CALABASAS : Planners Postpone Decision on Eatery

The Calabasas Planning Commission this week postponed voting on a proposed Burger King restaurant until several legal issues--including whether the eatery should come with a giant sign--are resolved.

Frank Niesner wants to install a 30-foot sign along the Ventura Freeway with a 100-square-foot face to promote his restaurant on Las Virgenes Road, according to city planners, who asked for more time to determine whether the sign would be legal.

According to city officials, the sign would be permitted under Los Angeles County’s sign ordinances, which the city adopted when it incorporated in 1991. However, the sign would be prohibited under the city’s yet-to-be-approved General Plan as well as under the city’s Scenic Corridor Ordinance, officials said.

The city also has received an application from Niesner’s partner, Bill Haug of Simi Valley, for an Express Lube auto service center on the same site.

According to Planning Commissioner Dave Brown, the Burger King project would not be permitted under the city’s tentative General Plan, which would carefully regulate construction of fast-food restaurants.

The project is critical to the city’s future planning policy, Brown said. Approving it would signal that the city wants the Las Virgenes Road area to continue as a jumble of businesses dedicated to serving freeway traffic.

And the sign issue is a sticky one for Calabasas, where many residents and city officials believe the tall freeway signs are eyesores that should be eliminated. At the same time, sales tax revenues have dropped, putting pressure on city officials to encourage business.

Niesner maintains that he needs a freeway sign under his franchise agreement with Burger King, according to city officials. Steve Quintanilla, an attorney representing the city of Calabasas, said Niesner has agreed to remove the sign at a date to be determined later, should the General Plan prohibit such signs.

In neighboring Agoura Hills, 12 merchants have sued the city for the right to have pole signs, which were banned in 1985. The merchants say studies show business falls off sharply when freeway signs are taken down.

Calabasas officials recently worked out an agreement with the owners of a Mobil service station and Red Robin restaurant on Calabasas Road that allows them to keep their freeway signs until the General Plan is finalized in about a year. That decision came after the owner of the Red Robin hinted he would sue the city to keep his sign.