Alhambra : Sign Restrictions Delayed

After car dealers and other merchants complained that proposed sign regulations would hurt their business, the City Council this week voted to delay the approval of restrictions on temporary business signs.

But the council voted unanimously to pass the rest of a 221-page sign ordinance designed to improve the city’s appearance by regulating, among other factors, size and types of signs.

At a meeting Monday night, representatives from two Alhambra dealerships told council members that regulations restricting temporary signs to 25% of a window area and limiting its display to 120 days a year would mean fewer car sales.

“We are going to have to lay people off because we are not going to sell cars,” said Bill Brantley, general sales manager of Alhambra Mitsubishi. “If these advertisements we use weren’t effective, we wouldn’t use them.”

Paul Talbot, co-owner of two Wendy’s Old Fashion Hamburgers restaurants in Alhambra, said car dealerships are not the only businesses that need large window signs. “We have specials too,” Talbot said. “The only way that’s communicated is through banners and the window signs.”