Planners Reject Request to Add Signs at Mall : Thousand Oaks: Officials of The Oaks say restrictions will hurt efforts to attract new customers and upscale stores.

Despite a strong plea from mall officials concerned about attracting new customers and tenants, the Thousand Oaks Planning Commission has rejected a proposal to add new signs to The Oaks mall as part of its $5-million building renovation.

The commission also voted unanimously late Monday night to reject plans to spruce up the mall’s three entrances with large purple and green metal canopies, saying that such additions were distasteful.

“The colors are all wrong,” said Commissioner Marilyn Carpenter, noting that the mall is now painted in earth tones. “I can’t go with a green or purple anything.”

Several members of the public, who spoke out against the new signs and decorative canopies, were more critical.

“This is our community, and we want the mall to be low profile,” said Manny Ferrara. “It’s not going to make anybody happy if it looks like garbage.”

The commission did approve construction of a new entrance located at the far eastern end of the mall. It approved minor changes to the archways of existing en trances. Commissioners also stipulated that exterior door and window frames be painted in earth tones.

But mall officials said Tuesday they will appeal the commission’s decision on the new signs and the building improvements as they were originally proposed to the City Council.

“I don’t think what we were asking was beyond the scope of tasteful additions to the shopping center,” said Barbara Teuscher, general manager of the mall. “And I don’t think it’s something the community is opposed to en masse.”

Teuscher said the improvements to the building’s exterior are consistent with the major renovation under way inside the mall.

“You don’t want to spend $5 million on renovation work and not have anything for people to see on the outside when they first enter the building,” she said.

The commission’s action, particularly on the new signage, would not only hurt the mall’s efforts to attract new customers but also to lure new tenants like Nordstrom and other upscale stores, Teuscher said.

“We’re trying to change the tenant mix and bring in new retailers that customers are asking for,” she said.

The San Diego-based Hahn Co., which owns the 15-year-old mall, hopes to replace one of the mall’s five department stores and add a sixth store. The Oaks currently has two Robinsons-May department stores that resulted from a merger in January.

Teuscher said because the mall does not have a customer base of 500,000 as required by some retailers, like Nordstrom, the only alternative is to improve its ability to attract more customers off the Ventura Freeway as well as from Hillcrest Drive and Lynn Road.

To accomplish this, the Hahn Co. is proposing to put up four monument signs in key locations on its property. The developer also wants the mall’s department stores to be able to put up additional signage on the south side of the mall facing the freeway.

“Right now we feel we can’t take advantage of the fact that we’re located along one of the busiest freeways in Southern California,” Teuscher said, adding that 47% of the mall’s customers come from outside the Conejo Valley.

Tom Adams, a representative of the Hahn Co., said new signs are needed because landscaping and trees around the shopping mall are making it more difficult to see from the freeway and adjacent streets.

“Our department stores are being buried by landscaping,” he said.

But planning officials and opponents of the new signs said this is the way the community intended it.

“That’s what the landscaping is there for, to hide the mass of the structure,” said resident Ken Bauer. “We’ve had to wait 15 years for it to grow.”

Still, some Thousand Oaks business leaders said the city should be looking for ways to help the mall improve its sales volume during this tough economic period. They point out that the shopping center is still the single largest generator of sales tax revenue in the city.

“I’m seeing red,” said Steve Rubenstein, president of the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce. “If anybody cares about how the mall fits into the community, it’s the mall. They have a reputation to uphold.”

Rubenstein said that if city officials are not careful, The Oaks is going to lose the chance to attract tenants like Nordstrom to other communities looking to build major shopping centers.

“They’re going to wonder why Nordstrom moved to Camarillo,” he said.

Times staff writer Stephanie Simon contributed to this story.