Solutions to Parking Problems Sought

One-way streets with diagonal parking along the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall. A parking lot between Auto Mall Drive and the Ventura Freeway. A parking structure down the street from the Auto Mall.

A Los Angeles-based consultant hired by the city presented these ideas to boulevard business owners, trying to devise solutions to long-standing parking problems on the east side of Thousand Oaks Boulevard, between Duesenberg Drive and Westlake Boulevard.

“I think that conceptually the ideas are good. The reality is we have looked at some of the ideas already and some of the property isn’t feasible,” said Susan Mejia, executive vice president of Silverstar Automotive Group, which manages 16 of the dealerships in the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall. “The auto mall has been looking at solutions to parking for a number of years.”

The problem has gotten worse over the past five years, officials said. Newly built developments took away empty parking spaces, more cars are being sold, and more cars are being added to dealer lots.

John Woodward III, vice president of Westoaks Chrysler Dodge, considers a parking garage, which could cost up to $20,000 per space for an underground facility, to be the best idea. Because the auto mall has about 1,000 employees, a garage could be a place for them to park and would free up street parking for customers, he said.