Now that Simi Valley Hospital has a new patient care tower and lobby, parking is at a premium.

To make sure there are ample places to park when guests visit the medical facility—which has plans to expand even further—the hospital asked the city’s approval to build a 2-acre lot on hospital-owned property at the northeast corner of Sycamore Drive and Avenida Simi.

The City Council approved the request March 8 in a 4-0 vote. Councilmember Michelle Foster, who was hired as the hospital’s new marketing director at the end of last year, recused herself from the public hearing.

Before the new lobby opened in December, visitors entered the hospital through the emergency room and parked in the lot just outside the ER, on the west side of the main hospital building.

The new parking lot will be on the north side of the building, adjacent to the hospital’s official entrance.

Elaine Freeman, consultant for the hospital, said the 203-space permanent parking lot would be important in the long term to accommodate visitor parking.

“Since the lobby of the hospital is on the north end, this actually makes it more convenient for people to get to the lobby,” she said. “There will be crosswalks and a shuttle to pick people up and take them to a lobby.”

While the council members were supportive of the new parking lot as proposed, several said they’d like to see the crosswalk connecting the parking lot to the hospital “dressed up” and suggested doing a diagonal crossing.

“This isn’t L.A. Avenue,” said Councilmember Barbra Williamson. “It would be really nice to see something decorative there.”

Freeman said the hospital would be open to the idea. The project’s civil engineer, Dale Ortmann, added that diagonal crossings are usually created at busy, pedestrianoriented intersections that already have traffic signals—not four-way stops—but that it could work with stop signs.

Councilmember Steve Sojka said that while a diagonal crossing would set the area apart from anywhere else in Simi, he would also like to see something even more “special,” such as decorative paving.

Freeman said that stamped concrete would be problematic for people with wheelchairs but the hospital had considered interlocking pavers.

While the council and the hospital were on board with upgrading the crosswalk, at least one resident was against the idea. Bart Fernelius, who lives on Avenida Simi just one block from the hospital, said such a crossing could impede traffic flow.

“I don’t know how aesthetic it might be, but that’s an active intersection right there,” he said. “I would encourage you not to do that.”

Despite Fernelius’ objection, Williamson thought it was an opportunity not to be missed, saying that if a diagonal crossing can work in busy cities like San Francisco, it can work on a relatively quiet street in Simi.

“This is a hub for a medical facility. It’s our hospital. They thought out of the box when they designed it. . . . This would just add to it,” she said.

As directed by the council, the applicant agreed to work with city staff to develop an acceptable pedestrian access plan.

Along with the approval of the parking lot, the council also okayed the hospital’s request to postpone improvements to the existing parking lot at the southwest corner of Sycamore Drive and Avenida Simi.

Those upgrades were scheduled to be done after the patient care tower was completed, but the hospital said it would be better to wait until the new parking lot is constructed to minimize disruption to guests and employees.

The council also approved the hospital’s request to eliminate the operational expiration date for the helipad west of the main hospital building. The helipad was approved in 1989 with a 20-year condition of approval.

According to city staff, there are no complaints on file regarding the helipad.

In addition to the conditions already placed on the parking lot, the council approved two others recommended by the planning commission in January. One requires the hospital to construct a berm along the east boundary of the parking lot to diminish the glare of vehicle headlights coming into homes to the east.

Both Williamson and Sojka expressed some concern that the standard hydroseed berm wouldn’t be visually pleasing, but the project’s landscape architect said that once the hedge around the parking lot matures, the berm wouldn’t be visible.

The second requirement is the installation of “no parking” signs along the north side of Avenida Simi—the frontage of the parking lot—between Sycamore Drive and the eastern boundary of the parking lot.

Fernelius said he suggested this condition to the planning commission to protect children being dropped off by their parents at a nearby day care center and motorists who wouldn’t be able to see them if they darted out from behind a parked car.