City Will Lobby for Freeway Logo Signs : Thousand Oaks: Council seeks backing for ‘Gas-Food-Lodging’ billboards. Business leaders applaud decision.

Frustrated by a law restricting “Gas-Food-Lodging” billboards to rural areas, the Thousand Oaks City Council has agreed to aggressively lobby state legislators to permit such signs along the Ventura Freeway.

Business leaders enthusiastically backed the move, arguing that in a slumping economy, any additional advertising would be a big boost.

But one concerned resident waited well past 11 p.m. on Tuesday to tell the City Council that he didn’t want commercial billboards cluttering up the freeway and creating a tacky, overcrowded look.

“More signs doesn’t necessarily mean additional business,” Christopher Gould said. “I’m here in support of the status quo.”

The billboards Thousand Oaks leaders hope to allow along the freeway would be rectangular metal signs painted blue, with small white boxes containing the logos of hotels, restaurants and gas stations. They would be smaller than conventional billboards.

They would look like larger versions of the “Adopt a Highway” signs, which feature logos of the various groups sponsoring litter cleanup along the freeway.

Within the 10-mile stretch of freeway through Thousand Oaks, half a dozen metal placards, most unobtrusively tacked on beneath off-ramp signs, alert motorists that gas, food and lodging are available at the next exit. But these blue signs are almost invisible to drivers speeding along the freeway.

The logo signs, in contrast, would attract attention because of their size and because they would feature different typefaces and designs for each of the businesses mentioned.

A bill pending before the California Senate would allow freeway logo signs only in smaller cities, City Manager Grant Brimhall told the council. But he promised to try to persuade the bill’s sponsors to add Thousand Oaks to the list.

The powerful outdoor-advertising industry has lobbied against “Gas-Food-Lodging” logo signs because they would compete with traditional billboards.

Yet Thousand Oaks has already banned billboards, so Brimhall said he could not see how freeway logo signs could pose a threat to the business. And unlike traditional billboards, the logo boxes would not contain marketing campaigns or advertising gimmicks. They would simply showcase the name of a given company.

“We’ll see if they would consider us a benign addition” to the pending bill, Brimhall said.

While they wait for news from Sacramento, council members agreed to consider installing directional signs pointing to local restaurants, hotels and service stations at exit ramps. Because these signs would be on city streets, the state has no jurisdiction over them, Brimhall said.

“Let’s see if we can install those immediately,” Councilwoman Elois Zeanah said. “Since we already have small freeway signs saying, ‘Gas, Food and Lodging,’ let’s make the directions complete and help our local businesses.”

The council will take up the issue for a formal vote later this summer, after city planners analyze the costs and benefits of hanging directional signs.

Reluctant to plaster Thousand Oaks with more signs, Councilman Frank Schillo said he feared hundreds of business owners would clamor to get their logos on the freeway and their locations recognized with directional arrows.

“There could be quite a few signs at quite a few intersections and everyone would want to be on them,” Schillo said.

Mayor Judy Lazar expressed similar concern, noting that “the lack of hugely obtrusive signage has made this an attractive and desirable place to live.”

But on the other hand, she said, the recession has highlighted the need for businesses to advertise with highly visible signs--something that’s been difficult to do, given Thousand Oaks’ rigid design standards.

“We will try to tweak the balance” between maintaining a good-looking city and helping businesses woo customers, Lazar said.

As part of that effort, the council also directed city staff to draft new sign guidelines that allow better identification for businesses, especially those tucked away in shopping plazas.

“As well as I know the city,” Lazar said, “I have to admit that I have trouble finding some businesses.”