City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. I'd like to call this meeting to order. Mr. City Attorney, are there any reports from closed session?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Nothing to report out of closed session.

Thank you. Mr. Mike Court, will you please lead us in the flag salute?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,

Thank you, Mike.

Roll call, please. Council Member Ayala?

Here.

Council Member Rhodes?

Here.

Council Member Judge?

Here.

Mayor Pro Tem Blitzer? Here. Mayor Kavanaugh? Here.

Are there any items for agenda review?

Yes, Madam Mayor. Item seven on the consent calendar has a supplemental agenda item.

Thank you.

I move that all resolutions and ordinances presented tonight be read in title only and all further reading be waived.

Second.

Call for the vote.

The motion passes unanimously.

Thank you. If any member of the City Council may have a conflict of interest or any reason why that member must abstain from consideration of any matter on this agenda, he or she should so declare at this time. Seeing none, we may move forward, Madam Clerk.

Madam Mayor and members of the City Council, the first item on the agenda is item 1D1, Presentation of Certificates of Commendation to the Simi Valley Girls Softball 10U Gold Champions. And Deputy City Manager, Heather Samagayse, is here to present this item.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council and to our special guests in the audience. Tonight we're proud to recognize an outstanding group of young athletes who have represented our community with determination, teamwork, and incredible success. The 10U girls softball team had an exceptional 2025-26 season, finishing their fall select and all-star sessions with an overall record of 119 wins, nine losses, and one tie.

Is this not?

Did I hear something incorrect?

This was right, right? Okay, further reinforcing how awesome you all are. During their All-Star season, the team finished second in the district, fourth out of 54 teams at the state championship, and first in the inaugural USA Softball Pacific Coast Tournament of Champions, one of the highest levels of competition for 10U athletes. Their success is a testament to the hard work of these players and the support of their coaches and families. Tonight, we recognize the 12 players who make up this outstanding team, and I hope I pronounce your names correctly. Erin Park, Ava Motter, Katelyn Ouellette, Katelyn Corradero, Kaelin Averinja, Kayla Fairman, Leah Murado, Mackenzie Magana, Mackenzie Youssef, Peyton Contino, Riley Huchong, and Stella Bryan.

And we have something for the coaches too. Evan Bryant. I'm so very, very proud of you guys. This is going to sound really old, but I played Simi Valley Girls Softball when I was a little kid, except we were called Little Miss Softball in the 70s. But my daughter played, and you guys, the record you have is the best I've ever seen, especially in girls softball. So that's fantastic. You all need to be very proud of yourself and thank your parents and coaches, because I'm sure they spent a lot of time on the road and in the parks. And siblings, one of you has a brother that's on the 16U team. Okay, yeah, I met him. So he'll be here in two weeks. So we'll be honoring them. So you've spent a lot of time on the road. Do you ever get it home, ever make home? Coach, would you like to say anything?

I'm just super glad to be a part of this. Girls, I'm very proud of you. Thank you for just allowing me to be part of it. Appreciate you guys.

I just, again, want to thank our families and our parents. It was the best group of families we could have asked for. And just the entire city and the SVGS community has been so supportive, and we appreciate everybody.

Yeah, just going to echo that. I just think these girls wore these Simi Valley jerseys throughout the whole summer proudly. And they just did absolutely amazing. You girls know how much we love you guys. So yeah, thank you.

Well, you put Simi Valley on the map. So we appreciate that. Let's make a nice picture. Heather wants to take a picture. So if we can.

She likes that background up there.

So kind of angle here. Just gather here. Yeah. Come on, yeah. Yeah, we can go behind them. All right, hold your, yeah, hold them up nice. There you go, perfect. All right, congratulations again. You're welcome.

Madam Mayor and members of the City Council, next on the agenda is item two, public comments on appointments, special presentations, and informational reports. We do not have any speaker cards for that item. Janet, do we have anyone on?

We have no hands raised.

Thank you. Madam Mayor and members of city council, next on the agenda is item 3A1, designation of city council members to interview.

Sorry, Madam Clerk, the caller just put their hands up, a hand up for this item, I believe.

For item 2A?

Yeah, they raised their hand.

If you're participating by phone and wish to provide public comment for this public statement's item two, please press star nine, Can you go ahead and unmute? You may begin to speak.

and Cox and and all those people. Yeah. We need to keep Simi Valley clean.

They hanged up. Madam Mayor, are there other speakers for this item?

Yes. Yes, thank you.

Madam Mayor and members of City Council, next on the agenda is item 3A1, designation of City Council members to interview and nominate prospective Neighborhood Council District 3 Executive Board members. And Community Services Coordinator Kelly Duffy is here to present this item.

Good evening, Mayor Cavanaugh and members of City Council. Neighborhood Council Executive Board members serve staggered two-year terms with approximately one-third of the seats expiring every eight months. At this time, Neighborhood Council District 3 has eight Executive Board members and five vacancies. Executive Boards require a minimum of seven members to maintain a quorum and may have up to 13 members total. Since maintaining at least seven members is essential for conducting business, filling these vacancies is important to ensure the board can operate effectively. A special recruitment opened on July 22nd, 2026 and will conclude on August 14th, 2026. To date, six applications have been received with one applicant subsequently withdrawing. The term of appointment for the new executive board members will begin on October 1, 2026, and conclude on June 30, 2028. All applicants must attend the mandatory orientation on August 27 and participate in an interview to be eligible for appointment. Staff recommends that the city council appoint one subcommittee comprised of two council members to interview and nominate prospective neighborhood council district three executive board members. This concludes the report and staff is available for questions.

Mayor Pro Tem Litster.

So just to be clear, this is District 3 that we're talking about which is the district that I represent. I'm always happy to send the committee however I will say that I did personally text and invite a handful of people and maybe on this instance knowing that we needed applicants and so it might be better on this instance for me not to be on the selection for that reason. So I just put that out there. And I believe that Council Member Ayala just said that he would be delighted to serve on that committee.

I'll take your spot. I'll end with one or the other.

You'll want to. I will if nobody else, unless somebody else says. Oh, let the Mayor do it. That would be lovely.

I would love to motion that we have Mayor Cavanaugh and Council Member Ayala serve on that committee.

Second.

Call for the vote.

The motion passes unanimously.

Thank you. Before we start our next presentation, I was going to allow the girls, if they would like to leave, they don't have to stay, parents. I know they're excited getting ready for school, right? So congratulations again. Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Thank you. Madam Mayor and members of the City Council, next on the agenda is item 3C1, presentation of the 2025 State of the Region by David Marin.

I know you do a wonderful presentation, but I think they are done for the evening.

Unprofit here in Ventura County. And we release this report every two years. And we'll go around and share this with the city council and others. Get rid of that echo.

Should I wait? Yeah, if you wait just a minute, I'll get you.

Bad enough to hear one of you now, too. All right, is that okay?

Yes, now you're good.

Okay, good. We cannot produce this report without the generosity of our sponsors. Here's a few of our larger sponsors, the Ventura County Community Foundation, Community Colleges of Ventura County. It was working a moment ago.

Okay, maybe that worked.

And that concludes my remarks. Thank you all very much. Okay, so California Resources, County of Ventura, Channel Islands University, Limonera, The Port, and also the Ventura County Office of Education. So we're grateful to them and all of our sponsors. So the State of the Region Report is published every two years. We are 501 neutral, unbiased. We are focused on sustaining the quality of life, and I would like to acknowledge our former Board President Samantha Arkabright who was served us for very well for many years The reports available to those in the audience or others who want to download it for free It's at civic Alliance org and we list all of our sources starting on page 113 So I want to start off with some of the numbers about population. This is not actually in the report. When we were producing this, the federal government was on one of those breaks where we couldn't get census data due to funding. County of Ventura. So the purple line is the median age. You can see right away that we are getting older. Population about nine years ago was 847,000. We've declined by 10,000 people in just those few years. But interestingly, if you look at this blue, that's the zero to 18 population. So that declined almost 20,000. So all of our loss has been in the young people. So it's wonderful to see those young girls here today. We need a lot more of them. Here is the numbers for Simi Valley. You are older in Simi Valley than the county at large. Your average age is now at 41.9. Your population is pretty much held even. You lost about 1,000 people the last seven years, but your zero to 18 year olds declined about 3,800 during that time. Much like most of our cities, we're seeing a decline in the young people. Only Fillmore has actually had an increase. So that's a very big challenge. I'll talk more about that. Here's some highlights, though, from other sections of the report. Agriculture, the strawberries remain top crop, $700 million. Agriculture is about a $2.1 billion industry. It used to be 4% to 5% of Ventura County's economy, but it's shrunk a little to 3.3%. Community engagement, your elected officials. I like to share stats about the state of registration in Ventura County. Green is no party preference, red is Republican, and blue are Democrats. You can see that the Democrat number has grown a little bit over the last 20 years, but the big growth has been in no party preference, people who just remain independent, and that's mostly come at the expense of Republicans countywide. But when you look at the numbers by city, it's a different story. Several cities have a majority of Democrats. Most of them have a plurality. And Simi Valley is the only one that has a plurality of Republicans. But keep in mind, this is registration, not voter turnout. As you are all aware, it's really who actually shows up to vote. And Republicans tend to vote more than Democrats. I'd like to share this about nonprofits. And there's a lot of good data in the report. And you don't have to read it from one end to the other. You can jump around. There's just a lot of great data. But we have over 11,000 people are working in the nonprofit sector, generating over $500 million worth of wages. And that was back in 2024. So very important, keeping our whole county and community together. This is a tough one to read, but just to explain how it works when you read it later, the bottom is showing the average wage in these industries. So we can see that financial activities pays about $112,000. The top half is showing the number of people working in those sectors. And what we see, other than in education, is that we are losing workers in the higher-paying industries, but we're growing workers, or staying at least level, in the lower-paying industries. So this is, of course, the challenge for you, the county, and all the cities, is how can we attract higher-paying jobs? How can we retain those companies that are paying better? Obviously, leisure and hospitality, It's a great place to start, but as an example, Simi Valley, I think you lost farmers, Bank of America over the years, and it would be wonderful to see them come back someday. This is the gross county product, very similar to the national. We redo this chart every two years, so those of you who have our older books, it looks completely different because we restate it every year for the inflation adjustment. But going up to about 2009, you may remember the Great Recession. We were doing really well, Great Recession hit, and we staggered for a while. We lost ground most every year, and then we plateaued, and we've really had anemic growth since then. We've only had one year, 2021, where we had over 3% growth. And this is why the rest of the state and the nation has been sort of not on steroids, but surging along. Ventura County has not been able to match those other areas. Taxable sales, Simi Valley holding its own at about $2 billion. Most of the cities have seen a decline except for Oxnard. And that of course is the Amazon effect. So I know you're all working to figure out how to get some of that money. Tourism, this is great news. I'm sure most of this or much of it is from the Reagan Library bringing in over $2 million of transient occupancy tax. Ojai just really crushes it, you might say. And that is the Ojai Valley Inn with their high room rates and all that. But Oxnard, coastal cities do pretty well, the outlet malls. It's tough, I think, for Simi Valley to be a mecca for tourism, but you are doing well and it's growing. Education, I know that you do not manage education, but show you some highlights. I talked earlier about the decline in the number of youth, zero to 18. This is where it starts to manifest itself. So the blue line on top is the K through eight grades. The green line is the high school years. And we are right here at about 2025. You can see we've had a slow decline over the years. for the K-8 and we're projecting a continued decline over the years. But here's something that'll stagger you a little bit. 50 years ago, the population of Ventura County was 420, or 50 years later, we doubled. So we've grown from 420 to 840. But the number of students in that time only went from 107 to 122. barely increased by 15% while the rest of the population doubled. So we need more children. And here's how it shows up in some of our school districts. Conejo Valley has lost, so the purple is 2021, blue is 24. See the decline there. Moorpark Unified, really losing a little ground. Simi Valley Unified, also losing ground. I'm often asked, isn't this because of homeschooling in private schools? But the answer is no, it's because of a decline in the birth rate, because even the private schools are seeing a decline. Test scores, there's a lot of information in here. I won't slow you down, or I won't slow down with that, but the commentary written by Tony Biasotti is very helpful to understand the range of achievement and lack of that. Community colleges, Moorpark's doing very well. They're the blue. Other schools are about holding their own. I'd like to share this because the educational attainment for those in the audience and on the dais, the value of education, if your child or grandchild wants to stay in school, It pays off in a huge amount over the course of their lifetime. The average male graduating high school can look forward to about $46,000 of annual income. But if they stay in school and get a bachelor's degree, that'll double and that's what they can expect to earn year after year after year. So when you do the math, it is a huge amount of extra money that somebody can make with more degree. If they are motivated to be in school, and I would say it pays for the student loans, it's a worthwhile investment. in the appropriate industries. Housing, we're coming back, a little bit of growth, not high. Simi Valley's sort of right in the middle as far as the median home prices, 890,000 in 2025, and it's a little bit more than it was the year before. Apartment rents make up one of the highest costs for our young people. This is what's starting to make it hard for us to have more children, is because our young people can't afford to live here. And then they are, recruited to go move to Texas, to Nevada, to Utah because we have such high rents. And so we need to bring down the cost of housing and I'll move along for other things. Solar, great news there. Beautiful place to live, Ventura County, that's unbeatable. This is the chart that really shows the decline in the birth rate. So we are showing the number of births per thousand residents. And we were doing really well back around 1990s and the 80s, averaging in the high teens number of births, and that's just cratered over the years. down to 9.9 and 10.2. So young people have three things going on. One is it's expensive, so they leave the area. We lose that. They stay here, but they put off having children. Instead of having in their early 20s, they're waiting until their late 20s or maybe their 30s. And then the third thing is they're deciding to have less children. So we may have all grown up with three or four kids as our next door neighbor and that. But now we're seeing families of only one child or two. And what's driving that is, besides the cost of housing, is the cost of childcare. It costs $15,000 a year to put your infant in childcare. It's even more if that child is a toddler. I'm advocating to every city and hopefully city managers when you're all together can solve this wrinkle, but if we can bring down the cost of childcare, just somewhat, subsidize it other ways, then that can be a magnet for employers, it could be a magnet for young people, because we are in a battle to keep our young people and not have them move to Riverside, to San Bernardino. We need to attract them and attract them from other areas. So when you see childcare A place like Amgen provides childcare, but they still charge their employees the full rate. But imagine the beauty of being able to drop off your kid near your work. If we could open up childcare centers that were close to employment centers, so instead of having to get up in Simi Valley, drive to Moorpark to drop off your child, and then come back to work here at City Hall or somewhere else, if we can bring childcare closer, if we can make it more affordable, I think that is one way to help bring down, to keep our young people here and attract them. This is new in the report. We've added cancer rates. We're looking at the top 15 to 20 counties across the state. We broke it out for three cancers, leukemia, breast cancer, and prostate, and this is the overall of those. These numbers are age-adjusted and gender-adjusted, and the fascinating thing is that Ventura County ranks fairly high in the amount of the incidence of cancer. I don't know why that is. It's often pointed out that several of these other counties are coastal counties. I'm not sure if that has any relationship. Some people tell me, well, maybe we have better doctors. So we're detecting it. But I don't know if that's actually true or wishful thinking. So a lot of good data in the report. There's the breast cancer one. Public safety, Ventura County continues to be one of the safest counties in the state, actually the safest. And I'll just move right along here. Sumi Valley, still 2.1 million pounds of food distributed in 2024. Transportation, there's a lot of statistics, but I'll end up with this one. even though the pandemic is over and people are going back to work we're still seeing an increase in the number of people that are working from home and that continues to match all of the other counties nearby and so with that I'll stop again. This is available to the public at civicalliance.org. I have a handful. If anybody wants to hit me up outside, I'll share a few as well. And of course, you have some here for your staff. One final announcement. The Civic Alliance will be hosting a conference Called the future of the region it will be on September 14th in Camarillo and we will have a guest speaker talking about these demographic issues and I think it'd be fascinating. I know that you'll all be on our mailing list and hope you can attend There's any questions. I'm happy to answer them, but thank you all for your time.

