THOUSAND OAKS : Officials to Take a Look at Roofs

Thousand Oaks officials plan to hop a bus for a city tour today to see for themselves whether some roofs are too ugly for the city and if some architects’ drawings are too pretty for the future buildings they depict.

The tour aboard a city bus will help city planning commissioners decide whether to recommend that the city allow decaying roofs on condominiums and townhouses to be replaced with asphalt shingles. The city now requires heavier and more expensive coverings, such as clay or concrete tile.

The tour will also help them decide whether officials can rely on architects’ renderings to portray accurate pictures of completed buildings.

Deputy Planning Director Michael Sangster said the roof proposal, which will go before the Planning Commission on Monday, would apply to multiple-family dwellings. Asphalt shingles already are allowed on single-family structures.

The proposal targets older developments that were built with wooden shingles, which wear out after about 20 years.

The use of wooden shingles is no longer allowed because of fire danger. But Sangster said alternatives allowed by the city are too heavy and too expensive.

The Planning Department has recommended that some types of thick asphalt shingles be permitted as well, Sangster said. He said the shingles are durable but resemble tile.

Commission Chairman Mervyn Kopp said he is concerned that the asphalt shingles are “going to be a hell of a lot uglier. Hundreds of roofs are going to look a lot cheesier.”

Commissioners also plan to critique architectural renderings for projects such as the nearly completed Circuit City building and other recent developments by comparing drawings with the completed buildings.

Planning commissioners and City Council members often rely on renderings when deciding whether to approve a project.

But Sangster said some commissioners are concerned that illustrators take too much “architectural license” with their renderings and make buildings look prettier than they actually will be.