'MOVE' FOR REAGAN LIBRARY COMMISSION APPROVES STEP TO ANNEX PRESIDENTIAL SITE TO SIMI VALLEY.

Byline: ERIC LEACH

Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY -- As home of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, this city has gained a nationwide reputation and a boost in tourism.

But even though the library's address is 40 Presidential Drive, Simi Valley, the library is actually in unincorporated Ventura County just outside the city limits.

So city and county officials took a major step last week toward extending Simi Valley's boundaries to cover the library property.

The Ventura County Local Agency Formation Commission approved putting the library officially into Simi Valley's sphere of influence, a first step toward annexation of the land into the city.

"We've recognized for a long time that this is the appropriate thing to happen," Simi Valley City Manager Mike Sedell said, adding that it could take anywhere from six months to a year for annexation to be completed.

Everett Millais, LAFCO executive director, said placing the library in Simi Valley's sphere of influence officially recognized the situation that already existed.

"This is definitely a first step," he said. "Spheres of influence are defined as probable service areas. Simi Valley is very much providing services to the library," including sewer service, water, road maintenance and police services on Presidential Drive and supplemental law enforcement at the library, Millais said.

If the library becomes part of the city, the Simi Valley Police Department would take over as the primary local police agency for the library site and the neighboring properties.

Simi Valley city officials said although they stand to gain sales tax revenues from the library with its two gift shops, annexation would not bring a windfall, and the increased revenue would be more than offset by the city services provided there.

Protect open space

Simi Valley and nearby communities are already receiving economic benefits from the library from increasing numbers of visitors who shop and stay in the area when they come to the library.

Simi Valley Mayor Paul Miller said the next step toward annexation will be placing the issue on the City Council agenda to officially determine whether this is what the city wants.

Annexation should help protect open areas around the library because the city has more stringent standards for development than Ventura County, he said.

Reagan Library officials have not issued a public position on the proposal, but Millais said when his agency proposed extending Simi Valley's sphere of influence earlier this year, city officials and the library representatives supported the idea.

"Library officials have made known to LAFCO that the library wants to be annexed by Simi Valley," he said. "The library is desirous of not having a lot of development going on next to the library property."

Millais said another step toward annexation will be renegotiation of a greenbelt agreement for the Tierra Rejada Valley area that was established decades ago by Ventura County and the cities of Moorpark, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley to protect the valley below the library.

The land added to Simi Valley's sphere of influence includes about 228 hilltop acres and eight separate pieces of property. Five are already developed -- the library site and four estate homes.

Rustic character

Development is a particularly sensitive issue in the area because the land west of the library has been set aside as the Tierra Rejada Greenbelt, a largely rural area of farms, horse ranches and nurseries.

Reagan himself was said to have chosen the hilltop site for his library and burial site in part because of the natural beauty of the area with panoramic views across the rural countryside to the Pacific Ocean.

Because the greenbelt area is so sensitive, the city councils of Moorpark and Thousand Oaks considered Simi Valley's sphere-of-influence extension, and officials of both neighboring cities endorsed it.

Thousand Oaks City Councilwoman Claudia Bill-De La Pena, who favors preserving open space, supported the 5-0 vote of the Thousand Oaks City Council on Tuesday approving the Simi Valley extension.

"I thought with the library already completely serviced by Simi Valley that it would make sense," she said.

Thousand Oaks city staff members studied the proposal and concluded that the land in question was logically part of Simi Valley's sphere of influence because access came from roads in Simi Valley and it was functionally more a part of Simi Valley than the Tierra Rejada Valley.

Bill-De La Pena said protecting the open space in the Tierra Rejada Valley remains a priority for officials in Thousand Oaks.

"Protection of the greenbelt is very important to the city of Thousand Oaks," she said. "The greenbelt is definitely an asset to the Reagan Library, and it enhances the entire region."

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