Thank you for your presentation Are there any questions councilmember Rhodes?

I just wanted to say thank you. This resource sits on my desk. And if it could come out every year, that would be better. I know that that's a burden. It's absolutely packed full of actionable data. And so thank you for putting it together. And the overview, while it is extremely fast, I know I have a copy I can dig in and really get the data. So thank you. Yes, thank you, sir.

Thank you for your presentation. Anyone else, no? That means you did a great job.

Okay.

Thank you, David, we always appreciate it.

Madam Mayor and members of the City Council, next on the agenda is item four, public statements. If you are participating by phone and wish to provide public comment, please raise your hand by pressing star nine. While waiting to be recognized, please remain on the line and listen to the instructions. Agenda item number four is a time allotted for public statements from individuals who have submitted speaker cards as well as those participating by phone. During agenda item four, the City Council will hear public statements from the firsthand persons who have submitted speaker cards. After the firsthand persons have spoken, subsequent persons who have submitted speaker cards will be called to speak during agenda item number six, which is a continuation of agenda item number four. Gendarmes 4 and 6 are designated for public statements on all matters except for public hearings, appointments, and informational reports. Speakers will be called on in the order in which a card was received and will have up to three minutes to address the City Council. Speakers participating by phone will be recognized after all in-person speakers have been called. When the clerk recognizes you, you will be prompted to press star six to unmute your phone before addressing the city council, and we'll have up to three minutes to speak. The mayor will notify you when you have 30 seconds remaining. Persons addressing the city council are requested to state their name and community residence for the record. Madam Mayor, unless you have any comments, we can begin public statements.

Please proceed.

Madam Mayor, we do have 11 speaker cards. Would you like me to call them all during?

Yes, let's go ahead, thank you.

I will call three names so you know who you follow. Ben Davis, Dale Steinick, and Michael Shaw.

Good evening, Mayor, council members, and city staff. My name is Ben Davis, president of Picola Tiny Homes here in Simi Valley. Thank you for your time tonight. This is the 10th time I've stood here at this podium to talk about our housing crisis. And tonight, I'm glad to bring some good news. But first, a hard fact. You heard David and his whole entire presentation. And to add to that, as of 2023, 51% of adults ages 18 to 24 are still living in their parental home, hence the no child. Not because they want to be there, but because the housing math doesn't work for them yet. And when they look for a way out, here's what they run into. A foundation-built ADU in our area costs between $200,000 and $500,000 and takes a year to a year and a half longer to build than a movable tiny home, as well as the average house in Simi Valley is $890,000 now. That's the gap for our young people, and honestly, a lot of our seniors too are stuck in, which is exactly why what happened since I last stood here matters so much. So Councilmember Ayala, you asked for this issue to be placed on a future agenda, and Councilmember Lister, you seconded that motion. I want to thank you both. publicly and sincerely. You didn't just sit through nine speeches. You acted on them. You put your names in this in public, on the record, and moved it from a hallway conversation to an actual agenda item. And that is the kind of leadership this issue has been waiting for, and I will not forget it. So thank you. I would like to also extend a formal invitation to Mayor Cavanaugh and any other Simi Valley residents or anyone who wants to come see. Please come see a moveable tiny home for yourself. Come to our facility, walk through a unit and see exactly what we've been asking this council to consider. I think it will make the case better than any speech I could give from this podium. So thank you Council Member Ayala and Council Member Lister and thank you Simi Valley for getting us this close.

Thank you.

Hello, Mayor and City Council. My name's Dale Steinick, owner of Ultimate Locations and author of My House is a Great Location. I have an ongoing list of homes and businesses that I've listed for filming. These places are ready for filming. Restaurants, Big Z Restaurant, Ozen Sushi, a bar, PCS Bar and Grill, Tattoo Parlor, Vellum Studios, Hair Salon, Fringe on the Fifth, Samaritan Center, Laundromat, Simi Suds, Recreational facilities the bunker a clubhouse, which is an indoor has indoor golf screens laser tag extreme indoor laser tag D-bat indoor batting cages private homes that I have a private home that has a golf putting green a soccer practice field and pickleball plus a hundred paved and unpaved spaces and and a clear view of the mountains and hills north of the property. I have a ranch, a 15-acre ranch, that has 50-plus unpaved parking spaces, 20 paved parking spaces, a view of Simi Valley, and a 3,000-square-foot home. The homes range, and I have about 20 of them at this point. It's an ongoing list from 1,500 square feet to 7,000-plus square feet. To the production companies, Park Pictures, Heather, call me. The Lincoln Lawyer, Richard DePetri, call me. David Park, The Falling, call me. Gilbert Perez, call me. Matt on Matlock, Nick Chandler, you have my number. Taylor Sheridan Group, Michael Dunitz, Glory Sanchez, which is Will Ferrell's group, The Hawk, Derek Alvarado, you know me, call me. Ian Bogart, Alison Copps, Kyle Hollinger, Brian Love, Patrick Pardo, you guys call me. Jason Strickland, producer, Kelly Harris, I know you have my number. With all these people, come to Simi Valley. Try us out. Work here. Because we have the shops, we have the stores, we have the homes for all your productions. I have probably minimum of five of everything. Call me. If you hear this and you're not on my list and you are a property owner or a business owner, I'm easy to find. Call me. Get on my list so you can be part of this filming that we want here in Simi Valley. Thank you.

Thank you. Any questions?

Oh, you can't take questions? Not now. I didn't know. They'll call you.

Good evening, you all. I missed you last meeting. Your knucklehead buddy here went and thought it'd be a good idea to take a labor job for six weeks. Instead of saying stand shoulder to shoulder, I was shovel to shovel with a lot of the people you'll hear me advocate for. I tell you, I don't think it was such a great idea, but I did meet a lot of great people and wonderful stories, and it just solidified the efforts I make when I talk to you guys about the things that are going on that people can't come up and talk to you about. And part of that is going back to the Michael Robinson incident, and I was so affected by that, I brought you all books on what we were gonna do about. Now, the last time I was here, I said racism in our city schools. Well, that beating took place at the Regal. It isn't just our city schools. And no offense, you guys, but I don't think any one of you has ever experienced a bad racial happening to you. So the reason I keep harping about it is I'm hoping maybe we can put a commission together. We can look into it a little deeper because Our city council's silence is insulting to all those young, brave kids that come in, came up here and testified. And those weren't made up stories. Those were real life stories. And I think it behooves us to pay attention to it and give it the serious concentration we should. So with that, I'll use my last little bit of my one minute left where... I got to start ragging on waste management again. I was reading in the Times, there was three sites that were approved to take the waste that came from that city that burned, and they had to evacuate the whole city. And we were one of those three sites. Now, I don't know how you check, but I'd surely like to know, did any of that rotten material make it out to our landfill? According to the LA Times, it did. And now we're the brunt of every time there's some toxic stuff to get rid of, let's send it to CME. So I think it's uncool. I hope it didn't go there. We'll talk more later about their expansion that's coming up and they're raising our rates, which I'm not in favor of. Okay, thanks for listening, you guys. Talk to you later.

Thank you.

The next three speakers, James McGillis, Anthony Thompson, and Anthony Eason.

Madam Mayor, members of the City Council, and staff, I'm James McGillis, a resident of Simi Valley. At their most recent meeting, the Tree Advisory Board, also known as the Planning Commission, approved the construction of 58 new single-family homes near the northern end of Cochran Street. To facilitate the construction, the Tree Advisory Board also sanctioned the destruction of five native oak trees. for the future construction site. As you know, the city's hillside preservation ordinance bans construction on any slope of 20% or greater. Through a loophole big enough for a Mack truck, the developers can grade entire hillsides down to less than 20% and build whatever fits on the property. Prior to approval, one tree advisory board member expressed his appreciation that the developer did not request a density bonus for this development. He never mentioned the majestic oak tree at the top of that hillside, which was soon to be destroyed for all time. The only reason the developer did not request a density bonus is that they could not cram even one more residential lot onto the project site. In fact, the footprint is so full there will be no sidewalks in the new neighborhood. I have a new hobby. I travel to all the future development sites in the city and photograph native trees slated for destruction. For instance, I went to Oak Road and found the city's heritage oak still standing. After 350 years, it appeared indifferent to its imminent demise. I have a suggestion for both the Tree Advisory Board and the City Council. Every time you sanction the destruction of a native oak tree, you should post a sign nearby. It would state the time and place of the public wake and final tree-hugging ceremony at the site prior to the chainsaws going to work. Then young and old alike could bid their heritage and what remains of the natural environment here in Simi Valley a sad but fond farewell. Have you driven up Tapa Canyon Road to Lost Canyons Road lately? Without so much of it as a whimper, oak trees up to two feet in diameter have been felled, chopped up, and carted away. At the intersection of the two roads, there used to be a natural area surrounded and shaded by native oaks. Now look at it. It looks like a strip mine. It may be time to repeal the hillside protection ordinance and the mature tree preservation ordinance. Instead, we should have a new ordinance that requires at least one oak tree be sacrificed for every acre of new development. That way, if no oak trees are available on the proposed site, the developer could be required to select an oak tree at some other location in the city and personally cut it down using a city-approved chainsaw. If you listen outside at night, I'm sure you will hear the owls all over this valley calling out for their failed and lost habitat. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, I'm Anthony Thompson. I'm a resident and a business owner here. Open for business, closed for bureaucracy. That's what residents expect when they report a problem, and that's what our city should deliver. First, I want to recognize what speed of enterprise is and what works. Ryan Ventrella, George Goodwin, and the streets maintenance team deserve credit for responsiveness. A concerned residents flagged down the street maintenance crew about an issue on the northbound side of Sequoia right before the 118 freeway, and it was addressed within 24 hours. That service, that's excellent service and the kind of urgency we should expect citywide. The issue, the condition of our street signs affects the public's perception of Simi Valley, especially along gateway corridors such as First Street leading up to the mall. If you get off First Street, go towards the mall, every sign is whitewashed and bleached. You can't read it. The other thing, down Royal Avenue, I had the privilege to take, when the Hummingbird Ranch Nest was up for sale, one of the primary owners of the Hard Rock Casino. We went down Royal, and he couldn't read what street they were on. I was showing him the Wood Ranch area. The condition of our street signs affects the public's perceptions. And I have documented from 17 different videos, different pictures where residents sent it to me, and in preference, and also in The fairness to the city, I asked the residents, I said, you know, there's a website, go put the complaints on there because the city can't see everything that's on the street. So it's up to us as residents to identify those all as well. But we shouldn't rely solely on the residents to discover and report predictable infrastructure failures. So a practical solution I came with, I'm in the sign business, and these failures are predictable. A sign replacement strategy should be based on orientation as expected for replacements. For example, south and west facing signs generally needs replacement in seven to nine years because it's always facing the sun, always getting the UV rays. East facing generally takes about eight to 10 years, and north facing can add 12 years or more. It all depends on the DOT requirements and the sheeting that's used. I recommend the city establish a proactive replacement schedule by sign category, location, orientation, and the condition. The reflective sheeting usually is the least expensive replacement of the sign. The most expensive and the most predictive model is the road closures and traffic control that's needed, public works, labor, and equipment, man lifts, and vehicle deployment. And the replacement of substrates such as aluminum, galvanized steel, those are all the lower costs. So I would say a strategic remove and replace system could preserve usable Substrates and the signs that as we bundle into our corridors.

Thank you.

Mr. Thompson Good evening My name is Anthony Eason. I'm a 42 year resident of Simi Valley. I have a request involving public hearing notices this evening Public hearing notices are essential tools for community engagement and government transparency. Notices alert citizens about government activities, proposed projects, or changes that may affect their community. Notices provide an opportunity for residents to voice their opinions and concerns regarding proposed developments or changes. They invite community members to participate in the decision making process, ensuring that diverse perspectives are considered. They help ensure transparency, which fosters trust and encourages civic engagement. I believe the city is currently meeting its legal obligation by publishing notices in the Ventura County Star. My request involves the addition of a notice published in another paper as well, the Simi Valley Ag Quorum. California Government Code, Title VII, Chapter 2.7, Section 65090, Paragraph C states, quote, In addition to the notice required by this section, a local agency may give notice of the hearing in any other manner it deems necessary or desirable. Although not being necessary, I believe it would be desirable. This could inform more residents of these hearings, encourage more public participation in local government that could provide city council as well as the planning commission with additional perspectives to consider prior to making decisions at these hearings. I don't know if the city council needs to do anything other than instruct the city manager that you would like this additional notice published as well. I believe the additional cost to the city would be minimal and be outweighed by public benefit. It is my understanding that the Ventura County Star has a circulation somewhere in the vicinity of 12,500 in Simi Valley. As of April 2024, the Simi Valley acorn had a print circulation in Simi Valley of 34,257. I'm not totally sure of the Ventura County star number, but I believe the circulation of the acorn to certainly be greater than that of the Ventura County star in Simi Valley. This would allow more notice, reaching more residents, and hopefully more public participation as well. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you, Mr. Houston.

The next three speakers, Frank Tomlinson, Kate O'Brien, and Travis Foster.

I brought these for the...

