SENIOR HOUSING IN BLUE, TOWNHOUSES IN GREEN, COMMERICIAL IN PURPLE................................. ========================================== Background to the Project of the Quarter Simi Valley is the proud home of the Reagan Library, and is continually ranked by the FBI as one of the safest cities of its size in the country. Carved out of the very scenic and hilly rural surroundings, it is one of the most recently established cities in the County. Simi Valley was conceived more out of the planning model and principles of the recent half-century than other much older cities in Ventura County, and it remains largely a suburban bedroom community to neighboring Los Angeles. An exemplar of the late 20th century automobile oriented community, Simi Valley is dotted with cul-de- sac streets, which many love for the sense of security they convey, but which also prevent easy inter- connectivity between the neighborhoods. Lined with garage-faced single family homes, these residential thoroughfares twist their way via major collector streets to various strip malls fronted by large parking lots. Access is achieved primarily by private and single-occupied automobiles. At a small "village" scale, this method of neighborhood development can be viewed as positive. However, with inevitable growth, big-city issues are starting to be felt. As SOAR (Save Open- Space & Agricultural Resources) creates impenetrable boundaries to future developments, the need to look inward becomes more urgent. Its proximity to Los Angeles was at first a clear asset. It allowed easy commute to major job (Encino, Woodland Hills) and commerce (Downtown LA, Chinatown) centers, as well as entertainment (Hollywood, Magic Mountain, Universal City), cultural (LA, Santa Monica), and educational (Cal State Northridge, UCLA, USC) centers. But as the city grew, such proximity brought with it the significant burden of slow traffic crawling along the 118, and the associated air quality declines. The traffic problem has been exacerbated by the increasingly high cost of housing in both LA and Ventura County which impacts on the ability of many workers to live near work. Commuters who cannot afford to live in Simi Valley increasingly drive to low paying jobs within the city from further outlying communities such as Newhall, Lancaster and far eastern LA County, while at the same time, many residents drive to higher paid jobs outside the city because Simi Valley is still primarily a bedroom community that cannot offer enough jobs for its population base. This month's featured project called The Market Place, a mixed-use multi-family residential project still under construction, indicates that the city is ready to contemplate new solutions for directing its growth. As defined in this month's review of the tenets of livable communities, Simi Valley is Strengthening and encouraging growth in existing communities. For the moment this project may represent just a small step in the effort to promote in-fill development, but the City of Simi Valley should be proud of this accomplishment. With continued pressure for growth, this small step may lead to bigger strides in the future. ========================================= The Market Place - Our Project of the Quarter The Market Place, a project tucked away at the eastern end of Simi Valley immediately north of the gorgeous Santa Susana Mountains, is currently under construction on 6.16 acres of property on the 2200 block of Tapo Street. The total projects consist of a 36- unit senior apartment building, 72 owner-occupied townhomes, and three commercial buildings, containing a total of approximately 12,250 square feet of gross floor area. The three-story senior apartment building is being built along the site's northern boundary, to the west of the commercial uses and east of two townhome buildings. The building will contain 12 one- and two- bedroom apartments on each of its three floors, along with community activity rooms, laundry rooms and offices for the management staff. The building will have Tuscan architecture consistent with the many of the townhomes and the commercial buildings. An Affordable Housing Agreement was processed concurrently with this application, making 27 of the 36 senior apartments available to lower-income senior households. The townhomes will be constructed on the center and western portions of the site. Two-story townhome buildings will line the site's western boundary and the remainder of the townhome buildings will be two to three stories in height. The main entry to each townhome will be similar to those found in traditional "brownstone" units, wherein each unit has a unique entry. Each entry will face Winifred Street, Eileen Street, or greenbelts within the site. The buildings will feature Tuscan and Italianate architecture and each unit will have a two-car, side-by- side garage accessed from the back of the units. To create an urban aesthetic along the mixed-use project's Eileen Street frontage, diagonal parking will be located along the north side of the street, and the porches of two of the townhomes located along Eileen Street will be located within one foot of the sidewalk easement. These units will be separated from the street with planters, the sidewalk, and the diagonal parking spaces. The parking along Eileen, not only provides plenty of convenient parking to residents and visitors, but also acts as visual and safety buffer to pedestrians from street traffic while, at the same time, slowing it down. Indeed, experts have found that the presence of on-street parking slows down traffic substantially to safe speeds, even when the traffic flow is clear of any obstacles. The streetscape design with angled parking is particularly appropriate for this development, reflecting its proximity to more intense commercial activities. To provide a transition between the site and the single- family residences west of Winifred Street and still maintain an urban theme on the site, the townhomes located along Winifred Street will be set back 10 feet from the sidewalk, and will be further separated from the street by planters, a sidewalk and parkway, and parallel parking spaces along the east side of Winifred Street. The project will provide on-street parallel parking along many of the interior streets. These parking spaces, in addition to those in the parking lot between the commercial and senior apartment buildings and those along Eileen Street, will be shared among the site's visitors, with the exception of the spaces specifically marked as parking for the senior apartment units. A pool will be built near the center of the site's western border. Greenbelts and trash enclosures will be located throughout the project. The commercial buildings will be located along the project's Tapo Street frontage, with the office uses being located on the second floor of the southernmost of these buildings. The other two buildings will be one-story in height. The primary entrances of all three of the buildings will be oriented toward the street to encourage pedestrian activity along Tapo Street. Parking will be located behind the buildings or along Eileen Street. A loading space will be provided along the west side of the northerly building. A mix of architectural styles for the various storefronts will provide a "downtown" atmosphere along the project's Tapo Street frontage.

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