In sympathy and response to Bob Richards, who published a letter in last week's Simi Valley Acorn.

I sympathize with Mr. Richards and his Kadota-Fig neighbors and wish them luck in keeping their rurally zoned neighborhood.

My advice to them is to never give up and stay vigilant and informed. Even though we are in the county, the people in the Susana Knolls know full well the uphill battles that must be fought to maintain a unique, ruralzoned neighborhood.

We've fought the Parker Ranch development that wanted to use a narrow winding road through the Knolls as the emergency evacuation route for the entire development— and won.

We are now fighting the same developer who wants to rezone and build 100-plus manufactured homes on the old horse ranch property at the west entrance to the Knolls. This development would entail the widening of an oaktreelined Katherine Road which twists and turns throughout the entire Knolls community, endangering the unique oak canopy that took hundreds of years to mature.

Concessions are also being requested from the park district by this developer, who will pay no Quimby fees or give anything back to either the park district or the Susana Knolls neighborhood, other than overdevelopment and the destruction of the unique character of the Susana Knolls community.

Mr. Richards says it all: "Imposing a rezoning on the residences of Kadota-Fig, like eminent domain, is a government taking without compensation." Imposing rezoning on any community, at the expense of current residents, for the profit of a developer is just shameful.

Profitable and needed housing can be built within current zoning that will complement the existing rural communities. The people who live in these rural neighborhoods must be watchful and fight the tendencies of city and county officials to give in to developers whose bottom line is really profit and not the best interests of your neighborhood.

Again I say, never, ever give up. Your neighborhood depends on it. Sandy Capaldi Santa Susana Knolls