I brought a little something that we made up so that you guys could see a little bit of what we're imagining with what we do with the assignment program at Vets and Valor. I hope that gives you a little perspective, a little context of what we're thinking about making it a community event, making it veteran-centric to the newly separated veterans that are coming out of the military. honoring them and just making it a day that they were able to connect and be a part of the larger community. Maybe find a home, a place where they're able to work, where veterans are appreciated and hired. We have all of those connections and we continue to make more every day. I did wanna read this. This is actually, because I thought that this was ironic. This was actually posted in the Simi Valley Community Forum last week. A gentleman, single dad of four, veteran who had been employed yet homeless since December, today finally signed a lease for an apartment. However, I'm moving with no furniture. I don't see us having enough for some time, but hopefully gradually save up for rent. save up or getting donations over time. Does anyone have any sleeping bags, an air mattress they're willing to donate? These are the kinds of people that this effort that we would hope to be able to use and access our larger community and the veterans that are out there that are on social media. I mean, this is probably a little bit more of an anomaly, to be honest with you, with veterans that are out there. but it's hard trying to find them in the community. Things like the 13 Souls Run that we're helping organize, we're hoping to be able to start making those connections through that. This would be another way that we'd be able to help make those connections. One of the reasons, and I haven't shared this up till now, but Right outside these doors, there is a banner that hangs for Joshua Collins. He was killed in action in Afghanistan 2010. He is a friend of ours up at Vets in Valor. It is amazing to be able to drive by and see that every time that I pass and come up here. But what he did was amazing because he actually served in Afghanistan in He separated from the Marines, became a LAPD police officer for a couple years, but he was pulled back in. He was EOD. He was killed by a roadside bomb in 2010, but what he did is he had bold leadership. I hope I exemplify that by coming here. That's one of the reasons why I continue to do this, and hopefully that this is just something that we'll be able to change together, okay? Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Is it okay if I let people, if I put these by the door, if they want to see what this looks like?

Am I allowed to do that? That's fine, thank you.

Good evening, everyone. Kate O'Brien here. And I'm speaking to you today primarily about the Samaritan Center. I'm on the board. And I have a secondary thing which I'll announce. Samaritan Center, our next fundraiser is going to be the Mount McCoy Hike, which will take place on October 17th. where you meet at Rancho Madera Park on Lake Park South Avenue to start, and we go up the hill. Now, Simi Valley, as we heard earlier, has roughly 152 homeless people, plus several people who are food insecure, which means they have to choose between putting food on the table and keeping the lights on. We help them as well. We help the food insecure. We help people who are homeless. 152 homeless people is a manageable number. Every dollar we raise does a tremendous amount of good. It's not like LA County where you walk down a street and there's tents. You can't even walk on the sidewalk. We have better control than that. So October 17th, we will have flyers. The reason they're not ready now is because we had to change the date. We originally were on September 19th, and there were two other significant events that day, so we had to... postpone it for a month. And I want to point that out. Anyone who's ever complained about there being nothing to do in Simi Valley, I hope they take note of that. So October 17th, meet at eight o'clock Rancho Madera. Flyers available, I will be passing them out everywhere I can. Second thing also about food insecure people, our Noontime Rotary Club, of which Councilmember Rhodes and myself are both members, is having our annual 27th, I think, pancake breakfast on October 10th, which is the week before the hike. Councilmember Rhodes is going to expand on that during his time to speak freely. So I'm sure we're all looking forward to hearing it. And so here we are. Thank you. Thanks, Kate.

Good evening. I'm back for the same reason I was here two weeks ago, the growing coyote problem in the APC tract. I'm extremely disappointed by the response I've gotten from both our elected officials and members of the community who refuse to give this issue the seriousness it deserves, and I will be keep coming back until something gets done. Last time the council pointed citizens towards information on the city's website about coyotes and told us not to leave food and water outside. That's not a solution. It's putting the onus on citizens to account for the city's mishandling of an environmental hazard. We're not writing essays for a fourth grade biology class. We don't need what essentially amounts to a Wikipedia article explaining what coyotes are. We have residents losing their pets and we need to know what's actually gonna be done about it. I've also heard repeatedly online, just keep your pets inside. Animals are meant to be outside. Cats enjoy being able to explore, hunt, and go to the bathroom outside. And people leave their dogs outside in fenced backyards all the time. Why is it acceptable for dogs to be outside in people's backyards and cats not to? Suddenly it's the owner's fault when cats get killed. That's a double standards. And then there's my favorite excuse, the coyotes were here first. No, the coyotes were not here first. I'll say it again, the coyotes were not here first. And for good measure, I'll say it one more time. No, the coyotes were not here first. I've lived in Simi 35 years and I've never seen coyotes roaming the neighborhood and eating people's pets until 2022 or 2023. This is a relatively new problem facing our community and it's getting worse. And school is nearly back in session. Last spring, 7.45 a.m. in the morning, while kids were going to school, I personally saw a coyote walking through my neighborhood in broad daylight. It was missing patches of fur, surrounded by flies, and God knows what else was wrong with it. And it was heading towards blocks where children were going to school at Santa Susana Elementary School and kids and things. People should be scared of that. Are we seriously going to wait until a child gets attacked before we do something about the problem? A coyote bite can mean serious wounds, infection, potentially rabies treatment. I don't want to stand here after somebody's kid gets hurt and ask why nobody did anything. And for anyone who thinks that this only affects people on the outskirts of town, ABC Tract is three minutes away from this building. This is not happening far away. It's happening right here in our community, so do something. Work with Ventura County Animal Services. Work with California Fish and Games and Wildlife. Determine what can legally and ethically be done to identify, trap, and remove coyotes that are repeatedly killing pets, displaying signs of illness, or creating a threat to public safety. Look to what other cities are doing. And while I have you all, yes, the rent is too high. What the first two speakers said is true, but nobody buys houses anymore. They rent apartments. Rent needs to be $1,000 or less for apartments for young people like myself to be able to live here. Thank you. Have a good night.

Thank you, Mr. Tomlinson.

Excuse me. I'm sorry, sir. Were you Travis Foster? Okay. Do we have Kate O'Brien? Ken Hurst, Madison Walrath, and Jamie Sanchez.

Good evening. First, I want to mention that we had our second CME Immigration Coalition Town Hall meeting last night. It was well attended, including Councilmember Ayala, and we had several good and useful presentations about the legal landscape from Ryan Valencia, from Assemblymember Jackie Erwin's office, lawyer resources from Vanessa Frank and Mariposa, a one-stop web resource portal from two-on-one, and a passionate description of the effects of immigration enforcement on Simi families. Second, sadly, the number of ICE detentions in Simi Valley has grown to 53 now. Since I last talked with you about FLOC, the Simi Valley Police Department has worked to improve the FLOC search audit log. The old reason column is no longer reported and in its place is the offense type. This appears to be a change from a free form reason to a repetitive menu pull down. But each search now has an indication of why it was being done. The audit file now appears to be updated about once per week instead of daily. The user ID column remains redacted. I understand the SVPD is auditing to make sure that our data does not go outside California, as some of our neighbors' data did a few months ago. With the user ID being redacted, it is not possible for citizens to see who is using our data. This is a primary function of the search audit logs, and the existing logs cannot fulfill that function. I filed a freedom of information request with the city asking for the redacted column. I was told there were no responsive records, which I understand to mean that the city does not have the user ID data. I do not understand how the Simi Valley Police Department can be verifying that the data does not go outside California and also not have the user ID data. When I asked the city this question, I did not get an answer. Since this is a primary goal of the search audit logs, I would like to request the user ID data be available to allow citizens to understand which organization is accessing our data. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hearst.

Good evening, Ms. Mayor, Council. I am also here to talk about the coyote problem, what can be done about it, and why it is so important to have safeguards in place without placing all the burden on the residents where government intervention is required. There are state laws prohibiting the relocation of trapped coyotes for ecological reasons, and I recognize that these methods are historically ineffective. There are concerns about displaced wildlife following the fires. When animals lose their homes, they must find a new one. But this becomes a problem for both the animals and the residents when the animals pose a risk to health and safety. Notwithstanding the pets who have been eaten, when someone reports a large coyote with mange and missing fur, surrounded by flies and near groups of school children, that is a public health concern. Waiting until there is an interaction at that point, not a mere sighting, but an interaction per your words, is unacceptable and irresponsible. We cannot wait until somebody gets hurt or sick. According to the Ventura County Animal Services Coyote Management Plan, this falls under the definition of a wildlife problem. The excessive attacks on domestic animals alone constitute several priority two incidents in a short amount of time. Your failure to take appropriate action on your end is inconsistent with this plan, which I found linked on the city's website in the same place you have urged us to look for information. I am not advocating for eradication. There are humane, sustainable solutions to problems like these. Wildlife sightings can be reported to the Simi Valley Animal Shelter, Ventura County Animal Services, and the City of Simi Valley. Permanent signage can be placed with phone numbers, QR codes to websites, et cetera. Spaying and neutering efforts can be considered following an environmental impact report to ensure sustainability and harm mitigation. Problematic coyotes known to cause continuous issues could be humanely euthanized by the VCAS. Neighborhoods could develop coyote watch programs in coalition with the animal shelter, assigning block captains to share information with neighbors, assess coyote issues in each neighborhood and discuss solutions, and take a proactive approach to education and hazing in addition to active intervention, because at this juncture, education alone is not enough. Other communities have implemented all of these things. They are viable, they are effective. And if you doubt this, I urge you to look into them anyway. Take the time, make the effort, get other wildlife programs involved, reach out to the animal shelter, reach out to the VCIS, I know I'm out of time. Your time is now up, but thank you. Thank you, let's work together.

Thank you.

Before I begin, I want to acknowledge that we are gathered on traditional lands of the Chumash people. I honor their enduring connection to this land and pay my respects to their elders past and present. I usually have a speech that I write beforehand. I was too angry to do that this time around, so I'm speaking from my heart more than anything. I recently read that article, and I'm sure as all of you know what I'm talking about. The whole reason why I started speaking here was because of Michael Robinson and what happened to him. And the number of times that we called the police during that first month or two to get protection for him and had no help from anybody said, just leave it alone, it's just a random car. Don't worry, your shoe will be fine eventually. It traumatizes me to know that that kid, who is still a kid, how much that affected him. He doesn't even feel safe here, which is why he moved out of this place, because not even his home residence was safe for him at the time. I make $60,000 a year. To see that that's where public safety money came from, I cannot understand that. And I think because of I've learned a lot here, I will say that. I've learned a lot from you, Mayor, you, and a little bit from Litzer. And what I will say to you is if this happened to your son, how would you feel? If this happened to your daughter, your grandkids, your kids and grandkids, if you have any, I don't know. I don't look into your personal lives like that. But I know that if this happened to my son, I would continue to stand here and know what is going to change in this town to make sure that every single citizen is safe. Not that they have to leave to feel safer at a homeless shelter. To know that they're going to be a father themselves and fear their own child safety. Yes, Michael is going to be a father soon. Now imagine what he feels like knowing that his daughter is going to be in this town and he can't do anything to protect her. I have spoken about awareness, I have spoken about so many different things, but this right here is the reason why I started here and I will continue to advocate for those who fear that no change will ever happen. Now I hope you also will continue to come to the town hall meetings and maybe advocate for those who can't speak for themselves either. Thank you, that's all I got.

Thank you, Ms. Sanchez.

And the last speaker is Ashley.

Good evening council. I'd like to start by acknowledging the Simi Immigrant Coalition's incredible work and efforts here in our city. The back to school resource fair and supply drive as well as our second immigration town hall were a big success and we could not be more honored to help serve our neighbors and community. made possible by the hard work and dedication of many locals from all walks of life. Longtime activists, community leaders, our incredibly passionate youth organizers, and everyday people like you and me. Together we can learn, grow, and work towards a future for this city that recognizes, supports, and appreciates all of its people. Special mention and overwhelming gratitude to Joseph Ayala for your presence, patience, wisdom, and school supplies. Mayor Kavanaugh, we look forward to your attendance at our next meeting. I'm unfortunately gonna switch gears. and ask a question many of us are wondering, which is why $60,000 city dollars were spent on law enforcement overtime for an adult that committed a hate crime and then doubled down on his violent threats because he's the child of local law enforcement. Would you do the same for any member of this community or is this special treatment? And I think you know the answer. This room knows the answer and the city knows the answer. This is not what equality looks like. This is favoritism and honestly, it's disgraceful. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Madam Mayor, that was the last speaker and we have no speakers on calling in either.

Thank you, on to the next.

Madam Mayor, members of the City Council, next on the agenda is item 4A, City Council comments regarding public statements.

Does anyone wish, Council Member Ayala?

Lots of different topics tonight, thank you. Ben Davis, thank you for coming again. I know that it's now being worked and we're gonna have that sometime soon that we can actually take an actual vote on that. Mr. Shaw, thank you for coming as well and always being that old man, like you say, who can just say whatever he wants to say and be okay with it. Mr. McGillis, we will talk more about the Cochran project, I'm sure, as we get closer to that vote and all that entails. Mr. Thompson, thank you for coming and acknowledging the city workers, because they don't often get acknowledged for the work they do. I saw something similar, a city manager, where there was just like a little tree branch in the middle of an intersection, and I was parked at the intersection, and there was one of the city work trucks at the light, They just didn't sit there. They actually got out of their trucks, paused traffic, went out there, picked it up, and that wasn't what they were on the job to do, right? And they still took the time to do that. So thank you for bringing that up. We'll look into the public hearing options, Mr. Eason, to make it more accessible. I think we always need to have more people involved. Mr. Tomlinson, I don't know if he's still here from Veterans. I don't know if you were here at the last meeting, but we did make a motion at the end and moved forward to work on options for the Council to vote on to to work with the better way of distributing those flags with services so that we're gonna come back on that. But thank you for continuing to speak out on that. Ms. O'Brien I think is still here. I was there last year at the hike. I remember it was kind of sprinkling that day. We still did it. I'll be there again this year. The Coyotes, thank you for both speakers, especially the second speaker who you brought up a lot of solutions, which I really appreciate. You just didn't, you know, it was like this, this, this, so excellent. And for Ms. Sanchez, Ashley, thank you. This is kind of after the fact, right? It's done, but thank you for continuing to be advocates for not just Michael, but for anyone else that might come after. Thank you for being here.

Thank you, Council Member. Mayor Pro Tem Lutzer?

I concur much food for thought and discussion, and I'll touch on just a couple of things. I'm sorry, let me get to just a couple of things. Actually, I wanted to thank Mr. Thompson for the education on signage and your suggestion for solution. I know that there was a time that I called in repeatedly on a particular sign on my driving to school that was bleached out by the sun, so it's not, it's an awareness and it's something that we could and should discuss. And yes, Mr. Easton, I liked your suggestion about potentially placing it in the ACORN as well. Certainly we want people to be aware and involved. Mr. Tomlinson, I think, has left, but he spoke to the banners and the restoration, and I think his involvement is very positive. I wanted to speak just about his support of the 13 Souls Run, which is taking place in two weeks. I was going to let my fellow council members know that I have signed up to bike on that 13 mile run, which is actually, I bicycle it, you guys can run it. But it is really lovely that our community supports the veterans in that fashion. And I appreciate his support, which helped make it occur again. And so it is online if anyone would like to sign up. And what's fun is you can do it for, I think, $20. Or if you want to pay $65, you can get a t-shirt out of it. And so anyway. But it all goes towards a good cause. Kate, thank you for talking about the Samaritan Center hike to Mount McCoy. As I understand, the way it works, too, is if you can get sponsors to sponsor your hike, that is what you really want to happen. So I just thought I'd share that little piece, too, that I noticed as I was reading about your efforts there. So thank you. Regarding the coyote discussion, thank you again for being here. I know we responded that ultimately animal control gets involved when there's altercation, but you're completely right. When you observe something that could turn into an altercation, that is when calls should be made. And so we'll have maybe for the discussion, I hope sidebar about with the animal control and what can be done there. I wanted to thank Mr. Ken Hurst, who is here, there you are, for organizing the gathering that you had Sunday. As you recall, I had to go play the music elsewhere and so I missed it this time, but I know I spoke with Council Member Ayala and he said it was just very well organized and the attorney who returned and spoke, very knowledgeable and so thank you for those efforts. Your concern about the flock cameras and knowing who is accessing is certainly, I think, has some validity and it might be a discussion to have with our attorney and what is required and how that should be looked at. So thank you for bringing that to our attention. And I just want to conclude by saying thank you to all of you who have expressed your desires for a community where everyone is represented and is treated equally and fairly. And we appreciate your comments and I appreciate I understand that we need to be all doing more. So thank you everyone.

