Officials Push Measure Q in Bid to Control City’s Growth

City officials say they want Simi Valley to grow quite a bit faster than it has in the past--but not too fast.

On March 26, voters will be asked to decide whether they agree enough to approve Measure Q, a new city-backed slow-growth ordinance that would grant 64% more new building permits per year--raising the annual number of new permits to 544.

Measure Q would renew Simi Valley’s 10-year-old slow-growth ordinance and limit the number of new houses, condominiums, apartments and businesses that are built over the next eight years.

This city of 104,000 could grow comfortably by another 40,000 people if builders cover every square foot of land now zoned for building, Mayor Greg Stratton said. But the measure should be passed to keep that from happening all at once, he said.

Simi Valley cannot absorb large numbers of new homes, businesses and people quickly enough without growth controls, Stratton said. “It takes a city awhile to accommodate them in terms of roads, in terms of stores, in terms of schools.”

Controlling growth also makes Simi Valley more attractive to businesses and home buyers who want to settle here, he said.

But builders oppose the measure, saying it unfairly limits commerce.

The growth-control measure would limit development during good economic times, but during hard times, it could stifle business that would help keep struggling companies afloat, said Dee Zinke, executive officer for the local chapter of the Building Industry Assn.

Association members worked with city staff to hash out some details of the measure, such as the way the city would determine which applications receive building permits, Zinke said.

But the building industry prefers having no controls on growth, she said.

“We’re disappointed the city decided to go for it,” Zinke said Wednesday. “We understand their political decision, but we don’t think it’s the appropriate thing for this day and age.”

Measure Q would give a 64% boost to the number of building permits granted each year under the present ordinance, approved in 1986 as Measure A, which allowed 332 new permits per year.

But several times during Measure A’s 10-year life span, the city has changed the number of permits allowed, said Dulce Conde-Sierra, deputy director of environmental services, who oversees new building permits for the city.

The first time was in 1988, when the city boosted the number to 107 per quarter, or 428 per year, she said.

The city later scaled back the number of new buildings approved for construction so as to absorb the earlier increase and stick close to Measure A’s limits.

As Measure A nears its expiration date in July, it seems to have worked well, she said; officials in 1986 predicted that Simi Valley would swell to 110,000 residents by this year, while the real population is about 6,000 less.

“The other major difference that exists in the development measure [Q] is the 1986 one was based on a number of factors regarding traffic, the water supply, flood control and public services,” she said. “Those things have been addressed over the past 10 years, and the basis for this new growth-management measure is going to be air quality, hillside protection and housing in general.”

Measure Q also focuses not so much on sheer numbers, but on finer details, such as an even mix of low-cost apartments and pricey homes, and adequate numbers of low- and moderately priced apartments for the elderly, Conde-Sierra said.

The new allotment of 544 permits per year would include about 60 permits per year for housing projects that were already waiting in the wings, she said.

But Zinke argued that the number of pre-approved permits cuts back on business possibilities for builders.

“The future of Simi Valley is mapped out,” she said. “And if you’re not a player there right now, there’s limited opportunities to develop in that community.”