By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

While Moorpark is working on a development agreement and hammering out the details of an environmental impact report concerning the North Park Village development in Moorpark, officials in Simi Valley are starting to worry about how the project will affect traffic on Simi streets.

Simi officials sent a letter to the Moorpark City Council expressing concerns over traffic impacts on the 118 Freeway, said Dave Bobardt, Moorpark planning manager.

North Park will include 1,650 homes, a small commercial center, a kindergarten through eighth grade school, two public parks, a 29-acre youth sports park, and a publicly accessible lake. It also will feature a fire station and a 2,120-acre nature preserve.

"Obviously any new large development near our border is going to create additional traffic on the freeway, said Paul Miller, Simi Valley mayor.

The Simi Valley City Council said that if North Park is completed as proposed, the freeway could be greatly impacted during peak hours.

The state had plans to expand the 118 and the 23 freeways, but the current budget crisis has delayed these projects, officials said.

"Now we don’t know when this would happen," Miller said.

"We’re asking (the city of Moorpark) to take those concerns into account," said the Simi mayor. "We’re not telling them to stop the project."

Moorpark City Councilmember Clint Harper said Simi’s concerns are like "the pot calling the kettle black."

"The fact that they are now concerned when we finally have a large project is comical," Harper said.

"They build thousands of homes, industrial parks and a regional mall, then they complain about North Park impacting the 118. Give me a break," Harper said.

Simi doesn’t have a program or funds in place to mitigate its own traffic problems, but suddenly they’re concerned because Moorpark may build a large development, he said.

Simi Valley approved their construction projects in the past under the assumption that the state would enlarge the freeways, said Mike Sedell, Simi Valley city manager.

"At the time we were moving forward with these project, every indication was there that the freeway would be widened," Sedell said.

But because the roads aren’t being expaned, Simi Valley won’t approve any more large developments within its borders, Miller said.

"It’s not Moorpark’s fault that the state is unable to widen the freeway," Miller pointed out. "But now we all need to take into account that freeway expansion is uncertain."

According to the North Park environmental impact report, the 118 Freeway can’t handle the added traffic if the project is built to completion, Miller said.

"Our council isn’t looking to stop North Park if they can deal with the traffic on the freeway," Sedell said.

But Simi officials want to be sure the project doesn’t add traffic onto the surface street of their city.

Traffic concerns arise with each new development, said Moorpark Councilmember Roseann Mikos.

"Chances are that the environmental impact reports for the Simi Valley regional mall probably would say the same thing," Mikos said, noting even if the freeway is widened, traffic will still be an issue.

Vince Daily, local project manager for North Park, said that when the development is completed in 2025 it would add 670 more cars to an anticipated 14,270 vehicles traveling east on the 118 Freeway during peak hours. North Park also would add 220 to the expected 8,600 vehicles expected to travel west on the 23 Freeway.