Thank you. Okay, I'll take a moment. Again, thank you everyone for coming out. We had a lot of various concerns tonight, which is nice to see our community taking the time to come forward and letting us know what's going on. So Ben, I definitely want to see one of yours. I see them online and in pictures, but I wouldn't really want to see them. Are you going to be at the street fair again this year? Well, I'll be there before that, but that'll be a good time for people to view those too. Mr. Shah, you're always bringing stuff forward to us, so thank you. I'm glad you had to work this time, though. But I do have a response for you on waste management, on your waste management concern. City Manager?

Yeah, thank you, Madam Mayor. So waste management did accept food from the freezer section of the warehouse in the Boyle Heights area. And that was food that was going to melt. But it was all really within the scope of their day to day operations. They did not accept any of the burnt food or the building materials that all went to other landfills. So I just want to make sure that that's clear to the community.

Thank you, the city manager had let us know that, but she explained it much better than I would have, so thank you. The reason I teased him about going to work, he's been retired how many times, five times? You keep going back to work, so. Let's see, thank you for the street sign acknowledgement and information, Mr. Thompson. Veterans stand down. Frank, we also have a, the park district puts on a big veteran program on Veterans Day. I don't know if you wanna combine into that or if you wanna kind of keep it separate. I can talk to you afterwards, we were just looking at that. Kate, I will sponsor you to hike up to the cross. Okay, you'll have my sponsorship, that way I don't have to do it. I'm no dummy. And Jamie and Ashley, thank you both for always being here and continuing to advocate for our community and for those that can't speak for themselves. And Mr. Hurst, if you give me a date, I'll make sure I can try and get at the next meeting. Because each of us should go to at least one, I think that would be fair for everybody. And we get to know what's going on a little bit better in our community. And I think that was it. Oh, coyotes. I know there's not a whole lot we can do as a community, but let me reach out to VCAS. I actually am a commissioner on VCAS, so let me reach out and see if they can give us something to work with or maybe some ideas that you can as a little community work on. I think maybe if we start in one little spot and kind of... work our way around the entire valley, it would be helpful to all of us. I don't see them very much where I live, but I see them other places and walking around and they're not scared of us anymore. So that's kind of the problem. But let's see if VCAS can help us out a little bit one on one on that. And I think that's it for me, except our city manager would like to speak.

I just wanted to add that in order to bring awareness about the coyote issues in the community, I have actually A few months back, I had spoken with our environmental services director to ensure that we're having regular updates at our neighborhood council meetings to educate our neighborhood council members about the coyote management plan and what they can and can't do. Unfortunately, Fish and Game and VCAS does kind of limit us in terms of kind of, I want to say, like enforcement against coyotes. But there is a plan to do more outreach to the neighborhood councils about coyotes.

Yes, thank you for doing that. I appreciate that. All right, if there are no other comments, we can move on to the next item. Madam Clerk.

Thank you. Madam Mayor and members of the City Council, next on the agenda is public hearings. This is a time for testimony on public hearings on the consideration of matters as presented on this agenda. Let the record show that due notice was given as required by law and an affidavit to this effect is on file in the office of the City Clerk. All comments submitted by email have already been provided to the city council and will be made part of the record. However, they will not be read by the city clerk this evening. Speakers will be called on in the order in which their card was submitted to speak for this public testimony item five for a period of no more than five minutes each. Persons addressing the city council are requested to state their name and community residence for the record. If you are participating by phone and wish to provide public testimony, please raise your hand by pressing star nine. Once the clerk recognizes you, you will be prompted to press star six to unmute your phone. You will have up to five minutes to speak and the mayor will notify you when you have 30 seconds remaining. Comments shall be limited to matters relevant on the agenda and may be ruled out of order if the comments aren't related to the item. The reports of city staff relating to these matters shall be made part of the record of this meeting. If you challenge in court any of the City Council decisions made here tonight, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at this public hearing. The time within which judicial review must be sought is governed by California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1094.6. Item 5A, a public hearing to consider a general plan amendment GPA-2024-0003, zone change Z-S-2025-0003, specific plan amendment SP-S-2025-0002, Plan development permit PDS-S-2025-0003 and tentative map TT-2025-0002 to modify the approved 364 lot 1770 acre Lost Canyons Development Project located west of Tapu Canyon Road, east of Copperstone Lane, north of Anderson Drive and Ditch Road, and north of south of Lost Canyons Drive. An addendum to the previously approved environmental impact report and mitigation monitoring and reporting program, introduction of an ordinance and adoption of a resolution.

Thank you, before we begin, are there any ex parte communications to report?

I'm sorry, you have to read the resolution. Sorry, it wasn't on my paper. No worries. The readings are as follows. Ordinance number 1374, an ordinance of the City Council of the City of Simi Valley approving a change of zone Z-S-2025-003 and specific plan amendment SPS 2025-0002 for the lost canyons development and an addendum to the previously approved environmental impact report and mitigation monitoring and reporting program. And resolution number 2026-39, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Simi Valley approving a general plan amendment GPA-2024-0003, plan development permit PD-S-2025-0003, and tentative map TT-2025-0002. to reconfigure the approved lost canyons development project to relocate 178 approved lots from the south side of lost canyons drive to the north side located locate two lots on the south end of the site for an approved 364 lot residential subdivision on a 1770 acre site located west on Tapple Canyon Road and Bennett Road, east of Copperstone Lane, north and south of Last Canyons Drive and north of Anderson Drive and Ditch Road, Lost Canyons. and an addendum to the previously approved Environmental Impact Report and Mitigation Monitoring Report Program, and Deputy Environmental Services Director Shawn Gibson, Senior Planner Elizabeth Richardson, and are here to present this item.

Thank you. Before we begin this item, are there any ex parte communications to report?

I've met with the developer and also received communications from community members regarding this.

Thank you. I met with the developer on the 27th prior to that city council meeting.

I think we all met with the developer.

That's why I was waiting. Okay, thank you. So everyone met with the, except for Mayor Pro Tem did not. All right, thank you. We can move forward now, Madam Clerk and staff.

Good evening, Mayor Cavanaugh, members of the City Council, tonight's public hearing is to consider revisions to the previously approved Lost Canyons Development Project. In a nutshell, the requested actions would relocate 178 to 180 of the 364 approved units from the southerly portion of the site to the former golf course site north of Lost Canyons Drive, which will result in elimination of the golf course, consolidation of infrastructure improvements, and preservation of additional open space. If approved tonight, further public hearings before the Planning Commission will occur to review proposed home styles, landscaping, and architecture. Tonight's action focuses on the proposed land use changes, zoning changes, and core site layout. On June 3rd, the Planning Commission recommended approval. With tonight's presentation is Senior Planner Elizabeth Richardson.

Hey, good evening. Tonight we are reviewing a modification to the Lost Canyon Specific Plan development. Lost Canyons is a 364 lot subdivision approved in 2013 and grading for phase one is approved and actively occurring on the site. The site is 1,770 acres located on the north side of Simi Valley bounded by Tapo Canyon Road to the west. Copperstone Drive to the east, north and south of Lost Canyons Drive and north of Ditch Road and Anderson Drive. The Big Sky subdivision is located to the west and county land is to the north and east and county islands are located to the south. Tonight's request is to modify the approved subdivision. The request consists of a general plan amendment, zone change, specific plan amendment, plan development permit, and a tentative map to move 180 approved single-family lots located on the south side of Lost Canyons Drive. No new residential lots are proposed. If the modification is approved tonight, the builder will return to the Planning Commission with individual lot plotting and architectural designs. Before we consider tonight's request i'm going to do a brief overview of the history of lost canyons first the white face specific plan was first adopted in 1992 for a maximum of 364 lots. A park and to golf courses were anticipated for the project site and the to golf courses were constructed and operated, however, both have since closed. In 2011, the Lost Canyon-specific plan was adopted for 364 single-family residences, remove the golf course on the south side of Lost Canyon's Drive, and allow the golf course on the north side of Lost Canyon's Drive to be a private golf course with an expanded clubhouse amenities. The environmental impact report was certified in 2011 as well. In 2013, the city council adopted the plan development permit and tentative map to subdivide the 1,770 acre site to create 364 single family residential lots, parks, golf courses, and infrastructure. No architectural plans were approved. The phase one final map has been recorded for 184 lots in site grading, and improvements have begun. To reach this point in the project, the applicant team has had to comply with the EIR mitigation measures, secure permits from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and obtain a tree removal permit and relocation permit from the city. In addition, they have worked with the Public Works Division to obtain grading and site improvement construction permits. In 2020, the Planning Commission approved a cluster development permit for individual house site plans and architecture for 184 single-family residences located in the Phase 1 area north of Lost Canyon Drive. Construction of these approved homes was not started. In September of 2023, the City Council had a general plan pre-screening and authorized further processing of a general plan amendment, which is part of tonight's request. In July of 2024, the Planning Commission approved a plan development permit modification and tentative map to relocate 32 approved lots. The 32 lots were originally approved in the northeast corner of the project site, shown in red, and were relocated to just north of Lost Canyon's Drive, shown here in blue. For tonight's project, the applicant requests approval of the following modifications to the approved Lost Canyons development. These include removal of the commercial recreation land use and zone, to remove the golf course portion of the project, reconfigure the open space, residential estate, residential low, and medium density land use and zoning to allow the relocation of the 180 single family lots. Amendments to the Lost Canyon Specific Plan development and design standards and modifications to the Tapo Canyon Road alignment width are also to be considered as well. The General Plan land use map will be updated to reflect the development changes. The area around the golf course will be changed from Recreation Commercial Land Use designation to low density residential and medium density residential for the relocation of 178 home sites. The area south of Lost Canyon Drive where the homes were approved will be changed to open space plus two areas of low density residential for the two estate lots. The areas shown in the red rectangles are the previous location of the 180 lots that are being proposed to be removed. The zone change will update the city's zoning map to correspond with the general plan land use map changes. The former golf course area will be rezoned from commercial recreation to residential low and medium density. And the area south of Los Canes Drive will be replaced with open space and residential estate zoning. And the two estate lots will be rezoned for residential low density. As we have discussed, the following specific plan amendments are proposed and in conjunction with the general plan amendment and zone change are necessary to relocate the residential lots. One of the more significant amendments to the specific plan is reducing the side yard and rear yard setbacks. The side yard setbacks will be reduced from 10 feet minimum for two story structures to five feet. The reduced side yard setbacks will allow the future homes to fill the lots for an improved house frontages when viewed from the street. The amendment also proposes to reduce the rear yard setback for one and two story structures. When the homes are located adjacent to HOA open space, the one story homes can have a five foot setback and two story homes can have a 10 foot rear yard setback. The specific plan amendment includes replacing references to estate, custom, and semi-custom home types with product types A, B, C, and D. And each of these product types are defined by the minimum lot dimension and lot sizes. This change will allow the future builder to present product types that meet their development needs but will not regulate the size of the individual homes. The specific plan design guidelines establish the character of the overall development and provide guidance to maintain the desired design quality. In addition to regulating the common area construction, the design guidelines also regulate the architectural styles and details of the individual homes. There are currently five approved architectural styles, Mission, Spanish Colonial Revival, American Eclectic, Craftsman Bungalow, and Mediterranean. And these are shown, four of these are shown on the screen. The amendment proposes two new architectural styles, the first being Modern Farmhouse, and the second being Coastal Contemporary. The program book guides the overall site layout, landscaping, streetscape for a cohesive design. The amendment to the program book includes a conceptual site plan and landscape plan for the future recreation amenities, common area landscaping, and entrance gate design. The future common area designs and recreation amenities will be reviewed by the planning commission with the plan development permit modification. A new recreation amenity will be provided to replace the golf course and clubhouse being removed from the specific plan. At this time, the space has not been designed or programmed. However, it will be reviewed by the planning commission with the future modification to review the single family residential architecture. The Phase 2 tentative map will relocate the 180 previously approved lots located on the south side of Lost Canyons Drive. 178 of those lots will be located to the north of Lost Canyons Drive on the area of the now closed golf course, and two lots will be located at the southern edge of the site with access from Anderson Drive and Ditch Road. The 178 relocated lots will range in size between 6,485 square feet and 24,377 square feet, with a minimum lot dimension ranging between 60 by 100 and 90 by 110. Lot 363 will be accessed from Anderson Drive and will be 1.10 acres, and lot 364 will be accessed from Ditch Road and will be 4.6 acres. Phase two will also have a total of 17 letter lot uses HOA maintained areas for streets, slopes, landscaping and other amenities. The specific plan amendment includes changes to the Tapo Canyon Road right of way. The 2013 specific plan approved the right of way to be 52 feet wide curb to curb, with two lanes of traffic and a center median. However, due to geotechnical issues identified on Tapo Canyon Road between Presidio Drive and Lost Canyons Drive, it is now proposed to be reduced to 45 feet wide with one lane of traffic in each direction and no center median. The six-foot-wide bike lanes will be maintained going both north and southbound, along with a five-foot-wide sidewalk on the east side of Tapu Canyon Road. At the intersection of Lost Canyons Drive and Tapu Canyon Road, the street width is proposed to be 52 feet wide with a northbound left turn lane and a southbound merge lane. A tree removal permit was issued in January of 2026 with the grading permit approving the removal of 49 mature trees and the relocation of 61 trees to areas within lost canyons drive the grading activities have occurred and the trees have already been removed with great. As part of the phase one construction. Neighborhood Council 1 considered the project on March 5, 2026, and recommended approval by a vote of 10 to 0. The audience vote was 3 to 0. An environmental impact report was previously certified in 2011. And since the original project will be modified, an addendum to the EIR was prepared to confirm that there were no new significant impacts, and there are no substantial increases in the severity of any previously identified environmental impacts. The associated impacts of the modified project were determined to be the same or less than described in the previously adopted EIR. And the Planning Commission recommends the City Council adopt an ordinance to approve the zone change and specific plan amendment and resolution approving the general plan amendment, plan development permit modification and tentative map and adopt an addendum to the environmental impact report and mitigation monitoring and reporting program. And this concludes staff's presentation and we are available for questions.

Thank you. Does anybody have any questions of staff? None? Just double check, okay, thank you. Council Member Rhoads.

