Thousand Oaks Panel Rejects Auto Mall Sign : Business: Dealers’ plan called for an electronic message board alongside the Ventura Freeway.

Representatives of auto dealers lined up to argue that the giant electronic message board proposed for the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall would boost sales and local tax revenues.

Dozens of opponents complained that a “Las Vegas-like” sign would insult the community’s aesthetic values.

When Monday’s six-hour public hearing finally ended at 1:30 a.m., the Planning Commission voted 4 to 1 to reject the auto dealers’ proposal to build a 33-foot-high electronic sign alongside the Ventura Freeway. Commissioner Mervyn Kopp was the lone dissenter, saying the city should do what it can to help business during a recession.

But for Planning Commission Chairman Forest Frields, it all came down to aesthetics.

“I find the reader panel most objectionable,” he said. “It’s not particularly stylish, fresh or innovative. I feel it’s just a good example of me-too-ism.”

Representatives for the city’s 13 auto dealers, who vowed to appeal the commission’s decision to the City Council, insisted that the $250,000 attention-grabbing message board was necessary to make the Auto Mall more competitive.

They stressed that the electronic sign was also critical to the economic success of Thousand Oaks because the Auto Mall contributes more than $2 million annually in sales tax revenue, which is used to pay for city services.

“Let’s not make the same mistake California did,” said Pete Shaver, owner of Shaver Pontiac. “California didn’t want to change, and it lost thousands of businesses and jobs.”

Chuck Cohen, an attorney representing the auto dealers, said auto centers in Oxnard and Ventura have erected 45- and 65-foot-high message boards to advertise their businesses.

“This is not a matter of dollars and greed,” Cohen said. “This is about the city allowing these people to stay competitive.”

But opponents, who submitted a petition with more than 800 signatures against the sign, complained that it did not comply with the city’s strict design standards. They said the location of the sign at the far east end of the city was particularly sensitive because it serves as the gateway to Thousand Oaks.

“Personally, I don’t want the Conejo Valley to be identified as an auto mall,” Newbury Park resident Nancy Taylor said. “We must decide that there are some things we will not do for an extra buck.”

Cathy Schutz, representing about 40 Westlake homeowners, agreed. “We want to beautify our city, not electrify it,” she said.

In rendering their decision, the four commissioners said they were advised by the City Council to base their decisions entirely on the city’s building codes and planning guidelines, not on economic policy issues.

Following this guide, the commissioners said the design of the proposed message board was inconsistent with the standards outlined in the city’s sign ordinance, which strictly regulates height and appearance.

“An electronic reader board is never going to go here,” Commissioner Marilyn Carpenter said.

“For Thousand Oaks to try and create a sign that looks like Oxnard’s, God forbid, or Ventura’s, which is worse, is foolish,” Carpenter said.

But Commissioner Mervyn Kopp, who supported the sign proposal, said the city should be more flexible when it comes to helping local businesses because they provide the revenues necessary to maintain Thousand Oaks’ quality of life.