While Simi Valley officials look for a solution to a water service moratorium in the Santa Susana Knolls, a local developer waits with approved plans to build four homes.

No new connections can be made to the Alta Vista tank because demand is outpacing storage in the tank, which sits atop a hill next to four lots owned by Henry and Arnout Vandenberg.

The father-and-son developers have completed the planning milestones to build four two-story homes that would overlook Simi Valley: a grading plan approval, a zoning clearance and even a green light from the Ventura County Fire Department to build a 25,000-gallon tank to support emergency water services.

"We invested so much since the beginning," Henry Vandenberg said.

But no new building permits can be issued until the moratorium is lifted, and the city is looking for a solution in the form of a 1 million-gallon tank, to be built near the current one, which holds 126,000 gallons. Water district officials said additional storage for fire demands, new customers and emergency water is needed.

The Vandenbergs said they started submitting plans to various city and county agencies in May 2006, and spent about $120,000 getting the engineering plans completed and plan checks approved.

About 450 customers get water from the Alta Vista tank, and they have not been affected by the temporary moratorium. The four lots owned by the Vandenbergs are on county land, but the tank is overseen by the city's Simi Valley Waterworks District No. 8.

While city officials are working on a solution, they can't give a timeline. "We are working on locating property where we could put a tank," said Joe Deakin, assistant public works director.

A county Building and Safety document says it could take up to 2 1/2 years to build a new water tank.

The Vandenbergs applied for "will-serve" letters in January and have been awaiting a response. The moratorium was first discussed in March, county documents show.

Deakin estimates five or six undeveloped properties could be affected by the halt in new connections to the tank.

The tank sits at the end of a steep, winding road called Crown Hill Drive, which is lined with real estate signs pointing to lots and homes for sale.

The Alta Vista tank is supplied with water from a pump from along Kuehner Drive. It does not accommodate the storage required by the county for rural, single-family residential areas, Deakin said.

The issue could go before the City Council soon, said City Manager Mike Sedell. It could take some time to find a landowner to sell property to the city for a tank, he said.

The next step for the Vandenbergs involves getting building permits from the county.

But they are worried the current plans, as approved already by the county, will expire as they wait for the new tank to be built.

Henry Vandenberg has been building in Simi Valley for 24 years. He said he doesn't want to pull out of plans to build the five-bedroom homes with sweeping views of the valley.

"We will do what we have to do," he said.