‘The Beirut Look’ : Thousand Oaks: Councilman says vacant gas stations scar Moorpark Road. He is working with Exxon to beautify the sites.

The tidy streets of Thousand Oaks do not usually evoke images of war-torn Beirut.

But that’s what City Councilman Frank Schillo sees when he drives along Moorpark Road, where there are several unsightly street corners with closed gas stations.

“It looks like a disaster area,” Schillo said. “It makes you feel like the whole community is going down the tubes because of the way it looks.

“I call it the Beirut look.”

Prompted by numerous complaints from residents, Schillo said he has been working with Exxon officials to devise a strategy to beautify its three abandoned stations on Moorpark Road until they are sold.

He said several local architects, including George Moore, who works for the city, have offered to design landscaping for the service station free of charge. Schillo said he would like to see living screens of trees and shrubbery to help insulate the stations from view of passing motorists.

“So when you’re sitting at an intersection, instead of looking at an empty lot, you would be looking at a nice, landscaped front,” he said.

Several designs for the three stations--which would cost $6,000 to $15,000 each for landscaping--were recently presented to Exxon officials.

“They seemed very much in favor of it,” Schillo said, noting that the company has administrative offices in Thousand Oaks, and many employees live in the community.

Exxon officials, however, said no decision has been made about whether the company will follow the city’s suggestions.

There are nine vacant gas stations scattered around Thousand Oaks, including four on Moorpark Road. In addition to the three Exxon sites, there is a vacant Union 76 station near the intersection of Moorpark and Wilbur roads.

Schillo said if Exxon agrees to clean up its vacant sites, it will be easier to get other oil companies to do the same. “We wanted to get Exxon’s attention first,” he said.

Meanwhile, the councilman said the city is interested in acquiring the former Gasco site at the intersection of Long Court and Thousand Oaks Boulevard and converting it into a park. The city would then try to reconfigure the intersection, which includes three streets.

“It’s a mess,” he said. “It’s really dangerous.”

Schillo said it’s possible that the station could be purchased with redevelopment money. He has met with the property owners to discuss a purchase or property swap, but a deal has yet to be struck.

Before the city could acquire the former Gasco station the owners would have to clean up the property, which includes removing old fuel tanks. That process can be very costly.