And this is for staff, what were the geotechnical issues on the decision to narrow the roadway? What would prohibit it from being the original size?

We may want to defer that to the applicant, but Public Works staff is here if they'd like to elaborate, but I think they may have a better reason for that. That's kind of what I thought, so I was hesitant.

Okay, that's fine. Mayor Pro Tem Lutzer?

And I'm not sure if my question is for staff or for the developer as well, but let me just ask a couple. On page 52, it talks about Las Canyon's easterly terminus is actually Madera. And so I was just curious, is there a road currently existing, or is this connecting that makes that all happen? And are they responsible for developing that, or is that just saying that they're trying to give the entire project context.

One of the site plans, there's a Madera Road connection in our general plan, which actually terminates with the westbound, it's already built, there's a westbound terminus of Lost Canyons Drive, and actually I can refer you, it's actually, right, Madera Road would come from this point here, if I'm seeing it correctly, in the Big Sky community. And it just terminated into Big Sky. The specific plan just references that connection or circulation element to the existing built Big Sky community.

Interesting, okay, thank you. Okay. Again, this might be a question for the developer, but I will ask you. I noticed the plan shows... a water feature that is used for a retention pond, drainage, et cetera, but also for something that is an attractive feature. Is that something that is helpful for drainage purposes, or is that clearly, in your opinion, aesthetics?

There's definitely a need for drainage purposes. The applicant could also elaborate on Some of the issues that they're programming into their design to make it a more attractive water feature at the same time to kind of coincide with the proposed recreational building, rather than just a drainage basin that's sometimes not attractive.

Got it, and maybe one final question. Could you speak to, obviously this has to go through approvals, go through a host of different, including Ventura County Fire. It's been my sense, could you speak to their approval of this process? I know that originally the initial plan had the canyons And as I look at it, this seems like this might be an improvement in terms of fire safety, security, et cetera. Were there any concerns or was approval granted more readily by Ventura County Fire? Was that?

Yes. Through the current phase, which is the phase two where they're taking improvements on the golf course, the The fire department looked closely at the street lengths to make sure there's secondary access required and there's proper limits in the size. There were some modifications to the original draft design that came to us because the streets were too long. So they made sure, they made changes to ensure that the secondary access was provided per Ventura County standards. And that was the primary change. I don't know if the, fire department is here if they want to go over that, but I think I won't speak for them.

I would say if you would like to hear directly from Ventura County Fire, we have a representative here this evening.

I see that. If you would like to speak to it otherwise, I'm comfortable, but it's... Come on down, Matt. Come on down, Chief. This is an opportunity to be part of the fun. Come on down.

Be part of the fun, I enjoy that. All I can speak for, obviously, through our Fire Prevention Bureau is that all the plans would have to be approved per fire code. The emergency access piece will absolutely be verified prior to groundbreaking and overall development, right? And then the water component, that too will be checked as far as pump standards, where that is. Looking at the zoning itself from an urban interface standpoint, just from the outside looking in, it does seem like it's probably a little bit more safer. Now with that being said, per fire code, they're not gonna sign off on anything that isn't meeting the standards. Something to also remember is that now we're also gonna be dealing with zone zero, right, regarding the development, but I'm sure all that was in play even prior to, so I'm sure our fire prevention bureau's heavily involved in this. So that's all I can really say. Perfect, that's great. Thank you so much, appreciate it.

Thank you, Chief Fallot. Are there any other questions from council? Okay, seeing none, at this time I would like to open up the public hearing. Does the applicant wish to be heard?

Come on, here we go. It's working. Good evening, mayor and city council members. My name is Rick Nelson and I'm with Newport Pacific Land Company. Thank you for the opportunity to present our proposal tonight to transfer the lots that are currently planned for Dry Canyon and Temple Canyon South. Try not to be too repetitive with staff presentation. They did a very thorough presentation. But I will summarize some of the things that they mentioned in their report. This exhibit here shows you what is currently approved for the project. As staff had mentioned, the area in magenta is the 184 lots that were approved and is currently being graded. The remaining portion of the development, and I should just also add that the 32 lots that staff had mentioned were up in this location here, and as they said, it was located down in this area, closer to Lost Canyons Drive. So now there's no development proposed up here. In fact, all the residential lots that were up there have gone away, and it's essentially two large parcels. As part of this proposal in front of you tonight, this will become open space also. The Dry Canyon area is shown here in the kind of mustard color and blue color. It's in phase two and phase three. And the Dry Canyon, excuse me, Tapo Canyon South is here shown in phase four. What our proposal is is to eliminate all the housing here in Dry Canyon with the exception of that one lot that comes off of Anderson Drive and the other lot that comes off of Ditch Road and similarly eliminate all the housing here. and to relocate them adjacent north of the phase one development. So with the proposal, the areas that were going to have residential development here in Dry Canyon will be zoned to open space. Similarly, the area that was happening in Tapo Canyon Road south will be open space. And again, with the exception of these two lots at the very southern end of the property. Staff mentioned we had a neighborhood council meeting on the 5th of March and followed by a planning commission hearing on the 3rd, and both of those bodies gave unanimous approval to our proposal to relocate the lots to the north side of Lost Canyons Drive. This illustrative site plan gives you a little more detail of what we're proposing, just to orient everybody. This is Lost Canyons Drive here, and this is Tapo Canyon Road here. The main entrance into the project is where it was originally posed, at this location here. There's another entrance on the east side. Both of these will be gated. There's a third entrance, but it's for EVA purposes, down in this location here. When you enter the site, you'll see this lake feature that was mentioned previously, and I can expound upon that a little bit more if the council likes, but it's serving multiple purposes. The first is that the resource agencies, even though they quote-unquote didn't deem it jurisdictional, they did require that it be maintained because it's considered to be an aquatic feature. We could relocate it, but it has to be a similar size as to what the existing feature is. In addition to that, it's serving as a storm drainage retention facility. We have three of them on the site. We have this one here, there's one over here to the east, and there's one up here in this location here. Those are three primary stormwater detention facilities so that the project doesn't increase their historical flows offsite. As staff had mentioned, this is where the proposed clubhouse is and this location here. In addition, we're proposing community trails over the former golf course paths that you see in the areas that I'm describing here. These will be access for the community at this location here and at this location here. We're also proposing to construct a public trailhead off of Bennett Road so the public can actually access these trails that go through the community here. In addition to that, we're going to be dedicating in fee simple a trailhead to the Rancho Simi Park District that you see here. As you probably know, there's lots of cars that park adjacent to Tappacane Road, which is really not a very safe condition. And this will allow residents who want to enjoy the trails to the east, which I think are in the county, a safe place to park and enter into Tapa Canyon Road as opposed to parking on the side of the road now. I'll show you in a blow-up here, but this is also another trail that we'll be dedicating to the Park District, and it goes through the former area where the residential development was proposed in Dry Canyon. This is a blow-up of what the property would look like with the approval in front of you tonight. As I mentioned, this is the trail that will go through Dry Canyon. Originally, the trail was proposed to go through here in this fashion. And it was a very difficult trail to construct for the district. It had a lot of topography, had some other things that they were going to have to deal with as far as coastal sage shrub and mitigation of those sorts of things. And so we proposed the idea that we relocate it to where the former residential development was going to be in Dry Canyons. They were very excited about it. They said that's really where they wanted to be initially, but it was obviously in conflict with the residential development. They couldn't have it there. And again, they will be making usage of the cart trails that are through here too, which will mean their improvements aren't going to be nearly as expensive as otherwise would be. And just for reference, again, this is the trailhead that would be dedicated to Park District and the trailhead that we'll be constructing off of Bennett Road. As you may be aware, Newport Pacific Land Company is in contract with Toll Brothers to purchase the property. If you're not aware of Toll Brothers, they're a national home builder, nationally recognized, won many awards throughout the country. They are very well capitalized, and one of the reasons that we chose them is because of their reputation and because of their capitalization, because this is a very expensive project. and you need to have a home builder with a wherewithal to be able to develop a site like this. It's a very expensive site, and they've got the wherewithal to do that. This is a picture of a development down the street, Porter Ranch, and I think as you can see, the homes they build are from a streetscape, I think very beautiful. If you ever had the opportunity to actually visit a total community, I think you'd be very impressed. with their house designs. When you go into some of their homes, they're magnificent and probably a little biased because I used to work for Toll Brothers, but just everybody knows, but I still sing their praise. On Tapple Canyon Road improvements, the general plan designates Tapple Canyon Road as a two-lane roadway with two bicycle lanes, a raised median and a 118-foot right-of-way. The proposal tonight, as the design maintains the two 14-foot travel lanes as the prior plan did, in addition to that, the two six-foot bicycle lanes, provides a sidewalk on the north side and will still dedicate a 118-foot right away how we were proposing to move the raised median. The raised median I think was 12 feet in width. It doesn't provide any additional traffic capacity. And I'll explain to you a little bit more about the geotechnical question I think that came up. But by removing that divided median, the roadway traffic capacity remains the same. It meets the city's traffic volume capacity and level of service criteria. At the Planning Commission hearing, the city's traffic engineer, Mr. Link, described in great detail about the traffic volumes, and we're well below the traffic volumes that this road can carry with the existing traffic, plus the project, in addition to projected future traffic demands and volumes. As I mentioned, there is an existing geotechnical issue that I'll elaborate in a minute here. In addition to that, there's some jurisdictional issues that we're having to deal with on the east or west side of the roadway. So we're proposing to widen Tapple Canyon Road from a current pavement width, which I think is about 28 feet. It varies. It gets a little wider, a little narrower, but it's approximately 28 feet to a 40-foot wide street pavement section. And once we get past this particular area with the geotechnical and jurisdictional issues, we will transition to a 64 foot wide pavement section at Lost Canyons Drive intersection. And unfortunately, my computer's hiding the last point. But we're also going to be putting in a new traffic signal at the intersection of Lost Canyons Drive and Tapua Canyon Drive. I think that will be very, very helpful because I think anybody that's driven that road knows a lot of the traffic coming from the north goes at excessive speeds. And that will help slow down the traffic. So this is a plan view of what we're proposing in two cross sections. The south cross section is this point where we have some of these constraints. On the west side of the roadway, we have jurisdictional constraints, i.e. creeks and those sorts of things that we can't get into. On the east side of this area, without getting too into the weeds. The geotechnical issue is an existing condition that's out there. And unfortunately, once you touch it, you own it. And right now there's a clay lens that's about five foot in depth, about 50 feet deep. And that's what's causing or creating this instability. If you were to look at the design criteria for both the static, i.e. current without any dynamic loading, meaning an earthquake, It barely meets the safety criteria, but under a dynamic situation, i.e. an earthquake, it would calculate to fail. Now, I'm not saying it's going to fail, but if you had to bring it forward for approval, it would meet the factor of safety. What the proposal is, and it's expensive, we're gonna be installing what they call these shear pins and I'll try to explain it such that hopefully you understand what I'm trying to say. But as I mentioned, there's that clay layer that's about five feet deep and it's about 50 feet below ground. There'll be three foot diameter borings that'll be drilled down. There'll be an array of them in different rows. There's probably 40 or so. that'll be in rows that will transition up the hillside. Sorry, gotta watch my hands. The three foot diameter hole will have inserted into it I-beams. And those I-beams will go down below the clay layer, approximately five to six feet, go through the clay layer, and above the clay layer, about another five or six feet. And that hole, three-foot diameter hole, will then be grouted with concrete. And the purpose of those I-beams is to, where that clay layer would want to slip in a dynamic or earthquake situation, it will prevent that clay layer from moving because of the array of pins that will be put in in order to secure that site. Technically, we could widen it even more if we wanted to. It would be even more expensive. But the reality is the two lanes that we're opposing, which is consistent with the current general plan, plus the bike lanes and the sidewalk, provides the capacity that's needed for this project, both under existing plus project and future growth. Let's see if I can wake this guy up. Sorry. And I'll also mention that this is a little bit further to the south, but this is Presidio. So this 40-foot paved section will start at Presidio and continue up through approximately this area. And this is the area, as soon as we got out of this, referred to it as a pinch point because of the geotechnical and jurisdictional issues. And the roadway starts to widen out, and it gets to, I think, 64 feet wide. which will allow a left-hand turn lane coming off of Tapo Canyon onto Lost Canyons. In addition, if somebody's taking a right turn here and the signal is not red, there's an acceleration lane here that will allow somebody to get up to speed before they actually get into the travel lane. And as my last point on the previous slide, we're putting in a new traffic signal here that will, I think, be very helpful in slowing down the traffic. And I should also mention, As a result of this new alignment, we're going to be increasing the site distances because if you've ever driven that road, it's a little bit curvy and we're trying to make the site, we're not trying, we are making the site different distances better and with less pronounced curves. The project benefits eliminates 235 acres of disturbance where housing was previously approved in both Dry Canyon and Tapo Canyon South. And I think it preserves over 1,500 acres of undeveloped land. The project footprint where the homes will now be located is approximately 200 acres. And so out of the 1,764, 1,700 acres, only 200 acres is actually gonna be developed with residential. The total unit count remains at 364 units. It creates additional community and public trails and trailheads. It's a more sustainable plan with efficient use of public resources, police, fire, water, et cetera. I'll just add one comment on the fire prevention that comes to mind. In order for this project to be deemed complete for this proposal, we had to do what they call a fire prevention plan. It's a very extensive analysis. I think it's about 136 pages. And you may look at fire direction or fire coming from different directions, different wind speeds, different types of fires, canopy fires, low-lying fires. And it all passed the analysis that was needed for us to be able to proceed with the development.

I'm sorry, Mr. Nelson, but the 15 minutes allowed is up. Does anyone, would you like to extend it?

I can wrap it up in two or I can quit.

Want to wrap it up? Two more minutes? Fine. Two more minutes. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go quick. It's a more efficient and economically feasible plan that provides much-needed housing, eliminates the golf course, and reduces the water usage tremendously from the previous golf course. The previous golf course probably used about 180 million gallons a year of water. Provides for completion of Lost Canyons Drive and Tapple Canyon Road wide-winding improvements that I mentioned and preserves. Trees and dry in Tapple Canyon, particularly Tapple Canyon, there was a lot of trees down there, so we wouldn't be going down there anymore. And then finally, Our project request is to amend the White Space Pacific Plan design guidelines and general plan, modify the tentative track map and plan development permit, relocate 178 loss to the center located area north of Los Canios Drive. There's no change in the improvement, improved unit count or density and reduce the disturbance and environmental impact and some more efficient and sustainable plan. And that concludes my presentation. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.

Thank you, you didn't even use the full two minutes, so we're good. At this point, are there any questions of the applicant from city council members? And we will start with Council Member Ayala.

Thank you. I just wanted to bring up some of the concerns that residents had during the planning meeting that Mr. McGill has sent to me as well as that to kind of make up my question just so everyone has a clear understanding of what's going forward and everything's clear. The first is that, and it's just a few of them, there are a lot of speakers who had concerns over Anderson Road and Ditch Road where they lived that the streets would be torn up because water pipes would be placed under there to feed the two homes that were gonna be, the two estate lots. So can you confirm that that is not the case?

