Firms Seek New Signs of Success : Thousand Oaks: City considers rolling back some of its stringent anti-clutter ordinances.

Jealously protective of their city’s natural beauty, Thousand Oaks planners have spent the past two decades fighting urban clutter.

But with the recession continuing to batter local businesses, Councilwoman Elois Zeanah is calling for the city to rethink its stringent sign ordinances.

At her urging, the City Council tonight will discuss two measures that could add scores of signs to Thousand Oaks’ streets.

That prospect smacks of backtracking to some, including Councilman Frank Schillo. “I wouldn’t want more signs in Thousand Oaks now that we’ve worked so hard to get them off our streets,” he said.

Yet despite opposition from some of her colleagues on the dais, Zeanah vowed to push ahead with her proposals.

Requesting reversal of a 21-year-old policy, Zeanah will ask the council to allow strip-mall merchants to install roadside directories facing the street. These boards, listing every business’ logo, would replace the communal monument signs that name each shopping plaza.

“I’ll kiss her if she can get that through,” Chamber of Commerce President Steven Rubenstein said. “In these tough economic times, helping our businesses should be first and foremost on our minds.”

Zeanah also wants the council to request state permission to install “tasteful billboards” bearing the logos of local businesses at key off-ramps along the Ventura Freeway.

And to further encourage motorists to spend tax dollars in Thousand Oaks, Zeanah would like to install directional signs at each exit ramp, pointing the way to local service stations, restaurants and hotels.

“We owe it to our small businesses,” she said.

Yet Councilwoman Jaime Zukowski, concerned about relaxing Thousand Oaks’ design standards, argued that advertisements alone will not turn around the economy. “People think a sign will help them with their business, but it can’t put money in their pockets,” she said.

Within the 10-mile stretch of freeway through Thousand Oaks, half a dozen unobtrusive blue signs already exist, alerting motorists that “Gas, Food, Lodging” will be available at an upcoming exit.

But Zeanah said these placards are so subtle that she did not even know they existed--an indication, she said, that they are ineffective.

Zeanah insisted that freeway and roadside signs could call attention to local businesses without being garish. “Freeway signs don’t have to be a blight, and directory signs can be done aesthetically,” she said.

California law forbids such signs in cities, because motorists can safely assume that just about any off-ramps in a metropolitan area will lead them to food and shelter, said Larry Loudon, the district traffic engineer for Caltrans. The state allows freeway logo signs only in rural areas, like along Interstate 5 to Bakersfield.

But a new bill pending before the state Senate transportation committee would lift that restriction, and allow mid-sized cities to mount freeway logo signs. The Thousand Oaks City Council has endorsed the amended law in the past, City Manager Grant Brimhall said.

Local business leaders--prohibited from displaying pole signs or billboards within city limits--have also enthusiastically backed the concept of freeway logo signs.

“The environmentalists get all hot under the collar about it, but adequate signs are very important,” said Bob Hemstreet, manager of the Best Western Oaks Lodge.

“It’s all well and good if you’ve got something that blends into the landscape, but the idea of a sign is to advertise a business and make people aware of it,” Hemstreet said.

Yet more signs means more clutter--and that’s something Thousand Oaks has long sought to avoid.

“The main idea of our (freeway) corridor is to keep it clear so you can see the beauty of our city,” said Councilman Frank Schillo, who recently lobbied unsuccessfully for the California Department of Transportation to declare a stretch of the Ventura Freeway a scenic highway. “We don’t want to put signs all over town.”