JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers CONVENIENT DROP-OFF LOCATION MAY BE ELIMINATED- Agoura residents Helga, left, and Bernie Lafianza assist a friend, Hilda Padin, as she's dropped off for a theater event at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza on Sunday. Plans are in the works to restrict the circular drop-off site to pedestrians only. Access to the Civic Arts Plaza may become more difficult for fragile seniors and handicapped people so that those who can walk easily will have a more beautiful walkway.

It appears as if theater patrons will no longer be able to drop loved ones off at the circular driveway outside the theater once a pedestrian plaza is completed in that area.

Plans include adding a marquee, more landscaping, a covered walkway, new paving material, enhanced lighting and a seating area. There will still be a roadway to be used by emergency vehicles, facilities manager Elizabeth Perez said.

The changes are all part of a $2.15 million improvement plan sanctioned by the City Council, she said.

"This will make it incredibly more difficult for those who are handicapped or old to go to the theater," said Barbara De Minico, usher coordinator.

Architects have drawn up preliminary sketches that Perez said she prefers not be published at this time because the plans haven't been finalized.

The new pedestrian plaza came from a master plan to beautify and improve the Civic Arts Plaza, she said.

Right now there's no curb, and pedestrians and vehicles often share the same space as pedestrians tend to walk in a straight line and not pay attention to the traffic flow, Perez said.

"A blind person could walk into traffic," Perez said. "There are safety issues."

Without the convenience of a drop-off site for those who have trouble walking, the Civic Arts Plaza will still meet legal requirements to provide handicap parking because of the designated handicapped parking spots available in the parking structure.

"We will have all the handicap parking legally required. We are not taking that away," Perez said.

When the pedestrian plaza is in place, people will be willing to walk the extra distance because of its ambience, she said.

"It's been proven people are willing to walk much farther in an interesting environment," Perez said.