You say roads torn up, meaning for what reason?

For the water.

The water, okay. We have an easement off of Ditch Road. There's actually an existing water line in Ditch Road, but we'd be tapping into that water line and bringing it up Ditch Road in this easement. There could be a small amount of encroachment in a ditch road to do that, but I don't think it's a very major encroachment. The one off Anderson Drive already has water in that street, so we'd just be extending that. Did that answer your question?

And are those two going to be on septic tanks?

Yes, they are. That came up in the Planning Commission hearings. I know there was a lot of concern with a lot of the owners south of our property boundary. Some want sewer service and some don't. But the two estate lots will be on septic tanks. And as opposed to the current approval that would

actually install sewer to surface those areas that would be eliminated now right and then also there was concerns about how many with just those two estate lots how many homes could actually be placed on there can you just confirm that just one on each i think they would still be allowed a to use but there's one primary residence And the other important thing is that we are re-designating that land as open space, which there was a big concern about the fear of more homes just being placed there. But in order for that to happen, that would have to come back through the channels to actually re-designate that as residential. Is that correct?

That is correct. In addition to many other environmental constraints that somebody would have to deal with, and I wouldn't wish that upon anybody.

And then if we cross the street to the north side, this will be my last question. The other concern was that there may be natural gas lines going to the homes, which might be a dangerous thing to do. Can you respond to that?

That is not the case. It's gonna be an all electric development. As you probably aware, California discourages gas now. The only gas that will be installed will be part of the clubhouse facility, but that's the only gas that will be installed.

Very good. So those are my questions for now. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up, Council Member Rhoads.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I want to talk about the trails and that open space. I didn't think about this question when we talked previously, but the trail heads that you said are going to be open to the public, at least two of them in the community are behind gates. Will the public be able to access the trails from the community side, or do they have to go around and access it, and then when they get up to the community, they turn around and go back?

The public, the residents would be able to access it from the development. The trailhead off of Bennett Road is a public trailhead, so the public would be able to access the community trails that we're providing. The trailhead for Rancho Simi Valley Park District is a public trailhead at the intersection of Lost Canyons Drive and Tapo Canyon Road.

The new reconfigured trail going through Sand Canyon, did I hear correctly that that would be something turned over to the parks? Correct. It's an easement.

And that will be a 20-foot wide easement that they will have and that they will maintain that easement through the development. And it will go from Anderson Drive to Lost Canyons Road. And then you can travel to the east along Lost Canyons Drive and then connect to the trailhead that's at the intersection of Dry Canyon, excuse me, Topocan Road and Lost Canyons Drive.

And does that easement stay if there's another future disposition of the property? Yes. Okay. I think that's it. Who's going to currently own the property after the houses are all built, the open space property?

Well, there's a couple different property owners. Hillwood owns a lot of the open space areas to the south side of Lost Canyons Drive. And then the former residential areas, both in Tapo Canyon Road and Dry Canyon, will be owned by NPLC with the easement for the Park District. Perfect. Thank you. All my questions.

Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem Litzer.

Thank you. And I will just start by saying I appreciate that this does create, actually consolidates the homes and creates more open space ultimately. Can you speak to the comparison between how many acres of open space originally was proposed and how much this, what the net difference is?

I think the percentage, if I recall correctly, and staff can step in if I got it wrong, but I think the original plan was about 43% open space, and I think it's like 89% now. So it's substantially more, I think the total acreage Well, I know the total acreage now is approximately 1,500 acres of open space with a development footprint of about 200 acres. I don't recall specifically acreage for the previous development, but if you just did the ratios that I mentioned between the 90% or 89% now versus 43%, I think it would give you an understanding.

Appreciate that. And that kind of leads to my second question of ignorance. Obviously, these beautiful homes, there would be an HOA that is created that helps support improvements, et cetera.

So all the development, anything, once you get into development, it's all HOA maintained. The roads, the open space, not the open space, the roads, any of the... landscaping within there, and the area to the north where the community trails are proposing, both for the public and for the community, that would be also HOA.

And that's getting to really what my question was, what responsibility the HOA has for the open space maintenance and et cetera. What I'm hearing you just now say is that to the north of it where the trails are, there would be responsibility.

Where the community trails will be available to both public and the community of this proposed development. those trails will be maintained by the HOA.

Interesting. And the southern open space property, there's not a financial responsibility with the HOA to cover any of that?

No, they're not purchasing that property. Got it, got it.

Okay, thank you. Thank you. Any other questions from Council? Okay, at this time, Madam Clerk, are there any members of the public wishing to be heard on this matter?

Yes, Madam Mayor, we do have six speaker cards.

Thank you.

Michael Shaw.

I think this is a good time to go to the restroom.

Madam Mayor, Council, I won't take five minutes, I promise. I wanna speak in favor of the development. My biggest thought of it is all those wonderful new homes are gonna be full of families, and those families are gonna come into town and spend money. and we're gonna see some nice tax revenue come from that. So I'm really in favor of it, plus I wanna move up there. Thanks a lot.

That's all. Thank you. James McGillis.

Madam Mayor, members of the city council and staff, I'm James McGillis, resident of Simi Valley. Tonight, the City Council will approve phase two of the Lost Hills Development Project. I will only touch on one subject regarding this program. The plans for 364 new homes also includes a stormwater retention pond, sometimes possibly used for a helicopter dip if there's a fire, and mainly for residents to take a look at. In 2007, the Board of Directors of Water Works No. 8, the City Council, approved a groundwater management plan for the Gillibrand groundwater basin. It provided for continued use by PW Gillibrand Company and a provision of water for other, quote, irrigation purposes. Subsequently, water was pumped to the pond at the Lost Canyons golf course and then used to irrigate its greens. The groundwater management plan never mentioned that pond and did not sanction it as an ongoing ornamental body of water. Around that same time, 2007, the city built a Tapo Canyon water treatment plant intended to treat groundwater to potable water standards. In the documentation for the Lost Canyons development project, there is no mention of the well that will feed what I call its fake lake. According to the city staff, the well that supplies that water feature is located on city land in the Gillibrand groundwater basin. A 2006 report by a company by the name of Geoscience estimated that the basin has a sustainable yield of up to 1,350 acre feet per year. In 2025, Water Works number eight treated only 95 acre feet at its Tappo Canyon treatment plant, probably just enough to keep the plant running. According to the 2020 Ventura County report on groundwater. The city of Simi Valley operated several wells in the basin intended for backup water supply. There was no mention of how much water was pumped by PW Gillibrand or the condition of the underlying aquifer. There is no public information available that I could find on the status of the Gillibrand sub basin. For all we know, it could be full, or it could be empty. Water Works No. 8 currently provides 23,000 acre feet per year to our city, almost all of it imported. If our supply of Sacramento Delta River water were ever to be severed, the Gillibrand Subbasin could be a reliable source for 1,100 acre feet per year going through the Tapo Canyon Treatment Plant. In other words, most of the city would then rely on less than 5% of normal flow. The Gillibrand Subbasin represents this city's emergency water supply reserve. It should not be used for a decorative amenity visible to only 364 privileged homeowners. Unless that water feature portion of this plan is amended to specifically prohibit use of city owned water, either raw or treated, the project should be denied. If the developer or city staff can set the record straight, I am willing to listen. Thank you.

Thank you. Anthony Eason.

My name is Anthony Eason. I'm a 42-year resident of Simi Valley in District 1. I'm here tonight to voice some concerns I have with the proposed changes to the Lost Canyons project. First, I have an objection to the idea that the relocation of 178 lots is not a significant change to the plan. I understand the reasoning of the developer. They claim it will centralize the project development in one area of the property for a more efficient, economical and sustainable plan. I am quite sure that these changes will be more economical and efficient for the developer. I would like a more precise explanation as to how this change is more sustainable than the former plan, however. The developer and city staff claim reduced environmental impacts without a new environmental impact study to back those claims. I believe this change of plan has more to do with a financial saving for the owners and developer than any additional benefit to the city. The moving or relocation of 178 lots a half mile or more to a significantly different location, a former golf course, is a significant change. Are you just playing a numbers game? There is no change in total number of lots, so there is not a significant change. My next concern involves the rezoning of Dry Canyon and South Tapo Canyon. The rezoning of these areas to open space sounds wonderful. My concern is for how long? Will this land be donated to the city? I would doubt that. Will the owners along with the city be rezoning these areas under the Williamson Act to achieve a tax benefit for the owners of this new open space? What guarantee, if any, is proposed for how long this land will remain open space? Do the land owners or developers have a plan to have this land rezoned at a future date to build more homes? The city's position appears to be that will be decided in the future and shouldn't concern anyone now. That is just poor city planning and management, kicking it down the road, if you will. The city council, as well as the planning commission should have, needs to consider how this may affect any future development in this area. The original plan called for 180 homes. Will another 180 or more homes now be built on the same land at a future date? what actually should and needs to be considered today. The city should set a minimum 25-year moratorium of any zoning change that would allow building and development to these new open spaces as a condition of approval for the change to this plan. Next, what is the deal with lot 363 on Anderson Road and 364 on Ditch Road? Why do those need to remain? Are there prospective buyers for those lots? Are there already drawn up building plans for those, these lots that haven't been submitted just waiting for approval of this change? Will those lots actually be built on or are they placeholders for future access after the open spaces are once again rezoned for development? The city should put a condition on those lots that they have to be sold and built upon within a three to five year timeframe or become additional open space. Neighborhood council number one approved this plan with the recommended condition that the road construction on Tapo Canyon and Lost Canyons Drive takes place during phase one, not phase two, as shown in the original plan. Will those street improvements take place in phase one as recommended? All homes in this plan should include solar panels and storage batteries. I don't think the people who are likely to purchase these homes will blink at the added cost of solar power. These new homeowners should have the most energy efficient homes possible made available to them. That is what will actually add to the sustainability of this project. The addition of solar power on all these homes will put less stress on the existing power grid and the effect it may have on existing neighborhoods. I believe the homes in this project will be on the Southern California Edison-Tapo Canyon Circuit, which is subject to public safety power shutoffs. These homes should have power backup planned in their construction for the safety and convenience of the homeowners. These homes, at the very least, should be built pre-wired for the addition of solar power panels and battery backup. This revised plan will add open space, but for how long? Is this just a ruse to have the city approve this change, only to have another rezoning in 10 years? The continual rubber stamping of new developments on our city without intense formal review, real scrutiny.

Mr. Eason, your time is up. Thank you. Thank you.

Glen Becerra.

Madam Mayor, members of the council, city manager, city attorney, my name is Glenn Becerra. And when this project first got started, John had the same color hair I do. This project has been under scrutiny and review for the last 20 years. And the one thing that stayed consistent is the amount of housing that's been part of this. It's always been in the 365 range. It hasn't changed at all. I actually was in favor and voted in favor when I was on the city council of the original project, which included a golf course, homes, custom lots, a gated country club, and a project being designed for a company called Discovery Homes, which builds in Kauai and has some of the most premier places down in Palm Springs and in Dubai and other places in the world like that. This project took so long because of the scrutiny that that all got walked away from. We're lucky to have a builder like Toll Brothers to come into Simi to do this project. Toll Brothers is a premier builder. They've never built in Simi Valley before. If you drive down Santa Rosa, they're building a beautiful project in Santa Rosa right now. Those houses are going for $3 million. I remember when Lost Canyons or Long Canyons was approved and New Urban West, which was a premier builder, built the first million dollar track home in Simi Valley. I believe these will be the first two million dollar track homes in Simi Valley. I grew up playing in that area, riding my dirt bike, hunting. I lived at the bottom of Anderson Drive. And yes, I do want sewer in that area. I still own the Anderson House. I don't live in it, but I own it. and I would welcome the sewer to come through there. But that's not gonna happen. I do welcome the neighbor, whoever's gonna build the house at the top of that street. I've walked that area and I know the area well. And I really appreciate the improvements that are gonna go in on Tapple Canyon. I'm a mountain biker. I ride my mountain bike from my development in Wild Horse Canyon, where I come through Tapple Canyon and I ride down that road. Yes, I do take my life in my own hands every time I come out of that canyon and ride down Table Canyon. So this will have dedicated bike lanes. It'll make it much safer. And overall, I think the project is much needed for Simi Valley. These are the types of projects that will bring business owners and people who start businesses into Simi Valley, and when they do that and live here, they'll relocate their businesses here. The report that was done earlier by the Community Foundation said that we lost farmers and we lost Bank of America. Yes, I think it would be fair to say that California lost them because Bank of America moved most of those jobs to Texas. And I know Farmers Insurance merged with Century 21 and moved to a newer building over in the Warner Center area. But those jobs will probably never come back. because California's environment doesn't make it possible. So we have to have homegrown businesses here. People that live in this development will bring those homegrown businesses to Simi Valley. So I hope you'll vote in favor of this project and get this moving. Thank you.

Thank you. Mayans Patcharelli.

Oh, my beautiful view. I look over this whole entire project, and it's been a long time coming. I hate to see my view change, but I'm not opposing the project at all. Two areas of concern. One is there's two quarries up Tapo Canyon Road and a topsoil yard. The trucks are incredibly loud. I grew up around trucks, so it doesn't bother me. I hear them every day, but they also run through the night, and when they're empty, When they hit the bumps, they just make a lot of noise. And so maybe an idea to put on the title or CC&Rs that they are moving next to what would be equivalent to a train station, airport. They're moving next to quarries. They're going to hear the trucks. They echo through the whole canyon over there. And you guys don't want to be bombarded with a bunch of people calling about the noise all the time because it pre-existed them. Also, on Lost Canyons and Tapo Canyon Road, that's the southern part of my property. My property is on the west side. It's also neighboring the hiking trail. And on certain Saturdays, that place is flooded with cars. So, I didn't notice like a parking entrance over there. Also, I'm working with the developers to get an easement onto my property. There's been an existing road that pre-existed in my time. I use it and Edison uses it and we'll still need access to get to my southern part of the property. Maybe something can be done with the parking for that trail head and then access for Edison. They have high powered and low powered poles right there on that corner. And that's my talk.

Thank you.

The last speaker is John Friedman.

Thank you, Madam Mayor and council members. My name is John Friedman. I reside in Thousand Oaks. But my first project out of college in 1983 was the Marr Ranch, which is now Silverthorne and Wild Horse. My father and I worked on that project from about 83 and 4 till about 10 years ago. At one point, went to the US Supreme Court on that project. So it has a long history. And my recollection is that this project tonight, or at least the overall white face, was in the midst of discussions just like this in about 1990 when I kind of was knee deep into the Maher Ranch. And it's a tough project, so I commend them for sticking to it. I do, as a developer and as someone who's lived in Ventura County for 26 years now, I think it's a better layout. Putting aside that the golf courses were really hard, I lost a lot of golf balls. Ultimately, it always felt like those courses were too tough for the average golfer and were destined to not work in the long run. And here we are tonight. I think this really is the better plan, staying out of those two other canyons, consolidating. It's a lot less grating. Those canyons had lots of landslides. So in conclusion, I wish them well. It's been a long time coming. I see I have three minutes and 30 seconds left. If Glen would like my extra time, I will give it to him.

