CITY PLANNERS VETO VIDEO ARCADE; SIMI VALLEY'S CIVIC CENTER PLAZA RETAINS UPSCALE IMAGE.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer

The city Planning Commission just said no to a proposed video arcade at the Civic Center Plaza shopping center, noting that, even if strict guidelines on hours and security were imposed, it just wouldn't fit in.

The five-member panel upheld an appeal filed in August by Commissioners Mike McGuigan and Larry Fried, who were concerned the arcade would foster loitering, vandalism and crime among young people.

``(These are) supposed to be upscale uses in this project and I don't see this as an upscale use,'' Commissioner Richard Kunz said during the Wednesday night meeting. ``I don't see how anyone can argue a game arcade is upscale.''

Bob Kraus, a partner in Simi Valley Civic Center, represented his potential tenant and assured the panel the arcade would not be the ``dingy, dark arcades you're perhaps thinking of.''

``That's not what we have here,'' he added. ``This is part of a trend in arcades. They're family oriented, well-lit.''

But his argument made no difference, as the panel voted 3-2 to deny a special-use permit.

The applicant now can appeal the commission's decision to the City Council. Kraus said it would be up to the tenant, an unidentified foreign company, to decide whether to appeal.

The permit had been granted by the city's planning staff, which found the proposed arcade to be a legitimate entertainment use for the project - along with the 16-screen Regal Theater, food outlets and the restaurants.

But McGuigan and Fried decided the issue should be debated further.

At the planning commission's Sept. 22 meeting, the panel seemed to be leaning toward allowing the arcade as long as certain conditions were placed on the tenants.

Members had said they would consider approval if a security guard was hired for at least the first six months, if the arcade was to close at 10 or 11 p.m. rather than at midnight or 1 a.m., and if the permit was reviewed after six months and 18 months.

``I don't have a great objection to an arcade coming to town or the center,'' said Commissioner Bob Swoish, who with Chairman Dean Kunicki favored granting the permit. ``We asked for controls and I thought that's what we got.''

But ultimately the commission determined the arcade just didn't belong - to the delight of residents in nearby Vista Monte development.

Several had attended all three public hearings on the issue, each time pleading for denial of the permit, and they applauded after the vote was taken.

Sarah Kowalick, 14, said many of her friends would probably have welcomed the arcade, but that she was happy the permit was denied because she lives nearby.

``It just doesn't seem to fit,'' she said after the meeting. ``There were cute little shops and suddenly there is an arcade. And I think I would be more scared if there was a security guard because, any place with a security guard, I wouldn't want to go there.''