BUILDING SLOWDOWN LIKELY PROPOSAL WOULD LIMIT VALIDITY OF PERMITS.

Byline: Rachel Uranga Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - A proposal to cut in half the number of building permits the city issues each year and place expiration dates on those that are issued is part of preliminary plans for managing Simi Valley growth.

The proposal, aimed at slowing local development and ending bust-and- boom cycles of construction, is still in its early stages of City Council review and would ultimately need to be approved by voters at the ballot next November.

``My desire is to scale back the building,'' said Simi Valley City Councilman Glen Becerra. ``It should be slow and predictable.''

The proposal would nearly halve the number of building allocation permits from 544 to 292 annually.

No longer would the permits be evergreen and allow developers to keep them indefinitely and flood the town with construction in an economic upswing.

The proposal under review would provide a developer a one-time, three-year allocation to build. If the permit expired, a developer could request a one-time, two-year extension.

``It's not going to be feast or famine,'' Becerra said.

The managed-growth plan derives from nearly two decades of voter-backed growth-control ordinances in Simi Valley. The existing ordinance, Measure Q, expires in December 2004. The 1996 measure, aimed at preserving the city's small-town feel, prevents jumps in growth that would burden the city's sewers, roads, schools and other services, and cap population.

The ordinance has kept the population below its goal of 126,582 by the year 2005 and has been deemed largely successful by some city officials.

But it has failed to stem residents' perceptions of unbridled growth - in part because developers could save their permits and roll them over to use later.

``Building was going crazy, and people saw that and said we were growing too fast,'' said Mayor Pro Tem Steve Sojka.

In 1999 - more than a decade after initial anti-growth measures were passed, 941 single-family homes were built in Simi Valley, according to figures from the Construction Industry Research Board. The following year, 776 were constructed and in 2002, there were 188 built.

``There was massive development followed by a period of none,'' said Tim Hodge, a resident who has been involved in the city's planning. ``The ability to roll over the allotments limited the city's ability to manage the speed of growth. Instead of coming evenly, it came all at once or not at all.''

And while Hodge is pleased that the council will be considering ways to limit such surges, he cautioned about unexpected results.

``There could be unintended consequence - like only one type of building - say, will they all be senior-affordable? It could be great, but you want balance,'' he said.

Mayor Bill Davis also warned that permit expirations could have a downside.

State funding for the city and its schools is based on the number of housing units built, and the city could be forfeiting funds if planned housing projects go unbuilt, he said.

``I think we need to proceed cautiously,'' he said.

Still, he said, slashing the number of building allocations might be the only way the city can maintain its goal to keep the population at 140,700 by 2020.

City Manager Mike Sedell predicted that if competition for building permits becomes fiercer, developers are likely to offer more and more quality-of-life amenities.

Under the current system, a developer's project is ranked according to a point system. Those with the most points get first dibs on a permit. A builder can gain points by promising a more energy-efficient home or a better-landscaped or better-designed one.

``No matter how we try, we are not going to be able to envision every eventuality,'' Sedell said. ``The bottom line is, there will be less growth in the future than there has been in the past.''

Less growth means less housing, noted Dawn Dyer, a partner at the rental consultants Dyer Sheehan Group Inc.

``Cities need to do what they can to protect the quality of life and shape their growth,'' she said.

But with less housing space available, as will be the case in Simi Valley, costs for those spaces are likely to soar.

``My concern for the city and California as a whole is we will reach a point where the only people that can afford to buy will be really wealthy people.''

Rachel Uranga, [phone]

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com