Theater Panel to Vote on Sign Plans for Arts Center : Thousand Oaks: The commission will consider three options, including a 15-foot-high marquee with message board.

Reviving an ongoing debate about the city’s sign standards, the Thousand Oaks Civic Theaters Commission will vote tonight on a proposed marquee and electronic message board for the performing arts center.

The commission will consider three options to advertise the Civic Arts Plaza’s two theaters and government offices, scheduled to open in the fall.

The most grandiose proposal calls for a 15-foot-high rectangular sign along Thousand Oaks Boulevard. As envisioned, the monument would cover 240 square feet--roughly 60% greater than the largest sign now allowed under city codes. One-third of the sign would be covered by an electronic board listing upcoming performances and municipal meetings.

To follow city codes as written, the sign would have to remain 48 square feet and therefore could not hold a message board. The Civic Theaters Commission will consider that option as well as a third proposal of a 150-square-foot sign with a small message board.

Arts aficionados argue that the marquee must be highly visible and easily readable to the thousands of motorists who drive down Thousand Oaks Boulevard each day. The sign must be extra-large, they say, to balance the blocky building and parking structure behind it.

“There isn’t a theater anywhere that doesn’t have a marquee, and my eye says that a larger sign would look much better aesthetically,” said Virginia Davis, who chairs the theaters commission.

But already, several City Council members have expressed concern about the size of the proposed sign.

Just last month, the council rejected a proposed Auto Mall sign that would have included an electronic message board measuring 112 square feet. Worried that the pulsing billboard would distract motorists and mar a scenic stretch of the Ventura Freeway, the council allowed only a small electronic board displaying time and temperature.

The largest proposed version for the Civic Arts Plaza sign would contain an 80-square-foot message board--four times as large as the time-and-temperature board ultimately approved for the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall.

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“I don’t think the city should set a double standard and make exceptions for itself that are denied to private developers,” Mayor Elois Zeanah said. “It’s not fair, it’s not good government and it’s not ethical.”

Despite his unwavering support for the Civic Arts Plaza, Councilman Frank Schillo also voiced doubts about the biggest sign proposal. Because the monument will stand fairly close to Thousand Oaks Boulevard, he said, drivers should be able to read even a small or mid-size marquee.

But Councilwoman Jaime Zukowski, normally a staunch defender of the city’s strict sign ordinances, said she would approve of the largest message board. The sign will sit low to the ground, she noted, and therefore will not block mountain views or clutter the city’s skyline.

“The scale seems appropriate for the mass of the building and the site,” she said.

Zukowski’s only concern: placing the message board atop letters spelling out “City Hall” might create some comical juxtapositions. “We could have, ‘Comedy of Errors Tonight! City Hall’ ” she said. “Or, ‘The Tempest! City Hall.’ Can you imagine?”

The City Council will make the final call on the marquee design after the Civic Theaters Commission’s advisory vote tonight.

Also during tonight’s 7 p.m. meeting at City Hall, the seven-member theaters commission will debate whether to charge for parking during shows in the 1,800-seat auditorium. A fee of $4 would bring in roughly $200,000 a year--money that could be used to subsidize lower-priced tickets for senior citizens and students.

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“It’s part of the cost of going out,” said Everett Ascher, director of the Conejo Symphony. “If you have three or four people in a car, you’re talking about just $1, $1.75 a person. You can’t get more reasonable than that.”

While discussing parking, the commissioners will also focus on how to provide enough spaces for every patron. The five-level garage now under construction contains only 735 spaces, not nearly enough to accommodate a full house.

The city’s options include creating temporary parking on vacant land near the auditorium, reconfiguring the garage to add more parking stalls on the roof, or arranging off-site parking with a shuttle bus to carry patrons to the theater.