Thank you very much.

Madam Mayor, that was the last speaker and we have no speakers online.

All right, thank you. Does staff desire to respond to any comments or issues raised?

Yes, Mayor Cavanaugh, if there's any specific follow-up regarding the retention base and public works staff is here, we can try to answer any questions on that as needed. I won't try to elaborate on that. That will be on my expertise. The couple questions regarding environmental impacts, It is a significant change to the project. That's why we're here tonight for consideration of the specific plan, general plan amendments. The comment on is it a significant impact refers to the environmental document. staff prepared reviewed the changes to the project and did find that it is not a significant change to environmental impacts, but it is a single significant design change that's why we're here tonight. The. let's see i'm just checking my comments. Yeah, I'll reserve any further comments, but I will be here for questions. Ms. Richardson, do you have anything else?

I don't.

Okay, thank you.

All right, thank you. Public Works, would you like to come up and discuss the retention? Payson, thank you.

Thanks, Madam Mayor, Council. Mr. McGillis is correct about the Gillibrand groundwater basin and its capacity and our treatment plant that is up the top of Tapo Canyon Road. The previous golf course lake that was being fed by groundwater is actually was in fact supplied by a city well, but in a different basin. So the impacts of what was going on at the time the golf course was active didn't affect the Gillibrand Basin. So the lake being proposed as part of this development is not going to be using groundwater, I understand. It's quite a distance from where the previous pond was, which would require a significant run of pipeline. And frankly, the quality of that groundwater wasn't that great anyway. So using potable water, The demands coming just from that lake, if you just consider evaporation, are really not that significant. Not sure how many acres the lake is, 3.74, so almost four acres. So we're talking about 20 acre feet of water just from evaporation, but then that's offset by rain and drainage coming into it. So it's not a big draw on our water resources. I don't know if there's anything else that you might have questions about.

Not at this time, thank you. Does the applicant wish to desire any rebuttals? You don't have to, okay, thank you. All right, so are there any further comments or questions from city council members? Council Member Ayala.

I just wanted to comment on two things. First, and you guys can nod your head, aren't all of these gonna have solar panels on them, right, to address one of the concerns someone had? And then also, one of the selling points of this move was that we would have that extra open space on that south side. So to Mr. Eason's concern, because that is one of the selling points that why this is a good thing. I think I would just want to encourage future councils to City Council Chambers, Remember that this was having that open space one was one of the reasons of justifications for this move, and so we really should keep that as open space going forward to for people to to to. City Council Chambers, To have with their trails, so I just wanted to mention that, but solar panels, I wanted to make sure you knew that they were already going to be standard on all of the homes.

And I just want to add for the record, since the applicant didn't come to the podium, for the record, there will be solar panels on all of the properties.

Thank you. I believe it's state law now, isn't it? That's what I thought. Okay, good. Thank you. Are there any other comments from any other council members? Okay, seeing none, this hearing is now closed. I will now entertain a motion. Mayor Pro Tem Litster.

I'll first start by saying I appreciate the thought that has gone into this, and I think ultimately it is a better footprint and better use of the land, and I appreciate this has been a difficult journey, but thank you for getting it to this point. So I move that we introduce ordinance number 1374, approving zone change ZS 2025. and specific plan amendment SPS 2025-0002 and adopt an addendum to the environmental impact report and mitigation monitoring and reporting program and secondly adopt resolution number 202639 approving general plan amendment GPA 2024-0003 Plan development permit modification PDS 2025-003 and tentative map TT 2025-002 and adopt an addendum to the environmental impact report and mitigation monitoring and reporting program.

Second.

Thank you. Call for the vote.

The motion passes unanimously. Thank you.

Madam Clerk, are we ready to move on?

Yes, Madam Mayor.

Thank you.

Next item, item 5B, a public hearing to consider a proposed preferential parking zone fee and adoption of a resolution establishing a preferential parking zone fee. The reading of the resolution is as follows. Resolution number 2026-40, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Simi Valley establishing a preferential parking zone fee and Interim Public Works Director Jay Spurgeon And Deputy Public Works Director of Administration, Lori Vollmer, are here to present this item.

Thank you. Before we begin, are there any ex parte communications to report? Seeing none, we may move forward. Thank you.

Good evening again, and I'll be brief. September last year, Ordinance 1365 was adopted, establishing a preferential parking program. The first folks to come forward were from Brandon Avenue. They petitioned for a preferential parking permit zone in February earlier this year. And then a resolution was adopted establishing that zone and tonight we're here to set fees for the program. So first out of the gate, Brandon Avenue. Their street is on the right-hand side. They're adjacent to Hillside Middle School, which is off of Fitzgerald Road between Erringer and Sycamore. Because they are proximate to the middle school, it's very convenient for parents to come and park and or stop along both sides of their street in the mornings for drop-off and in the afternoons, especially for pickup. It really does adversely impact the residents' use of their street and it's an example of a situation that this ordinance intends to address. So to set fees, we wanna start with full cost recovery, of course. So a cost analysis was done by the city's fee consultants, the same consultant working on updating citywide fees, which I think is coming back in a couple months to you. So they looked at staff time and material costs to set fees for an application, the application fee. sign installation, and then a permit fee. Start with the signs, the placement of the signs. For Brandon Avenue, there will be seven signs installed. Some of them will be installed on existing infrastructure, such as poles already in place and streetlights and a block wall. A couple of them will be on signs on new poles. So this is important to note because going forward and in this case too, the sign fee is set, which I'll get to in a second, but the actual conditions of the infrastructure on any particular street would likely decrease the cost of sign installation and that's true here as well. This is what the signs will be installing. restricting any stopping and parking as well between those hours on school days except by permit. These signs were ready to install tomorrow and school starts on Wednesday. So in advance of that, the school district has sent this notice out to all the parents at the school, informing them that they will no longer be able to do their drop off and pick up on Brandon Avenue. And these are the permits. They're kinda cute, see? Hang in your car. The green are for residents. Each home is... able to get up to three of the green resident permits and up to two of the yellow visitor permits. So to the costs, again, full cost recovery, we've provided two options for council to consider to adopt the fees for this program. So full cost is application fee of $324, signs, would cost $490 each, but again, depending on the infrastructure, the total costs may be less. For instance here, seven signs at 490 is more like 3,400. The actual cost for Brandon is 1,900 because we can reuse poles and streetlights. And then permit fees, $37 for the first permit, and then $10 for each additional that they might want of the green or the yellow. The second option is partial cost recovery, similar fees, except that the one-time sign costs would be covered by the city. This is actually very common in other agencies that have this program, that they do not charge the residents for the one-time upfront sign installation costs. And then each year there'll be, annual renewals they will have to get a new expiration date sticker on their on their permits and that would be a 27 per home cost one of the residents mr betty is here he came down to see you and from brandon avenue and we're happy to answer any questions that concludes our present part thank you are there any questions um of staff from council members uh council member ayala

I know we're talking about the cost, but I also have questions about the implementation. So the Brandon Avenue residents came. Did they pay the fee at that time, like the application fee?

Good question, they did not. At that time, we had not set fees. Right. And in fact, I think it was anticipated that there would only be a permit fee as part of the program, again, similar to other agencies.

So my question is, for any other street that comes up, they turn in the application, what happens if no one pays, even the application fee?

Well, it wouldn't move forward then. Should you adopt a fee schedule that includes an application fee, they would need to pay that at the time a petition is submitted so that it covers the cost for staff to put it all together and bring it to council.

And you're dividing the fee amongst each of those dwellings?

Well, that's up to the applicants to come up with that amount of money. In Brandon Avenue's case, there's 12 residents, 11 petitioners, so they would have divided it up by 11 or 12.

So we leave it up to that community to somehow say, okay, we gathered up the money to give to you. So it could just be me saying, hey, I just offered it up for my community and here's my check, right?

You could, one residence could want it bad enough to pay the whole amount, sure.

Okay, that really was the question, was I just, I did not want work to commence until at least the application fees were actually paid. Otherwise we eat 100% of the cost, right, even if we decide not to do the, even if we decide not to charge them for the signs on the poles. Correct. All right. Do you have your money?

Are you done? Yeah. Okay, thank you.

Mayor Pro Tem Litster. So I, first of all, I want to take a slight issue with one of your statements and maybe it's just my understanding. I disagree a little with the background statement suggesting that this was the intention of this ordinance because my understanding of the intention, the preferential parking zones was set specifically when residences were being impacted by overdeveloped apartments, residences next door, and the parking was going to impede them overnight, et cetera, and take away their parking. But that was my understanding of the ordinance originally. We've now extrapolated it to parks and schools, et cetera, and maybe businesses, and I just want to be sure that we're careful with our understanding of the purpose initially. That being said, and I know this passed, and I know that I, and I am sure it's been implemented very well, and I've also shared previously that I thought it's a safe place for students, but that aside, I was trying to understand better that application fee and your question was actually very good because I assumed that meant each household had to pay an application fee of $326. You're saying the application fee for the entire group is one amount of $326, is that correct?

324 is what we came up with. 324, I'm sorry. Yes, that is correct.

Okay, so I misunderstood that as I read initially the report, so I appreciate that clarification. So that can be divided up however they want, and is it, do we, assuming we, and by the way, I should say, even though though I still take issue at the intention of this parking ordinance, I don't want to impose undue hardship on a residence. So I want to make that very clear. I'm not looking to gouge them. But I guess I'm trying to understand, for this instance, if we approve the reduced amount, that $326 amount, do we decide that it gets divided between the 12, or it just doesn't go forward until someone pays it? Okay, I'm getting the nodding from the mayor and our legal staff and our attorney. Okay, so let me just, here's a question then. What happens if someone who signed the petition, thinking it was a great idea, suddenly decides, you know, I don't want to pay $36 or whatever we decide that annual. I want to be sure that they no longer then can park in front of their house, correct? Correct.

If a homeowner does not have a permit, one of these, then during the restricted hours, they can be cited just like anybody from outside of the neighborhood. They need to have this to park on the street.

Okay, and the restricted hours are exactly what? 6.30?

Yeah, for this circumstance.

Okay, and did we set that? Did they set that? Did they ask for that time? How was that time set?

So the ordinance doesn't set any particular times or restrictions. When someone comes in with a petition and then there's a following resolution which was passed on June 22nd for rent, that's where the specifics of whether it's no parking, no stopping, I mean it could be a no parking restriction. In this case it's no stopping and these hours were I think requested by the residents but they could be different for each case.

okay so that's where the time set was okay thank you thank you any other questions from council if not at this time i would like to open the hearing for anyone in the city council chambers waiting to be heard on this matter and madam clerk do we have a speaker yes madam mayor we do have one speaker card here bertag betty

Oh, sorry. Regarding the application fee, we got the notice of it last week and we've already raised the 324.

So... Do you have that in your hand right now?

So, like, we're kind of just want this over because it's been 10 years of just having... parents use our street as a literal extension of the school. So yeah, we've had mailboxes broken. One of my residents even had a garage damaged. So we're kind of sick of it, just want it to be over. Oh, one more thing. We weren't told about the 324 beforehand, so a couple of my neighbors told me to ask if we can get the first year waived for the permits because we all paid into this right now, but I was told to ask. Okay, thank you.

Thank you. Does staff desire to respond to any comments or issues? I'm sorry, you don't have any more. We don't have anyone on the phone.

We have no one on call.

Thank you.

Sorry. Sorry, Mr. Spurgeon. Yeah, and I'm impressed that the residents went ahead and raised their $324 application fee. He is correct. We hadn't told him that up front when they circulated their petition. So that's something to think about in terms of maybe if you want to waive that or not. But we'll work with Mr. Betty and the other residents in terms of receiving that if that's what we need to go forward and they're receding it and then issuing their permits as they come in.

All right, thank you. Are there any other further comments or questions from City Council? Council Member Rhoads.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I actually have a question for the resident. It's being recommended by staff that we forego the cost of implementing the signs. If we were to assign the burden of the $1,900 to the neighborhood, would that make you want to not put in this parking ordinance?

As in?

So to install all the signs, it's going to cost $1,900. And that cost could go to the neighborhood, or staff is recommending that we forego that cost. If it were a cost on the neighborhood, do you think the neighborhood would not want to do the parking ordinance?

Yeah, because $2,000 just to keep your property from what's called... to like basically make sure your property is not trampled on seems pretty steep. It seems kind of outrageous. So I don't think my neighbors would be okay with that. It took a while just to get them to get the three 24. Okay.

So then, uh, thank you for the honesty and being forthcoming with that. Um, uh, I would say to my peers that, um, in the issue of fairness and anytime that we have a moment where we're going to ask, um, uh, to put a burden on, or to do a benefit for a certain neighborhood and put that burden on the whole city, I'm fundamentally opposed to that action, much like we have with the landscape districts and so on. We're not charging the appropriate amount to the residents that are benefiting from it, and it's being spread around the whole city. In this particular case, it would be my recommendation that if this problem is so egregious that we need to have this parking, permit set up for the neighborhood, which I agree, I think it would be, I would not want to live on that street with that going on, but if the cost is $1,900, it shouldn't be borne by the rest of the residents of Simi Valley, it should be borne by the people that are experiencing the benefit from that. So I would encourage my cohorts to not take staff recommendation and actually pass that burden on, and then the neighborhood can get together and decide whether you want to move forward or not based on that. And those are all my comments.

All right, thank you. Council Member, or excuse me, Mayor Pro Tem Litzer.

Actually, I'm gonna withdraw my question because I'm thinking about your comments. And I forgot what my question was, so I'm sorry. It was, that was.

All right, thank you then. Council Member Ayala.

This is a good discussion. I agree with Council Member Rhodes' general philosophy. What I would say is that we did not publish these prices beforehand. So what I'm thinking possibly is could we waive the signage fee for this project because now all of the public knows going forward if they were to do this it's gonna cost this much per sign. So would the council maybe say for this one we'll make, because we didn't publish it before, so they didn't know what the price was gonna be, that we will waive the fee for the signs but going forward everyone's on notice that we now have published rates.

If I may, and staff might be wanting to say this if that was a question to staff, is there is not a known cost to the signs based on the infrastructure that's available in the neighborhood. So it couldn't be known ahead of time what that cost is going to be.

Well, we know how much it is per sign.

So we know what the maximum would be, 170 per sign. And they could say how many signs were needed. but it could be less if there's infrastructure.

I could go with your argument on the application fees since we hadn't figured that out yet, this being the first one and waiving the application fee, I get that. Now that they know what it is and they had to scramble to get it together. But the signage, it's gonna be unique and different for each neighborhood.

I understand what you're saying, that we would be able to go out and do a preliminary and say, okay, this area's going to need 10 signs, I have seven poles so I can calculate the cost. Unfortunately, we did not release any fee schedule to the residents, but yet we approved it already.

And I think we erred, personally, in bringing it and voting on Brandon, that we should have done that initially before we ever.

