Simi council frowns on giant banner to find building tenant [Ventura County Star, Calif.]

Jan. 29--Helping find a tenant for the former Farmers Insurance building in Simi Valley -- the largest vacant office space in Ventura County -- is the city's top priority.

Even so, a majority of City Council members said Monday night they are not sold on a proposal by the insurer's real estate marketer to place a 7-by-50-foot banner on the five-story building to announce its availability to the public, including drivers on nearby Highway 118.

"I'm not comfortable with that humongous sign," Mayor Bob Huber said, adding that it would be an "eyesore."

The 240,000-square-foot building has been empty for nearly a year, when the insurer transferred the last wave of its 1,200 employees to its Woodland Hills office 16 miles away. Farmers, which does not own the building, is locked into a lease there until early 2017. The company had been the city's second largest private employer.

<p>While the proposed banner would exceed the size and temporary display limits of the city's sign ordinance, the council could amend the ordinance to allow it, Economic Development Director Brian Gabler said.

But Huber and council members Glen Becerra and Keith Mashburn -- who would form a majority on the five-member panel -- indicated they would oppose that.

"Putting a banner across the top is not thinking outside the box," Becerra said.

Council members Steve Sojka and Mike Judge said they favored the banner.

"Let's exhaust all resources," Sojka said.

The council did not vote on the proposal, with Becerra saying he would like to see a rendering of the building with the banner before he makes a final decision.

In the meantime, Gabler said he would try to facilitate a dialogue among Farmers; the building's owner, New York-based Capital Lease Funding Inc.; and the city's so-called Red Team, which formed in 2010 to help find a new tenant or tenants.

The council is expected to revisit the proposed banner at a future meeting.

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