Commercial lot rezoned to allow for residental care facility
Council forced to make hard decision regarding use of acre lot
By Kyle Jorrey kjorrey@theacorn.com

Despite an admitted lack of available commercial office space within the city, the City Council approved an amendment to the zoning code allowing a residential care facility to be constructed on a 1.64acre empty lot previously zoned commercial.

The 92-bed, two-story facility, which is being developed by Cochran Investments, will be built at 2585 Cochran St., to the west of the Doit Center and directly behind Paul’s Italian Villa, a popular Simi eatery and gathering spot. Single-family homes on Alden Street run along the western border of the property.

The amendment, approved on Monday by a 4-0 vote (Councilmember Barbra Williamson is on vacation), allows residential care facilities— those businesses offering 24-hour nonmedical care to the handicapped or disabled—to be constructed in commercial office zones as long as the zones meet two requirements: they must be at least a half-acre in size and must not have any frontage along a public street.

According to staff reports, only four parcels within the city currently meet those criteria: the site in question, two parcels that are home to Simi Valley Hospital and one other site.

For that reason, Councilmember Michelle Foster said, the amendment should have minimal effect on the city’s estimated 108,000 square feet of land currently zoned commercial.

“(Staff) came up with a way to be able do this and meet the need for assisted living without jeopardizing the other commercial office space in the city,” Foster said.

During Monday’s public hearing, council members went back and forth trying to weigh the city’s serious need for office space versus what they saw as the most appropriate project for the lot and for the residents living nearby.

Just six weeks ago, council members received a memo from city staff demanding that they address the problem of commercial space.

The timing of that memo made their decision on the zoning change particularly difficult, Councilmember Steve Sojka said, especially considering that a Cochran Investments’ plan to build commercial office space on that lot had been rejected three years ago. A plan for a self-storage facility had also been shot down, he said, in large part because of the complaints of neighbors.

Comments by Sojka reflected a council that for most of the evening appeared torn on the issue.

“We got a memo across our desk that the city is in desperate need of office space and so we start looking at this (project) saying, ‘Hey, what are we doing?’ But we’re three years into this and I guess . . . if we make a move on that, there’s a good argument to be made that we also need to look at the zoning with the Casden property on Madera and Los Angeles,” said Sojka, referring to the huge development that is currently slated for residential In the end, Mayor Paul Miller

said, the quality of the design of the 47,000-square-foot facility and the limited impact it will have on the neighbors outweighed the city’s pressing need for office space.

“I think no project is perfect and it’s always a challenge to pick the best use for a particular parcel,” the mayor said. “This obviously is a very challenging piece of land because of the way it’s ac

cessed. But I think, given all of the issues, this is probably the best use we can come up with, albeit we are giving up some office space.”

The plan for the facility was approved by the neighborhood council in a 10-0 vote and by the planning commission in a 5-0 vote—proof, Sojka said, that the city is getting a good project.

“We’ve had a lot of eyes and ears on this, and I think it’s a good

project,” he said. “We’ve had concerns but I think we’ve addressed those concerns.”

At the meeting, three neighbors of the future facility spoke up against the project, primarily citing lack of parking and a loss of privacy.

The facility, when built, will include 47 underground parking spaces to accommodate visitors and staff.