SOAR Group Launches Open Space Campaign in Simi Valley

Hoping to bring an end to the kind of development that has replaced undeveloped land with three-bedroom tract homes, more than 30 residents attended a special meeting to strategize on how to best keep the area’s open space open--permanently.

Over cups of coffee and fresh cookies, residents listened to organizers of the Simi Valley Save Open Space and Agricultural Resource committee Tuesday on their plans to place a measure on November’s ballot that would freeze the city’s boundaries at the current sphere of influence until the year 2030 and require voters to approve any land acquisition proposed by the city for development.

“The purpose of SOAR is to mobilize the citizens to stop urban sprawl and keep our county from becoming another San Fernando Valley,” said Jon Palo, president of the Simi Valley committee. “All of this is being done so we can determine for ourselves how we grow.”

The Simi Valley committee is hoping to get enough signatures to place a ballot measure that would create a so-called City Urban Restriction Boundary that would prevent developments from creeping into open areas for the next 32 years.

If a developer or the city wished to place a housing or commercial project outside that boundary, the matter would have to go before voters, who would have the final say.

“We’re hoping to change the political landscape to ensure that the kind of encroachment that has happened in the past won’t happen again,” Palo said.

The local campaign is being run in conjunction with a countywide effort to protect the area’s dwindling agricultural lands from being subdivided and paved over.

While Simi Valley has no agricultural land to protect from development, it does have sizable areas of undeveloped open space to the north and east of the city, and it is those areas that the local campaign is trying to safeguard.

Organizers pointed to two developments--Marr Ranch and Whiteface--that are outside city boundaries and being developed as planned communities.

SOAR supporters have until June 1 to collect the necessary 12,000 signatures to have the measure placed on the ballot.

While some have questioned the wisdom of taking the decision-making power out of the hands of elected officials, SOAR representatives said such a measure, if passed, would actually give city officials more leverage when dealing with developers.

Specifically, city leaders could demand more benefits, such as higher mitigation fees, scaled-back projects and open space dedications, to sweeten the deal for area residents.

“What this is is a stronger partnership between the city and citizens,” said Steve Bennett of the countywide SOAR effort. “It will give us another level of protection.”

The group plans to begin its petition drive next month and expects to meet a strong and well-financed opposition organized by developers.

“There’s a tremendous amount of profit at stake here and they’re going to be relentless,” Bennett told the group. “They’re going to be out there spreading millions of dollars worth of misinformation so it will be hard, but their one weakness is that they want something we don’t--urban sprawl.”

Organizers hope to have the petition drive completed by early May. And with less than three months to get the necessary signatures, the need for quick action was emphasized.

“We’re becoming the warehouse for the United States,” said SOAR board member Kevin Conville, who has watched strip malls and housing replace fields and golden expanses of grass.

“We live in Ventura County because it’s not Los Angeles or the San Fernando Valley, so we’ve got to draw a line somewhere.”