Unocal to Offer Plan for Industrial Park

As an early step in developing a 615-acre industrial park and business center, Unocal Corp. plans to offer a conceptual proposal and request a zoning change on 2,430 acres in Alamos Canyon when the company goes before the City Council later this month.

When completed, the development could bring 7,000 jobs to Simi Valley over the next 25 years, said a spokesman for Unocal.

In addition to the industrial and business center, Unocal plans 590 acres of residential development. There would also be a 42-acre cemetery on the north end. The remaining acres would be left as open space.

Unocal envisions a large corporate headquarters at the heart of the project along with light manufacturing.

If all goes well for the company, ground could be broken on the project within four years, Unocal officials said.

The property is north of the 118 Freeway, between Erringer Road and the Moorpark city limits, looping around the city landfill. Unocal has owned the land for more than 40 years, but ceased oil production some time ago and now leases the property to cattle ranchers.

The project must first be approved by the City Council and fit guidelines of the city’s hillside performance standards.

“It’s a large property and there’s a lot of people that have an interest in what happens out there,” said Brian Kelly, vice president of Unocal Land and Development. “There will be a lot of discussion.”

Kelly said the council has made very clear its interest in seeing the property used as a source of nonpolluting, high-paying jobs.

“I think that’s the kind of thing we want too,” Kelly said.