Commission Supports Plans for Firm’s Headquarters

Plans to bring a company headquarters and up to 600 jobs to the city won swift support Monday night from the Planning Commission.

The commission voted 4 to 0 Monday night to recommend that the City Council approve Special Devices Inc.’s plans for building a 331,000-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing plant. Commissioner Christina May, who lives near the project site, abstained.

Before the meeting, some Moorpark residents said the company will provide a welcome addition to the city’s work force and tax rolls.

Never mind that the facility, to be located on the eastern edge of town, will test and manufacture small explosive devices used to activate air bags, or that much of the site’s 298 acres is currently zoned as open space.

“As far as I’m concerned, it means more business for Moorpark,” said Thomas Duck, a member of Citizens Who Care, a residents group that has opposed earlier development projects.

Even those who have raised questions about the project’s design said they are not opposed to the company moving into town. Roseann Mikos, president of the Moorpark branch of the Environmental Coalition, said she wanted to see the outline, or “footprint,” of the buildings changed to protect the nearby Arroyo Simi, a river that flows just north of the proposed building site.

“We’re not against the project,” she said. “We just choose to be optimistic and think there’s a way to adjust the footprint to make this better for everyone.”

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Planning commissioners reviewed the company’s proposal for a complex of offices, manufacturing space and shipping facilities east of California 23 and south of Los Angeles Avenue. If approved by the City Council, the $18-million project could be finished by the fall of 1997, said John Vinke, Special Devices’ vice president of finance.

Despite the nature of the company’s operation--making small, fast-burning triggers for air bags and missile engines--Vinke said noise will not be a problem at the facility. Testing of the devices is done in soundproof rooms inside the facility, he said.

“You can’t hear it when you’re in the building, and we’re 600 feet from the property line,” he said.

Just the same, city planners have recommended annual testing to ensure that noise levels at the property line do not exceed 65 decibels during the day and 60 decibels at night.

Vinke also said the company was aware of Mikos’ concerns about the arroyo, and that no grading would be performed in the river’s flood plain.

“We feel the arroyo is very well protected with the current footprint,” he said.

The Environmental Coalition, as well as the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, maintain that the currently vacant building site is part of a valuable wildlife corridor that could be damaged by the project.

But Vinke said the headquarters and manufacturing plant will occupy just 24 acres of the land, leaving plenty of room for wildlife. “We’re developing less than 10% of the property,” he said. “The rest will be able to retain its natural beauty.”

The amount of land left undeveloped in the proposal appealed to planning commissioners.

“Any time a developer comes into the city, buys 300 acres and leaves 270 open, I welcome them,” said commission Chairman John Torres.