail stores.

Property owners said several large retailers have already expressed interest in building at the site. And if the council votes to share in the cost, they expect signed agreements from developers within 90 days, said Louis Pandolfi, who represents all but one of 15 owners in the area.

Pandolfi estimated that the new development would cost $30 million to $40 million. The new businesses could net the city about $1.5 million in sales taxes each year, and bring as many as 800 new jobs, he said.

“It’s worth offering some inducements,” he said. “If they want these major retailers to come here, (the city) has to be competitive or (the retailers) will go elsewhere.”

Two years ago, Costco planned to build a store on the site, but pulled out when an agreement between the city and the property owners was delayed. Now there is interest from Toys R Us and several other major retailers, officials said. But the developers are waiting to see what the council decides before making any commitments.

On Monday evening, the council will consider whether the city should help build the road without a firm commitment from a developer, Penman said.

“Well, there’s one adage that if you put the road in, the users will come,” Pandolfi said. “Within 90 days of the council making a commitment, we would have a site plan ready.”

Several council members said a final agreement is close.

“All I’ve got to say is it’s about time,” Councilwoman Barbara Williamson said. “I know that Councilman (Bill) Davis has put a lot of hard work into this, and it couldn’t happen soon enough.”

Davis is on the committee negotiating the deal with property owners.

Williamson said the extension, in bringing a much-needed connection between Madera Road and 1st Street, would reduce the amount of traffic that is now diverted south onto Los Angeles Avenue when Cochran dead-ends near 1st in western Simi Valley.

She called it a “vital link between two major roadways.”