Planners Say No to Historic Neon

The Johnie’s Broiler site, which for decades greeted Southern California cruisers with a huge, cherubic boy bearing a burger, may lose its neon beacons.

The Downey Planning Commission voted 4 to 1 Wednesday to revoke an exemption to the city’s zoning rules that permitted the diner’s signs, in part because Johnie’s closed in 2001 and has been replaced by a used car dealership.

“I would love to have a nice coffee shop and maintain the 1950s look, but this owner wants to do something else,” Commissioner Jeff McCaughan said.

Commission Chairman Roger Brossmer agreed: “I’d like to keep the sign, but not under the current situation.”

Cruisers from around Southern California gathered at the drive-in for more than four decades, ordering hamburger plate specials with shakes or cherry Cokes.

Property owner Christos John Smyrniotis, who changed the diner’s name from Harvey’s Broiler to Johnie’s Broiler in the mid-1960s, told the commission at a public hearing that he would support the city’s decision.

The revocation does not take effect until May 20. The city would need to perform an environmental review before the signs could be altered or removed because Johnie’s was deemed eligible in 2002 for the California Register of Historical Resources.

Preservationists said they would probably appeal the commission’s decision to the Downey City Council.

“This clearly is one of the two most important signs in Downey – McDonald’s being the other,” said Ken Bernstein, director of preservation issues for the Los Angeles Conservancy. Downey is home to the world’s oldest McDonald’s.

“To destroy and defame Johnie’s Broiler would be a real crime,” said a Downey resident, Bill Brining.