LATEST LOOK—Here is the first of two options for the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall sign that was presented to the City Council on Tuesday. This option was created by YESCO Los Angeles Division. Courtesy YESCO Will a new monument sign for the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall have an LED component?

The question remains unanswered because a majority of the City Council did not reveal how they would vote on the issue during the council’s April 12 study session.

But if comments by Mayor Pro Tem Jacqui Irwin at Tuesday’s meeting are any indication of the majority’s sentiment, the T.O. Auto Mall Association may get most of what it wants—a taller sign that electronically displays dealer names, vehicle logos and websites— although most speakers opposed any LED component.

In December, the association had proposed erecting a 35-foot-tall monument sign with a 12-by-21-foot electronic reader board. It would replace the current 20-foot-high sign, which electronically displays time, date and temperature on a 3-by-9-foot board. But faced with public opposition, the association rescinded that proposal before the council could vote on it.

The association then held two forums to collect public ideas on a new design and this week submitted two options to the council.

Option No. 1 is a 24-foot-tall by 38-foot-wide sign with an LED display with a surface area of 156 square feet. Option No. 2 proposes a 26-foot-tall by 30-foot-wide sign with a reader board that has a surface area of 96 square feet.

The April 12 meeting was a study session for council members to ask questions and gauge public interest in the two designs.

During the two-hour discussion, Mayor Andy Fox and council members Dennis Gillette and Tom Glancy did not reveal which design they favored.

But Irwin said she prefers Option No. 1 and praised the association for responding to criticism by scaling down the electronic display size.

“I could say that I don’t want a reader board at all, but I have to acknowledge that the auto mall has a unique problem—the only dealerships that can be seen from the freeway are the ones that are right along the freeway,” Irwin said, adding that dealerships on Thousand Oaks Boulevard deserve to be identified too.

Councilmember Claudia Bill-de la Peña said allowing an LED reader board the size of the two proposals would set a precedent. She asked why the association would propose a reader board six times bigger than the current one when most public speakers have opposed any LED component outright.

Susan Murata, association president, said most comment cards from the three public meetings she attended favored a reader board. She also said she thought the council would approve a sign with an LED display the size of the one in front of the T.O. Civic Arts Plaza.

Murata said the association is willing to make adjustments to the design.

Among the handful of speakers who supported an LED display was Paul Ladin, owner of one of the few original dealerships at the 44-year-old auto mall. Ladin asked the council how many knew the center has a Fiat dealership.

An electronic display would let the buying public know.

“Everybody thinks this auto mall is fat and happy. It’s not true,” said Ladin, adding that T.O. dealers face increasing competition from new dealerships opening in Simi Valley and Camarillo.

“You people ought to be thankful you’ve got an auto mall here,” Ladin told the council.

Former mayor Richard Hus, a T.O. resident since 1962, said although the two designs are attractive, he wants no electronic reader board at the gateway to the city.

“There is absolutely no reason to identify dozens of individual auto dealers on a sign along the freeway,” said Hus, who served on the City Council from 1966 to 1970.

“The sign out there now says the auto mall is the world’s largest. And I think it’s reasonable to assume that if it is the world’s largest, then it probably has the dealership I’m looking for,” he added.

To view both sign proposals, visit www.theacornonline.com/topstory-automallproposal.html.