THOUSAND OAKS : City Planning to Spruce Up Its ‘Gateways’

Thousand Oaks Councilman Frank Schillo loves his city. And he wants residents--and visitors--to share his pride.

To make sure everyone passing through Thousand Oaks recognizes the city’s beauty, Schillo advocates spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to spruce up so-called “scenic gateways”--including freeway exits and key intersections.

“A city should spend public funds to enhance the environment,” Schillo said. “This (gateway face lift) will make people who live here feel proud . . . and it will improve the property values for everyone in the community.”

This week, the Thousand Oaks City Council unanimously backed a plan to spiff up gateways with landscaping, oak trees and signs similar to the subtle welcoming monument at the corner of Lynn Road and Hillcrest Drive.

City staff will now estimate the price of improvements at various gateways and work with council members to draft a priority list. The Planning Department also will come up with proposed guidelines for development on vacant parcels at gateways.

Although he supported the plan, Councilman Alex Fiore expressed concern that the policy might be overzealous in identifying more than a dozen priority gateways, some of which extend for three blocks and encompass gas stations, strip malls and office buildings.

“One of my concerns is, how far do we go?” Fiore said. As an analogy, he cited the city’s hillside protection ordinance, which he said has become so all-encompassing that “everyone looking at a molehill defines it as a ridgeline.”

In contrast, Councilwoman Elois Zeanah voiced reservations about the gateway policy because it did not go far enough in limiting height and density at city entrances. “This proposed policy emphasizes and dwells on aesthetic improvements at gateways, but it does not address development and construction standards,” she said.