Simi Planners OK Proposal for Marr Ranch

For the last 12 years, developers, area residents and city officials have wrangled over the fate of nearly 200 acres of gently rolling hills north of the city.

Now the future of Marr Ranch northeast of Simi Hills Golf Course is a step closer to being sealed: The grassland dotted with valley oaks is likely to be replaced by a 250-home upscale development.

Despite concerns from residents about increased traffic and the loss of precious oaks, open vistas and the city’s hillsides, the Simi Valley Planning Commission approved plans late Wednesday for the long-delayed project.

The commissioners included a condition stating that the developer, Robert Friedman, should make every effort possible to save all the oak trees, including five that would be removed under the current plan. That condition was not enough to satisfy those who argued for more changes to the project.

“We appreciate the intent to save the oak trees,” said Melanie Wank, president of Citizens for a Safe and Scenic Simi Valley, a group dedicated to preserving the quality of life in the city. But the wording of the conditions attached to the project “is not strong enough to guarantee the oak trees will be saved,” she added.

“The valley oaks are a rare native species,” Wank said. As an integral part of Simi Valley’s heritage, they are irreplaceable, she argued.

Before the meeting, Wank and residents said they would support the project if conditions could be added to preserve hillsides, ensure the protection of views from the properties that lie south of Marr Ranch and minimize the traffic on Crazy Horse Drive, the development’s secondary access road.

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What they got was a mixed bag.

The commission agreed to create a landscape assessment district maintained by the city along the southern end of Marr Ranch. That, in essence, guarantees the preservation of hillside views for the residents of Indian Hills Ridge and other areas south of the project.

But the commission denied the residents’ request to limit access to Crazy Horse Drive, citing Fire Department regulations that call for two access roads to the development.

Most traffic will come to the project through Yosemite Avenue, and a study by city traffic engineers predicted that only 300 of about 2,400 daily car trips into the project would go through Crazy Horse Drive.

“That is still not an unusual amount of traffic,” Commissioner Dean Kunicki said. “I think it is important the street be put through.”

Earlier in the evening, residents argued the increased traffic would create a safety hazard along the narrow, winding street and asked that the street be limited to traffic for emergency vehicles.

Residents also lost a battle to preserve a Marr Ranch hillside. Friedman proposes to fill a steep ravine that is about 400 feet long.

Residents argued that the ravine, whose slopes are steeper than 20%, falls under the city’s hillside protection ordinance. Allowing it to be filled would set a dangerous precedent, they argued.

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But planning officials said the slope could be graded, citing exceptions to the ordinance in cases where grading would ensure a slope’s stability and allow for proper drainage.

“We have some very strong concerns about the conclusion from staff that this has not violated the hillside performance standards,” said Tim Hodge, a member of Citizens for a Safe and Scenic Simi Valley. Hodge said the grading of the ravine would set a precedent that would allow others to grade hillsides in the future.

Commissioners disagreed and approved the project by a 4-0 vote. Commissioner Michael Piper, who lives near the proposed project, excused himself from the panel to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

After the meeting, Hodge and Wank vowed to take their fight to the City Council, which is scheduled to consider final approval of the project later this year.

Friedman began planning the development of Marr Ranch about 12 years ago. In 1986, changes in the city’s General Plan and the adoption of a citywide growth control ordinance stalled the development.

Hoping to be exempted from the ordinance, Friedman sued the city in 1988 but lost on appeal. The suit cost the city $165,000 in legal fees.

In a development agreement approved in November 1994, the city finally exempted the developer from some of its growth control ordinances in exchange for $3.5 million in cash and 1,800 acres of public open space.

If the council approves the project, the Marr Ranch area, which currently lies on unincorporated land, will have to be officially annexed into the city.