Right, it's a learning curve. Before we ever brought it to this body. Right, this was a learning curve for us. So I do tend to agree with Council Member Ayala in the fact that this particular census, the first time, and we did not disclose a cost to them prior to them coming to us and us approving it, I feel we should waive the 1900. But we could have it written in the application from now on that the cost of the signs vary and you will be responsible for the fees on those also. That would be my recommendation. Any other comments? Okay, let me see where we are on our, are there any further comments? City Manager?

I was just going to say that I think I just wanted to make sure that we brought up the point, and it was already brought up, that we could include the information on the application of how much the signs tend to average, right? So if it's $490 for the sign, depending upon the number of signs that are already existing in your neighborhood or polls, You know sign fees will vary however each sign is estimated to cost XYZ dollars And the neighborhood would be responsible for that you know presuming. That's what the council decides to do going forward And you know obviously you may make an exception for this one this evening, but I think I Agree with what the council has said that obviously not all the information was brought forward at the time that Brandon came forward and all of the costs and But I think now that we have that information, we know that that is going to be the one variable. The application fee is going to be the same each time because that's cost recovery for staff. The permit themselves are going to be the same cost. It's just going to be the signs and the total cost for the neighborhood is going to be variable.

Very good. Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem Litster.

I was just gonna share that the one thing we also haven't discussed is that this creates enforcement costs that are not factored in at all. And so I just, just an awareness of that. I just wanted to share that, that obviously is, we're not passing that on as well, and I don't know that we would or could or should, but just an awareness.

Yes, that would be very difficult to estimate, so. All right, are there any further questions or comments from city council members? If not, this hearing is now closed, and I will now entertain a motion.

All right, I'll make the motion that we go with option two, which is direct staff to implement option one for full recovery of costs for preferential parking zones in the future. For this instance, we'll waive the cost of the signs, but the rest of the fees stay in place.

I'll second. Call for the vote.

And can I make one clarification before you move on? Yes. Essentially, it would be to adopt the resolution to establish it, which is number one, and then it would be number three out of the recommendations to implement option two for the partial recovery.

Thank you.

Well, full recovery, only partial recovery on this one.

Correct. Well, every time we come back for another one, you'll have to revisit this. So it's a new resolution.

That's right, because we have to approve every one of these parking plans.

That's correct. So it would only be partial. You're only dealing with this particular property, if that makes any sense for this resolution.

Yes, but I think what I'm hearing, Councilmember Judge, state is that in the future, the application will outline all the intended expenses that are attributed to what they're asking, which includes the signage.

Agreed, but that's not for you today. Yes, you're right. You can't vote on that, because the only thing for you is for this particular property.

But we can direct staff to please include that in the future.

Correct.

So we can do that. Got it. So we do have a first and a second. Is everyone clear? All right, call for the vote.

The motion passes unanimously.

Thank you.

Madam Mayor and members of the City Council, next on the agenda is item 7, the consent calendar. And there are two resolutions for your consideration this evening. I apologize, three. Consent since item six resolution number 2026 dash 41 resolution authorizing the city manager to execute an agreement with a vivo USA LLC and Coombs service group DBA Coombs construction engineers without the need for competitive bidding for the B&R East Basin aerator replacement project in the amount of four hundred ninety five thousand zero ninety three point fifty one Consent item 7 has two resolutions. Resolution number 2026-37, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Simi Valley approving an updated citywide publicly available pay schedule effective June 29, 2026 in accordance with California Code of Regulations Title II, Section 570.5. AND RESOLUTION NUMBER 2026-38, A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SUNY VALLEY APPROVING AN UPDATED CITYWIDE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE PAY SCHEDULE EFFECTIVE JULY 13, 2026 IN ACCORDANCE WITH CALIFORNIA CODE OF REGULATIONS TITLE II SECTION 570.5. AND CONSENT ITEM 8, RESOLUTION NUMBER 2026-42, A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SUNY VALLEY CONFIRMING AND RENEWING THE PROCLAMATION OF THE EXISTENCE OF A LOCAL EMERGENCY.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

I'll move consent. Second.

Call for the vote.

The motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Madam Mayor and members of City Council, next on the agenda is item 10A, City Council Member Reports.

All right, thank you. Council Member Ayala, you are up first.

Thank you. July 30th. I attended the swearing-in for our two newest senior police officers, Jay King and Nicholas, is it Ross? Ross, Ross, Ross. On July 31st, I attended the Film Simi Valley Committee meeting. Also celebrated my 52nd birthday. On August 2nd, I attended the Peggy Sadler Memorial Scholarship award ceremony, so congratulations to those students. It was also the first year they awarded one to a male student, and he was there. On August 4th, I attended National Night Out. August 5th, I had my meeting, just a general meeting with our city manager. I also went to the Park District meeting to welcome our new district manager, Steve Wright. August 6th, I attended the Ventura County Community Foundation Board Meeting. Our speaker was actually Supervisor Kelly Long. She spoke on the importance of agriculture in Ventura County. It was really a great talk. On August 8th, I attended our Youth Council Orientation Day where all of the incoming youth council members had their orientation and learned all about what they're gonna do for the next year. And today I attended a data center webinar focused on what different cities across the countries are facing in different legislation that is coming out in response to that. And that's my report.

Thank you. Council Member Rhodes.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. On Tuesday, July 28th, I attended a webinar on the, or actually an open public hearing on the FTIP and Connect SoCal 2024. I sat in just mostly to listen to see what the input was. Also that day, I met with some staff at the Senior Center to talk about The pancake breakfast that was alluded to earlier, supporting the Meals on Wheels program, which we know needs some subsidies. On October 10th, we'll be having a pancake breakfast over at the Senior Center. Everyone is invited. Please come eat lots of pancakes. We get lots of volunteers from the ROTC to come and serve at the tables, and our seniors really enjoy that. But you don't have to be a senior to eat. All-you-can-eat pancakes, $10. Okay. On Thursday, July 30th, I did a swing by the swearing-in ceremony for two officers, I think just promoting, but I had to jump right out, but it was important to go and shake hands. On Tuesday, August 4th, I attended the brief but poignant ceremony of the Officer Michael Clark Memorial Ceremony at the police station, and it's been many years, and we should never forget. That evening I attended the national night out of the town center. Fantastic job done by the crew that's putting that on and I think we get such great attendance because they've moved it up to the mall and I like that move. On Wednesday, August 5th, Mayor Pro Tem Lister and I had a couple of ad hoc committee meetings for the hockey league coming to town. First we met with staff and then we met with a member of the community that had some unique insights on that. Oh and that evening I attended the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District Board of Directors meeting where the new district manager was being introduced and we had a good showing there to congratulate that new district manager. On Thursday August 6th, while this is not a a council thing, the evening Rotary Club, led by Mike Court, and the Rotary Club in Simi Valley, the Noon Club, we were able to do Shoes for Little Souls, where we assigned shoppers to kids and each got to spend about $300 in back to school and running around Kohl's trying to find deals. It was moving and super effective. That afternoon, Mayor Parvin had a popsicle party here in the courtyard where I dressed up like a popsicle, but maybe that's a different story. On Friday, August 7th, and again, this is not council related, but went to the Ventura County Fair. It was livestock auction day, and I put this out into the world because Well, OK, there's a bad combination of beer, credit card, and an auction card. And I have five pigs that I bought that day. And so if anybody would like to go in halves on a side of pig, I'll have extra. But we did support a lot of kids. And one was one that wouldn't make it to auction. So we bought it off the auction so they would still get their money for participating in the program. And then today I had a conversation with Komi Ajise, the executive director of SCAG over some ideas for the upcoming first RHNA subcommittee meeting this week. And that is the end of my report.

Green Acres has great butcher service? Yes, they do. They just don't do the kill. Oh, sorry. All right, thank you. Council Member Judge.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. On Thursday, July 20th, I too attended the promotion swearing-in ceremony for the two training officers that were promoted. On the Saturday, August 1st, I had the honor and privilege to judge the Miss Teen and Miss Moorpark in Simi Valley over in Moorpark at Moorpark High School. And I want to congratulate, from Simi Valley, Aubrey Tascuano. She was Miss Teen Simi Valley. And from Moorpark, Miss Teen Moorpark was Lan Nguyen. Miss Moorpark is, and this is the older girls, I think they're both over 18. Miss Moore Park is Raylene Sitchmiller, and Miss Simi Valley this year is Diana Lucey. On Sunday, August 2nd, I too attended the Peggy Sadler Scholarship Fund Award, and I was very impressed to have two people from Simi Valley get it. It's great. Tuesday, August 4th, I attended the Michael Clark Memorial Ceremony down here at the police station. That evening, I also went to the National Night Out, stayed for a little while, Got to hear a great rendition of the National Anthem and saw all the stuff out there and said hi to everybody that was there. Helped set up with the Police Foundation. By the time I got there, they were already set up. So I got there just in time. And that's the end of my report. Thank you.

Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem, Litster.

Thank you. Starting with Thursday, July 3rd, I too attended the swearing-in ceremony. Thank you, Chief, for all the good things happening there. Sunday, August the 2nd, I too attended the Peggy Sadler Memorial Scholarship. Peggy, of course, was instrumental in forming our city and being involved for many, many years. What I loved about the recipients, or at least the requirement, those who were chosen had to write an essay on the importance of voting, and that was their topic, and so appreciate our young people putting thought and effort into that. And I think the recipients, one came from Simi Valley High School, another from Rural High School, another from Monta Vista. So, some good local talent. August 3rd, the mayor and I met with, and I see Manager Argybright, met with the representative from the governor's office, Victor Reyes Morales, who is here representing the governor and wanted to know our concerns and so I appreciated what the discussion was about, several items. In the end, I suggested that he needs to work on fixing our PSPS events, but I don't know that he had a specific answer, but he heard our concerns and they were registered, so. I just want you to know that we're out there. On Tuesday, August the 4th, again, in the morning, attended Michael Clark's Memorial Ceremony. Appreciate that it takes place annually, thank you. And also he was recognized at the National Night Out Thank you to all who participated. I went around and learned a few things from the Department of Alcohol, various things that I, it was informative, instructive, and a lot of fun. I ran into a family who said, what is this? And I had to explain what National Night Out was and its origins and how we are currently celebrating it. That was fun. On Wednesday, August the 5th, as Councilmember Rocky-Rhodes indicated, we had two ad hoc committee meetings and are taking our tasks serious. We want to be sure things develop the way they need to and correctly. Also met, I was also there to recognize our new, our PD's board director, the new district manager, Steven Wright. On Thursday, August the 6th, That morning I attended the State of the College Address at Moorpark College, and I will tell you that was very worthwhile. Great things happening there at Moorpark College. Not a lot of new information proffered, I did get to see their portable stage that they're going to be using for their outdoor temporary amphitheater. They also spoke again about their two bachelor's programs. Their cybersecurity program, I should mention, begins in the spring of 2027, and so those who are interested, they're now collecting or surveying interest. I think that they are going to start a cohort of about 40 to 50 students each semester, one in the spring of 27 and then the fall of 28. Also attended the popsicle party and had enjoyed a lovely strawberry popsicle for the record. Appreciate my bi-weekly meeting with CMajor Argerbright and then that evening also attended the tri-agency meeting with the mayor. Topics discussed there were varied but they included more in-depth e-bike discussion about how we coordinate that, some things about homeless response. And then after that, I attended the goodbye gathering for Amy Crono. Those who know her, I think all of us here know that she's contributed much to our community and will be missed as she heads off to Oklahoma. on Friday, August the 7th. This is not necessarily state function, but I attended a kindergarten orientation at Hollow Hills. Yes, it's time, they're getting started back up, and that was a fun experience. Saturday is when I went to the Ventura County Fair. Somehow I couldn't get my brood to get back to the animals, and so I needed to do better. I'm sorry, Council Member Rhoads, I wasn't there representing the most important part of the fair. She could have split it with you. But appreciated that invitation from the fair for us to attend that. And also I made a mental note that next time I'm going to investigate taking the train out there. that that really would be the way to see it. Backtracking also into the Youth Council Orientation Day, I want to thank Brian for doing such a beautiful job with basically administering that with his group. And my takeaway is that one of the best ways to understand parliamentary procedure is to do it by putting trail mix together. So I will tell you that he had some very innovative ways of teaching a way of teaching how government runs. So thank you Brian, that was beautifully done. And then actually I think that was it for my report. I do want to mention of course that school starts this Wednesday, August the 12th. Be prepared for a little bit more drive time and be more careful as we're out there. So that concludes my report, thank you.

Thank you Mayor Pro Tem. My report on Wednesday, July 29th, I had the pleasure of meeting with Simi Youth Baseball's 16 and under all-star team on their way to the World Series for Ponyball. So City Manager Argerbright and I were here. What a great group of young men, coaches, parents. It was really a great send-off. They had such fun fighting over who got to be the mayor and who got to be the city council member. But it was good luck for them and we will be honoring them in two weeks on the 24th. They'll be coming here. So that'll be very special. for all of us to get to meet them. One of them is the son of a former city employee, and the other one is the grandson of one of my coworkers, so kind of put a little bit of a personal spin on it. Unfortunately, I missed Peggy Sadler's event. I had grandma duty pulled on me at the last minute. So August 3rd, I attended the meeting with the governor's office, Victor Reyes, also with our city manager and Mayor Pro Tem. And I will compliment our city manager was on top of it. She had her list of things to cover and what she wanted to say and got some answers out of him. So he did a great job. On Tuesday, August 4th, I also attended National Night Out. That is such a fun event. It really, really is. It gets bigger and better every year. Thank you, Chief, for you and your team that put that on. My favorite part was the push-ups contest with the kids. So it was an officer against two or three little kids. It was wonderful. And then a... I don't know if anyone knew who she was. A lady came out with a... $300 gift card to Larson's and said she wanted to see the officers all push up against each other. So congrats to Senior Officer King. He did a great job, he won that. So he was good, he was really good. On Wednesday, August 5th, I also attended the board of directors meeting to welcome our new district manager at Rancho Simi, Steve Wright. They were all laughing at each other because they used the tagline, you're the right man for the job. I know, everyone else, and then they argued about who got to say it. But it was a great welcome. He was very pleased and honored to have city council there and to have some school board members there. And then the next day, he got to meet us at the tri-agency meeting. So trial by fire. I think we had a great meeting. We're accomplishing things in those. Again, a lot of focus was on e-bikes, homeless cleanup in the Arroyo, those type of things. But we do... It's easier when we all work together so that we're not each doing the same project. We're combining efforts and so you get a lot more done that way. And that is the actual, that's actually the end of my report for this month, or excuse me, this past two weeks. So onto item, next item is 10B. Are there any requests for future agenda items? Seeing none, I would like to adjourn this meeting in memory of Richard L. Strayer, otherwise known as Dick. Dick was a longtime Rotarian in the See Me Sunrise Club, and a professor at Cal State Northridge, and just a really funny guy. He had a great sense of humor, always laughing, always smiling. So we will adjourn in memory of Dick Strayer. Thank you.