As a resident of the Santa Susana Knolls, I was encouraged by Supervisor Peter Foy’s pre-election pledge that would allow each community to have a voice in its land-use affairs and that he promised to make public safety his number one priority. To that end, I and my neighbors would direct his attention to an issue with dire consequences for our community: the proposal for high-density development on the Knolls Horse Ranch property.

The proposed 142-unit manufactured home development does not blend with the surrounding neighborhood. The higher density it entails will greatly increase the safety concerns of the entire community, and the proposal to widen Katherine Road from the project to the Santa Susana Pass Road will not meet the need for a secondary access.

Larry Williams, a fire prevention officer with the Ventura County Fire Department, has stated that if the developer can widen Katherine Road through the entire Knolls community, they will accept it as the secondary access for this project. This leaves the impression that the county is willing to change the lives and properties of an entire community in exchange for a new upgraded county road, which the county has no funds to repair.

I look forward to Foy’s response addressing these issues in the very near future.

— Roger N. Pearson, Simi Valley