DEVELOPER TOLD TO DO REVISION; WOOD RANCH SITE NOT ADEQUATE, SIMI SAYS.

Byline: Douglas Clark Daily News Staff Writer

A developer that has proposed building senior citizen apartments and a nursing home in Wood Ranch has been told to revise its plans because the 44-acre site isn't big enough to accommodate all the features.

Kaufman & Broad had won praise from the city's Affordable Housing Subcommittee for its proposal to build an unspecified number of single-family homes, along with senior apartments and a continuing-care facility, north of Madera Road and east of Presidential Drive.

But the city staff has told Kaufman & Broad that its plan favors single-family homes, giving short shrift to the very components that had made the development so attractive to city officials.

``The city staff is not convinced it's a bad use for the land. It just might need a better specific plan,'' said Sam Freed, senior planner for the Department of Environmental Services. ``We wanted to have a way to coordinate all of that development.''

The planners' recommendation will be considered by the City Council when it meets at 6:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 2929 Tapo Canyon Road.

Planners maintain that a planned senior community - one that conveniently combines commercial and residential uses - would take up most of the 44-acre site. But in an Aug. 29 letter, Gary Gorian, director of land acquisition for Kaufman & Broad, said about 24 acres would be used for single-family homes, 17 acres would be set aside for open space and only 3-1/2 would be designed for high-density senior housing.

``This is a very preliminary look at what we're proposing,'' Gorian said in a phone interview. ``We're open to staff recommendations and to whatever will make a better project.''

Dulce Conde-Sierra, deputy director for housing and special projects, praised Kaufman & Broad's concept last summer because it would have given Simi Valley a continuing-care facility.