SIMI EYES BUILDING AESTHETICS.

Byline: Douglas Clark Daily News Staff Writer

Visitors will never mistake Simi Valley for La Jolla, Palm Springs or Newport Beach, but city officials will review the architectural requirements of those communities in creating local aesthetic guidelines for commercial developers.

``It's time we had something like this,'' said City Councilwoman Barbara Williamson of the design manual. ``We'll try to come up with some imaginative guidelines. What we're looking at is the aesthetics of the new buildings coming in.''

When the Design Review Committee meets Jan. 22, Williamson, City Councilman Bill Davis, and Planning Commissioners Robert Swoish and Dean Kunicki will consider what they like about other cities and what may be applicable here.

But the intent is not to create a uniform style of architecture or to make commercial development economically prohibitive in Simi Valley.

``I don't think anyone is trying to be hard-nosed about this,'' said Kunicki. ``This will give us some tools to work with. Simi Valley is a patchwork quilt that has been put together over time. We're trying to play catch-up right now.''

In the past, the lack of clear guidelines has caused clashes between the council and the Planning Commission, said Mayor Greg Stratton.

An example would be last year's request by Kinko's to refurbish the exterior of its Los Angeles Avenue building.

According to Stratton, planning commissioners thought they were following the directions of council members by rejecting Kinko's plan to use canvas awnings rather than reconstruct the mansard roof line at considerable expense.

When the City Council overturned the planning panel's decision, commissioners said they were confused.

``They said, `You told us to get tough, then when we do that, you turn around and say it's too hard on the applicant,' '' Stratton recalled. ``Certainly getting a more objective set of criteria will help smooth out disagreements we've had in the past. Hopefully, this will give us some common ground.''

Despite conflicting opinions, Kunicki said the council and the commission cooperated last summer while reviewing developer Stanley Rothbart's design for a ``big box'' retail center that was approved in September.

``We made the big box into a quality project. That was somewhat of an eye-opener to all of us,'' he said. ``We thought, if we can do it here, we can do it anywhere. Let's get some guidelines put together so we're all marching left and right together.''

Kunicki said the design guidelines will also benefit city staff, who must interpret bylaws when writing reports and recommendations for consideration by council members and commissioners.

``If they don't have crystal-clear guidelines, how can they be fair about every project?'' he said.

Williamson said that while the design guidelines would basically pertain to commercial buildings, she would also like them to address landscaping issues.

And she wants guidelines that dissuade residential developers from using ``cookie cutter'' housing plans.

``We're a city with a population of 105,000, not a rural town in Kansas. We ought to have a little more vision to our building here,'' she said. ``I want them to be individual and unique to themselves.''

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Photo: (1--2--Color) Councilwoman Barbara Williamson backs landscaping and architectural guides for Simi.

Bob Halvorsen/Daily News