Council Turns Down Developer’s Request

The City Council has rejected a developer’s request to reverse a Planning Commission decision that had drastically amended its construction plans.

Basing the decision on the belief that multistory dwellings are incompatible with existing neighborhoods, Simi Valley council members voted unanimously Monday to deny Newcrest Homes’ appeal.

The developer had asked the council to reverse a decision by the Planning Commission allowing it to build nine one-story homes instead of the six two-story homes the firm proposed on a portion of property at the intersection of Erringer and Fitzgerald roads.

Newcrest Homes had originally planned to build 30 homes on a vacant parcel near the intersection. Six of those homes, along the property’s far eastern edge, were designed as two-story structures.

After a public hearing in March, during which dozens of residents protested Newcrest’s plans, commissioners voted unanimously to approve the project, provided the proposed two-story homes were redesigned as single-story dwellings.

Residents were concerned that the development, proposed for an area that now contains one-story homes, would reduce the value of their property, pose privacy problems and become an eyesore.