Conejo Post

I know, this story isn’t about the Conejo Valley, but after covering the Santa Susana Field Lab (SSFL) cleanup for so long, I wanted to share about attending a Simi Valley Planning Commission meeting on June 20.  (Runkle Canyon is adjacent to the SSFL.)  On the agenda was whether or not to tell the City Council to go ahead with extending the Runkle Canyon development agreement with KB Home, for another 5 years.  After lengthy testimony, pro and con, the commission voted yes.

I attended with Mary Wiesbrock and Sue Boecker of Save Open Space, Santa Monica Mountains.  Mary testified that she had found documentation  of an old asphalt plant on the property, from records at Ventura County.  She said that would have to be investigated for toxics.  SueBoecker testified that the Runkle Canyon property would be a wonderful acquisition for the State of California to make.  This is because there is money for property purchases to enhance wildlife migration, and Sue said there had been mountain lion sitings there recently. And, if Runkle Canyon was purchased by the state, it would serve as a buffer between the SSFL and other residential areas.

Related to this, I read about KB Home’s 2nd quarter loss, in the LA Times, 6-30.  The home building company lost $24.1 million in the quarter.  Maybe selling to the state would be a good deal for them?  Here is a link to the LA Times article by Alejandro Lazo:  http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-kb-home-20120629,0,4011417.story   Here is a link to the Planning Comm. video of the meeting:  http://simivalley.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=6&clip_id=889 

Photo of Christina Walsh of www.cleanuprocketdyne.org, and Sue Boecker and Mary Wiesbrock of Save Open Space, Santa Monica Mountains.  Christina did not testify.