October 2012 — N 1210
Colton Lee Development
(on the former Horse Ranch)
For those of you who are new to the neighborhood the biggest hurdle we face as a community is the proposed Colton Lee Development. This proposed development is the property opposite the Knolls Park on Katherine Rd. south of the railroad tracks. It has been known as the Horse Ranch because in the past it was a horse boarding facility.
In order to develop the property, Colton Lee proposes to change the zoning. One of his original plans included building 110 manufactured homes. He has now submitted an alternative project of 60 single family "stick built" homes. The property is 23 acres with the bottom 18 acres (closest to Katherine Road) being the proposed development location.
This is a massive amount of homes crammed into a small area with their only access being Katherine Road—the road the entire neighborhood is funneled out of during mandatory fire evacuations. In order to provide a secondary evacuation exit for their development, Colton-Lee is proposing to make Katherine Rd from the railroad tracks to the Pass Road that second exit. In order to bring the road up to County Fire Department fire access standards all of Katherine Road would have to be widened, wherever possible, to a minimum of 25 feet with four turn outs for fire trucks. These turn out areas must be 90 feet in length x 10 feet in width and striped for no parking. We know if this were to happen it would devastate our neighborhood; trees will be removed or die; peoples' parking in front of their homes will be lost; and some properties fronting the road have no other parking available to them.
As devastating as it would be for the residents on Katherine Road, losing areas they have enjoyed as yard, parking, and the shade of trees that might be removed; think what tearing up our neighborhood would be for all of us. We know how street repairs impact us; imagine the whole of Katherine Road our main artery being worked on for months.
The Draft EIR addresses the removal or potential loss of trees along Katherine Road. The road widening would require the removal of many trees and potentially cause the death of many more due to asphalt being poured so close to the trunks to get the required 25 feet road width. Imagine Katherine Road without our beautiful canopy of trees!!!
This project needs all of us who oppose it to make our voices heard and to take the time to drive to both the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors Meetings, which will be held in Ventura. Even Supervisor Foy said that the only way they listen is if the people show up. We need to let the County know that this development is wrong for the neighborhood. This property CAN be developed, but we need a development that will not have such a negative impact on the neighborhood.
If you are reading this you care about the neighborhood and you have shown interest in the Susana Knolls Homeowner’s Association, but many of your neighbors are not as informed as you are and are probably unaware of what is happening. They don’t get these emails and may have no idea about this development.
So Please Tell Your Neighbors. The Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors Meetings will be coming up soon and we need to be ready to show up in force.
When we are aware of the dates we will post signs in the neighborhood and hopefully have an emergency meeting to discuss the situation. So please keep in touch and informed!
Give out our email address to any neighbor that wants to receive these newsletters: SusanaKnollsHOA@roadrunner.com.
Supervisor Foy attended our HOA Meeting on September 25th...
...at a specially scheduled meeting to accommodate Supervisor Foy’s and other county representative schedules. In attendance were representatives from the County for the Sheriff, Planning, Public Works, Building and Safety, Code Compliance, and Ventura County Fire. A new member of Supervisor Foy’s staff was introduced – Brian Miller. Brian was an aide to our County Supervisor 25 years ago and also worked as an aide to Elton Gallegly who has been very helpful to the Knolls community on the Rocketdyne issue. About 60 residents attended the meeting – there was standing room only! It was good to see so many neighbors!!!
Supervisor Foy talked about his office’s work on pension reform/state budget issues and that work is on-going. He also talked about the effort to keep the court house in Simi open a few days per week. The court will be open with the judges’ support and a coalition of cities raising the funds to do so.
Sheriff’s Outreach
Sheriff Daniel Vanover said that the Knolls is one of the lowest in calls and that is in part due to the fact that we all stay involved and keep an eye on the neighborhood. Sheriff Dan also informed us that there will be a Sheriff Outreach day for the Knolls on October 20th at the old Fire Station 43. There will be a command post and a few patrol cars for a meet and greet of the officers who work the area, including Sheriff Dan. Also attending will be the area detective, a patrol deputy, volunteers, and the station captain.
