GAMES STUMP COMMISSION; PANEL DIVIDED ON PERMIT FOR VIDEO-AMUSEMENT ARCADE.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer

City planning commissioners say they are loathe to tell the Civic Center Plaza developer who his tenants can be and what hours they can keep, but commissioners are nevertheless considering doing that.

In a discussion over a video game arcade proposed for the city's newest shopping center, commissioners were at odds over how extensive their controls should be and whether they should even allow an arcade.

But some said they could wind up setting so many conditions that the arcade owner would simply decide to back out.

``I think reality may set in there eventually, but I felt we owed it to the applicant to at least discuss it,'' Chairman Dean Kunicki said Thursday, the day after the commission met. ``With the kind of investment required in starting this business, I can't see that it's going to fly. But some people can do strange things. . . . They may want to take a chance on it, and that's their right. But they have to know that there's a watchful eye keeping tabs on them.''

The issue was raised last month when Commissioners Mike McGuigan and Larry Fried filed an appeal of the staff's approval of a special-use permit for the arcade, as yet unnamed.

City residents who vehemently oppose an arcade attended two public hearings, where they told the commission they fear loitering, truancy, graffiti, crime and even the content of the games themselves.

The developer said the arcade owner is willing to do whatever is needed to ensure that problems do not materialize.

``When you spend $22 million, you think twice about who to put in as tenants,'' said Bob Kraus, a partner in Simi Valley Civic Center LLC. ``The trend is to have a clean operation, very lighted. The operators realize that they need to run good, clean operations.''

But Fried said the controversy over the arcade is reason enough to deny a permit at the Civic Center Plaza, which city officials hope will be a model for future retail centers.

Commissioners are finding themselves in a quandary, wanting to please critics who fear the worst, but also wanting to give local teens something fun to do.

The commission continued the issue to an unspecified date while staff members work with the developer and his would-be tenant propose a solution.

Several commissioners said they would approve the arcade if strict controls were put into place and if they could set up a monitoring system for frequent review of the special-use permit.

As a condition of any permit, commissioners want the arcade to close at 10 or 11 nightly. The owners want the arcade to stay open until midnight Mondays through Thursdays and 1 a.m. on weekends. Commissioners also said they would expect the arcade to employ a security guard.

Simi Valley police say there have been relatively few problems at the only arcade already in Simi Valley, Family Fun Zone, especially since a security guard was assigned to the business this year. Police said they have been called to the arcade 120 times in the five years it has been open for complaints about burglary, assaults and disturbances, mostly by teens.

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Photo: City planners are debating restrictions for a video game arcade proposed among these stores at the new Civic Center Plaza in Simi Valley.

Eric Grigorian/Special to the Daily News