THOUSAND OAKS : Changes Proposed for Auto Swap Meet

Hoping to improve the cluttered appearance of an automobile swap meet in Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks planners will recommend several changes to the state in the way the operation runs.

Planners will suggest that the state--which is now negotiating an extension of the swap meet’s contract--limit the number of recreational vehicles that can be displayed in the lot. Other suggestions include requiring customers to sign an agreement to remove their cars and other vehicles from the lot before the swap meet closes on Sunday.

The city can’t do much besides make recommendations.

The Thousand Oaks Auto Swap Meet operates each weekend in a Caltrans parking lot at the intersection of the Ventura Freeway and Rancho Conejo Boulevard. The swap meet therefore falls under control of the California Department of Transportation.

The city, however, has received five citizen complaints about the recreational vehicles for sale at the lot, centering on the space taken up by the vehicles--which stay at the lot throughout the week--and their appearance so close to the freeway.

“There needs to be something done to the lot to help the appearance,” Planning Commissioner Joseph Gibson said during commission discussion of the swap meet Monday.

He added, however, that the swap meet, which gives area residents a place to display cars for sale, performs a valuable service. “It’s a facility that’s sorely needed in the community,” he said.