Notes from the Planning Commission
Dan Klemann from County Planning answered many questions on the proposed development on the Horse Ranch property. He said that the EIR is almost complete and estimated that the Planning Commission hearing will most likely happen at the end of October and then followed by the Board of Supervisors meeting in December or January. Supervisor Foy indicated that it was crucial that the neighborhood attend these meeting in force – without major representation from the community the officials feel that the community is OK with the development. It was requested that the meetings for this development be moved to Simi Valley so that more people could easily attend. As soon as the EIR is released we will send an email to the Knolls community with a link to the document.
Update from Water Works
oe Deacon from Water Works District 8 talked about the water supply for the Knolls and said that the second tank that went in at the top of Alta vista a couple of years ago doubled our water storage capacity to 250,000 gallons. An emergency generator has been installed at the Oak Knolls pumping station and another will be installed on the Smith Road station to ensure water pumping in case of power outages.
A question was raised about representation on the water board due to mismatched boundaries between water districts and political bodies. Our representatives are the Simi Valley City Council members and consequently the Knolls does not have direct representation. This issue will be looked into.
Waste Management
Another issue discussed was rates for trash pickup. The Knolls pays a higher rate due to our narrow streets and has alternating weeks for green waste and recycling. The neighborhood would like weekly pickup as well as discount for seniors – something that the city residents currently enjoy.
Wrap Up
Over all it was a very good meeting. Supervisor Foy was engaged and talked before and after with many of our neighbors. We look forward to working with Supervisor Foy and he encouraged us to call his office with issues that he and his staff could help us out with. The HOA thanks Supervisor Foy and the county representatives for attending our meeting and answering our questions.
Talk to Your Neighbors!
Let your neighbors know about our newsletter. While we have a lot of email contacts, we do not have the majority of the neighborhood. Please talk to your neighbors and if they are interested in receiving this newsletter and other information about the neighborhood have them send an email to SusanaKnollsHOA@roadrunner.com to join our list.
Rocketdyne
The California Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC) is under new leadership and they have made some major decisions regarding the ways in which the community will get its information on the cleanup of this contaminated site. They have shut down the current Public Participation Group and the Inter-Agency Work Group. Members of the Knolls have sat on both of these groups. The Knolls was represented by a member of our community on the Inter-Agency Work Group since it was formed 20 years ago. The Inter-Agency Work Group was formed with the help of Congressman Elton Gallegly. The shutting down of this group will close the door to the community at large for information on what the different agencies are doing in the cleanup. Members of our community are working to find another way to get this information out to the community at large.
Other Community News
Polling Location
If you have received your Sample Ballot for this fall’s election, you should look at the location of your polling place on the back cover of that sample ballot. If it says 2929 Tapo Canyon Rd. it is wrong. Some neighbors report that they have received a letter from the Ventura County Registrar of Voters office stating that there is an error and that the correct polling place is 1262 Cypress St.—the former #43 Fire Station. If you have any doubts about your polling location please call the Registrar’s Office-Elections Division at 805-654-2664. Or go to their website where you can look up the polling place based on your street address—Ventura County Registrar
SCE New Meters
Last August Southern California Edison replaced many of electrical meters in our neighborhood. The new and improved digital meters can communicate directly with SCE thereby eliminating the need for human meter readers. This may be an improvement for SCE’s operational costs, BUT a number of our neighbors are now reporting a 50% spike in electricity usage starting in the month following the installation of the new meters. The graphic at the right is a usage bar chart from a neighbor’s SCE September bill. If your recent bills have a graphic like the one shown, you might want to file a complaint with the California Public Utilities Commission. You can use this link to file online or by mail.
This newsletter is a production of the Santa Susana Knolls Homeowners Association (SSKHA). If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please let us know. Please share this newsletter with your neighbors. You do not have to be a member of the SSKHA to be on our email list. To subscribe to this newsletter click here. If you are a member of the HOA we really do not want you to unsubscribe but if you must, you can use this link: unsubscribe. The newsletter is produced from the spacious Santa Susana Knolls town center offices at 1409 Kuehner, No. 5, Santa Susana, CA 93063.