Council OKs Use of Strip Mall Directory Signs : Thousand Oaks: City action is latest in bid to improve relations with entrepreneurs and retailers. Code revisions face public hearings.

Thousand Oaks council members have approved the concept of installing directory boards outside strip malls, boosting an ongoing effort to support the city’s retailers and entrepreneurs.

From monthly Business Showcase Awards highlighting local companies to regular meetings of the Mayor’s Business Roundtable, city officials have been trying to build bridges with a long-alienated community.

The most recent example came Tuesday night when each City Council member lavished praise on a proposal to allow shopping plazas to install free-standing directory signs.

Instead of complaining about visual pollution, council members voted unanimously to change city laws to allow directory boards listing strip mall tenants.

The proposed code changes still face public hearings.

But business leaders hailed the council’s conceptual approval as evidence that politicians are trying hard to improve an often-prickly relationship with local retailers.

The first boost to small businesses came late in the fall, when the council voted to hang signs on the Ventura Freeway and at busy intersections directing drivers to local gas stations, restaurants and hotels.

In another sign of empathy for small companies, council members two weeks ago emphatically rejected a draft law that would have banned photographers, hairdressers and other entrepreneurs from working out of their homes.

“Perhaps because it’s election time, most people are starting to feel sympathy for small businesses,” said Steve Rubenstein, president of the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce. “Instead of looking at businesses as exploitative, they’ve realized that businesses are the foundation of the community.”

Council members’ stated commitment to small businesses will be tested in two hearings:

* On May 10, the council will consider speeding up the city permit process. The proposed change would allow most business owners to spruce up a building’s facade or expand square footage without going through a lengthy administrative hearing.

* On May 17, the council will vote on a draft law allowing restaurant owners to place five outdoor tables on the sidewalk or lawn without increasing the number of customer parking spaces.

A majority of council members have expressed enthusiasm for both proposals.

“There is definitely a direction and emphasis from the City Council to streamline our processes and provide better customer service,” Assistant Planner Haider Alawami said.

And, indeed, some recent arrivals to Thousand Oaks have found the City Council, and city staff, unexpectedly flexible.

When he was considering opening a store in Thousand Oaks, Matt Goldfield said friends warned him that the city “can be really tough and interfere a lot.”

Brushing off their predictions of endless red tape, Goldfield decided to jump in, setting up Big League Stuff on Thousand Oaks Boulevard four months ago.

In establishing and running his store, Goldfield said he has enjoyed amicable relations with city staff.

So has Valerie Forgo, who owns the nearby European Tailoring store. “I’ve had no trouble--everything’s OK,” Forgo said.

Yet another tenant in the Palm Plaza strip mall, Nathan Samuels of Mocha Mania, touted Tuesday’s decision to allow directory boards as a sign that the council “is getting a little more sympathetic to business.”

But the unanimous support for small business does not extend to big-time developers.

Recent sign changes at The Oaks shopping center and the Auto Mall squeaked by on 3-2 votes, and a deadlock effectively denied Mervyn’s request for a marquee monument at Janss Mall.

Mayor Elois Zeanah and Councilwoman Jaime Zukowski, both strong backers of small businesses, have consistently voted against the bigger developers--a dichotomy that has drawn some criticism.

“I don’t think we can support only one sector of the business community and not another,” Councilwoman Judy Lazar said. “It’s unfair.”

Zukowski, however, defended her votes on the grounds that the city has too often granted special treatment to large companies while ignoring small businesses.

“Big tax revenue speaks loudly, but if you really look at it, all the small businesses taken together have more weight than one single large applicant,” she said.