THOUSAND OAKS : Gas, Food, Lodging Signs Approved

Motorists exiting the Ventura and Moorpark freeways will soon see new directional signs pointing them toward gas, food and lodging in Thousand Oaks.

The City Council has approved seven signs at busy intersections directing drivers to local gas stations, restaurants and hotels. All seven placards will bear the international symbols for such establishments--a bed for a hotel, for example.

By installing the signs, council members said they hoped to help local businesses without creating a clutter of advertisements on city streets.

Councilman Alex Fiore opposed the measure at Tuesday’s meeting, arguing that the signs were “absolutely unnecessary.” The blue “Gas-Food-Lodging” signs already in place along the Ventura Freeway provide sufficient information, he said.

“If you’re not smart enough to find the restaurant when you get off at an exit that says ‘Gas-Food-Lodging,’ you better just go back on the freeway and drive to the next exit,” Fiore said. “When I get off at an exit, I go to the right, and if the restaurant’s not there, I go to the left. I don’t need someone to hold me by the hand.”

His colleagues on the council disagreed, however, approving the signs in a 4-1 vote.

The signs will be installed on Janss Road at the southbound and northbound Moorpark Freeway off-ramps; on the Moorpark Freeway southbound at Hillcrest Drive and Thousand Oaks Boulevard; on southbound Ventu Park Road north of Newbury Road; on northbound Rancho Conejo Boulevard south of Hillcrest Drive; and on northbound Moorpark Road south of Thousand Oaks Boulevard.