Latest Headlines

Live Your Dream SCORE Can Help ( SCORE Ventura )

SVBL's 30-Year Celebration and Spring Registration ( Mike Joslin )

Documenting Immigrants to America 1882-1954 ( Jan Allen )

Fitness Boot Camp Graduates Young and Old ( Sarita & Randy Shoemaker )

share stories | more stories »

YourHub.com \\ Simi Valley \\ Stories \\ Posting is no longer available. \\ About Town

Susana Knolls Oak Trees Threatened

e-mail to a friend | print this | link to this

NEXT › ‹ PREVIOUS

Contributed by: kathy laForce on 9/20/2007

Marked For Destruction

Written by Susan Wells

On Tuesday Sept 18th, residents of the Santa Susana Knolls awoke to an alarming sight.

Like gaping wounds, bright orange ribbons were tied around majestic, ancient oak trees along Katherine Rd, marking the trees destined for removal if developer Colton Lee's proposal moves forward. These trees, as well as others, will be senselessly cut down in order to widen Katherine Road. Why? Just to accommodate a manufactured home park in the rural, oak-studded Susana Knolls.

Colton Lee's newest proposal for the former Susana Knolls Horse Ranch site consists of approximately 100 manufactured homes-a manufactured home park complete with a pool, clubhouse, and only one road in and out. Potential residents would purchase a manufactured home, choose a site in the park, and then pay rent to Colton Lee Development. In the event of emergency, all the residents would flee
out onto Katherine Road, and inevitably cause a bottleneck as they try to rush out of their park, onto Katherine Road, and then escape over the very busy railroad tracks.
.
Three years ago, the Ventura County Supervisors rejected Colton Lee's apartment proposal, citing that it was too dense, unsafe, and that it needed a "mandatory second access". That safe, emergency access has yet to be found.

This developer is now proposing that the secondary access simply be Katherine Road. How? The developer plans to widen Katherine Road by cutting down protected heritage oak trees, destroy current residents' driveways, force current homeowners to relocate fences, gates, mailboxes, fire hydrants, utility poles etc., and gut the yards of all the residents on Katherine Road from the Horse Ranch, all the way to the Train Depot Museum. As a final blow, the residents will have to pay for all repairs and rebuilding of their destroyed property.
Instead of providing a mandatory, safe, secondary emergency access, Colton Lee is proposing that a widened Katherine Road can suddenly become two roads...the north entrance and the south entrance. No, they are not joking!

The truth is, the Horse Ranch Property is a little strip of land wedged in between double railroad tracks and lovely homes on tiny Peppertree Lane. It is currently zoned for approximately 25 large homes. And that has always been acceptable with The Knolls residents.

Why should one property owner be allowed to destroy the property and safety of so many others, just to make a profit?

So, please take a walk or a drive through our beautiful and unique rural neighborhood. We know you will be delighted with it's charm and want to preserve it's beauty as much as we do.

[Report this as objectionable content.]

SUBMIT COMMENT

Rate the above story