COUNCIL CONSIDERS SPECIAL-USE PERMIT.

Byline: - Cecilia Chan

SIMI VALLEY - A Houston couple wants to build a 13,500-square-foot house, private equestrian center and helicopter pad on the site of a longtime working ranch near the Hummingbird's Nest area.

The City Council is scheduled to consider on Monday a special use permit for the 97-acre site located near the northern terminus of Kuehner Drive, above the Ronald Reagan Freeway. The project was approved by the Planning Commission a few weeks ago.

``There's sort of an old ranch that has been out there for years and years,'' said Peter Lyons, deputy city planning director. ``They've had horses, and there have been several things over the years, but it has always been a working ranch.''

The project was proposed by Five S Properties, which Lyons said is a husband-wife team from Houston, Texas.

Lyons said the owners plan to train Olympic-class jumping horses as a hobby at the private equestrian center. About 55 residents, employees and their families, are expected to live on site.

Dean Kunicki, the local contact person for the project, did not return a call for comment.

According to the plan, the helipad would be used three to four times a week by the owners, who would allow emergency service agencies to also use the facility.

Lyons said because the land is far from other homes, the helicopter pad and request for buildings of over 15 feet in height were not an issue.

The site now has main and guest houses, built around the 1930s, which would be used for the equine director's and barn manager's residences under the applicant's proposal.