Merchants Say They Will Defy Sign Law

Sunday is the deadline for store owners to remove rooftop business signs, but members of a merchants group say they have no intention of taking down the signs, which many say are crucial in attracting customers.

“If we take down our signs, we are just going to go out of business,” said George Cabrera, a printer at Sunset Printers on West Valley Boulevard and a spokesman for the Alhambra Business and Residents Assn. The group was recently formed by shop owners who want to challenge the city sign ordinance.

Association members turned out in force at Monday’s City Council meeting to ask that they be allowed to keep their signs, but council members made no promises about changing the 1985 ordinance. Mayor Barbara Messina said in an interview that the merchants had been given plenty of time to comply.

“In giving them five years, we are very lenient,” Messina said, adding, “This is really not that stringent of a sign ordinance.”

She said the prohibition against rooftop signs is needed to improve the city’s appearance, especially on Valley Boulevard, which she said a national magazine described as the ugliest street in the United States.

The ordinance sets restrictions for business signs, including size, shape and color. It has different standards for different types of businesses.

Roof signs are banned everywhere. But car dealerships, for example, are allowed larger temporary window signs and their exterior signs can be up to 20 feet tall, regardless of their businesses’ street frontage.

“You can’t underestimate (car dealerships’) importance to the city’s tax base, but it should not be construed that the other businesses are unimportant,” said Mark Gallatin, an associate planner for the city.

Violation of the ordinance is a misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to $1,000 in fines or six months in jail, Gallatin said.

Business owners complain that compelling them to modify or remove signs could force them out of business.

“I removed it, and my business dropped 40 percent,” Tom Muranaka, owner of Aloha Lock and Security on West Valley Boulevard, said of his rooftop sign.

Some merchants at Monday’s meeting, such as Felix Dupuy, owner of Y Tire Sales, said it’s unfair for the city to establish more lenient rules for car dealerships.

Messina said city staff will work with merchants to recommend signs that still allow businesses to be easily seen by customers.