Ventura Council Allows Diner to Retain Its Nostalgic Signs
The Busy Bee Cafe, downtown Ventura’s 1950s-era diner that had been ordered to bring its signs up to the times, will be allowed to keep its nostalgic decor.
In a unanimous vote that overturned a decision by the city’s Architectural Review Board, the City Council this week said owner Ed Warren could keep the six-inch frost-coated letters across his front window that boast that the place is “Air Conditioned.”
Officials had ordered that the lettering come down because they believed that its size and garishness violated a city ordinance strictly regulating commercial signs. The Busy Bee’s storefront is decorated with 45 square feet of signs where only 26 square feet are permitted.
But council members Monday accepted Warren’s argument that the sign is part of the 1950s ambience that has made the restaurant such a popular attraction since he opened it 1 1/2 years ago.
More than 1,200 of Warren’s customers signed petitions to the council in favor of the sign.
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