The 800home Big Sky residential community will soon have a fire station to call its own.

At its meeting last Wednesday, the Simi Valley Planning Commission voted 40 to approve the construction of Fire Station No. 47 on the west side of Erringer Road, 180 feet south of Falcon Road.

Commissioner Keith Mashburn did not vote on the item because he works for the fire district.

"We're excited to put our sixth fire station in Simi Valley," said Kevin Nestor, deputy fire chief for the Ventura County Fire Protection District. "We're excited about improving our service here."

A 2.45-acre lot was set aside by the Big Sky developer in 1999 after the city determined that a fire station was necessary for the area.

The land has already been graded, and an elevated helicopter pad—operated by the fire district—was installed to the south.

The project will include a 7,173-square-foot fire station building and associated site improvements such as landscaping, an outdoor patio, a 12-space parking lot and an 80foot microwave radio communications tower.

Like the water pump station on Erringer Road at the entrance to Big Sky, the firehouse will feature Spanishstyle architecture and have river rock stone cladding on the first floor. Commission Chair MichaeMcGuigan said he appreciated the fire district's incorporation of solar panels on the roof.

"It wasn't conditioned to do that, and I think it's a good feature," McGuigan said. "We'd like to see that in more buildings."

About 17 percent of the site will be landscaped with low and moderate water-use plants and trees.

There will also be a 6foothigh security fence surrounding the property and an automatic electric gate behind the building.

"I think it's a beautiful fire station," commissioner Mary Bibb said. "Congratulations on the new one; I'm sure you need it."

A new engine will be purchased for the station and three fire department personnel will staff the station, Nestor said.

Construction will most likely begin in January 2010 and take about a year to complete, staff reports said.

Last August the planning commission approved the construction of a new fire station on Los Angeles Avenue, just east of Yosemite Avenue.

That station will replace Fire Station No. 43 in the Santa Susana Knolls.

Construction has not yet begun on that project.

Commissioner Tim Shannon said he noticed a difference between the Big Sky project and the one approved on Yosemite.

"The architect did a lot of work to incorporate (the Big Sky station) into the setting it is in now, so kudos to everyone involved," Shannon said.