ESCONDIDO -- The City Council has approved design details for a gigantic, illuminated screen that will begin splashing colorful images of art and landscapes onto Interstate 15 later this year when a new Lexus dealership opens on Ninth Avenue.

The 1,296-square-foot screen will be nearly five times larger than the Escondido Auto Park electronic sign situated just off the western edge of the freeway. Lexus officials said their screen must be larger because it will be 450 feet southwest of the freeway.

The operation agreement for the screen prohibits any advertising, but city officials said it will still draw extra attention to Escondido's auto dealers, where sales have fallen sharply the past two years.

Previous attempts to improve the visibility of the city's auto row included the 267-square-foot Auto Park sign erected in the late 1990s, and a 180-foot flagpole added in 2005 that sports an 1,800-square-foot American flag.

A resident living near the new dealership on Tanglewood Lane objected to the media screen when it was first proposed in late 2006, but Lexus gained his support by agreeing to block his view of the screen with a special wall and several trees.

Others have questioned whether the screen, which would be roughly the size of a movie theater screen, might cause crashes on the freeway by distracting drivers. But city officials said the lack of continuous animation would make distractions unlikely.

Design details approved Wednesday by the council dictate that the images not be rotated more frequently than every 20 seconds, and the sign be shut off between 11 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.

A special committee of city employees and Lexus officials will decide which landscapes, paintings and other images to display.

Judy Jones-Cone, owner of the dealership, told the council Wednesday that she would like the screen to display art work by local students, photos by area residents and possibly some images of the San Diego Chargers professional football team on game days.

"We want the mural to give the building a personality," said Jones-Cone, who also owns the Lexus dealership in Carlsbad.

Even if the illuminated screen were not part of the plans, the new Lexus dealership would be remarkable.

The first so-called "super luxury" dealership in San Diego County, it will feature water shows, an upscale restaurant, piano music, meeting rooms and a hospitality center. Similar dealerships have opened recently in Orange County and south Florida.

"I think it's exciting we'll be the first in the county to have one of these," said Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler.

Other local dealers have supported the arrival of Lexus, predicting the unique facility will draw curious car shoppers from miles away. The electronic auto park sign and the giant flagpole were paid for by the auto park association, which now includes 14 dealers. Escondido also has a half-dozen dealerships outside the auto park, and Lexus will be among them.

Initially, plans called for the screen to be inside clear glass on the third floor of the dealership, but Lexus officials recently decided to place the screen outdoors on the northeast corner of the building, which will rise 70 feet above the ground. Previous plans also called for the screen to rotate between two positions, but it will now be fixed in one spot.

Councilman Ed Gallo suggested the outdoor location could increase the chances for vandalism, such as rocks being thrown at the glass. But dealership officials said the screen will be safely sealed.

City officials said the illumination will vary between day and night, and that the sign will be dramatically less bright than a shopping mall parking lot at night.

The dealership is now under construction next to the Target/Mervyns plaza on the former site of the Escondido Adventist Academy, which is moving to a new site off Deodar Road in north Escondido. Lexus officials predicted the dealership will open by the end of the year.

Contact staff writer David Garrick at (760) 740-5468 or dgarrick@nctimes.com.