Council Asks Extension on ‘Can Sign’ Deadline : Regulations: Some merchants say that replacement costs will strain businesses already hurt by the recession.

A few years ago, Scott Hanson, owner of Pip Printing, 1903 W. Valley Blvd., removed an outdated sign from his store’s property.

In its place, he erected a “can sign.” Now--under a deadline set by a 1989 Alhambra ordinance--that sign will have to come down too.

Hanson and nearly two dozen other small-business owners attended last week’s council meeting to protest an Aug. 20 deadline for removing can signs from multi-tenant buildings and shopping centers. City Council members agreed to ask the Planning Commission to extend the deadline.

A can sign is a metal box with fluorescent tubes inside covered by a flat plastic face with lettering. Such signs are usually mounted above business entrances. Can signs, which come in various sizes and colors, are regarded by some people as unappealing.

Under the ordinance, owners of businesses in single-tenant buildings have a little longer, until 1994, to replace their can signs.

Some merchants say they fear that replacement costs will strain businesses already hurt by the recession. “This could be the straw that breaks small businesses’ backs,” said Paul Talbot, executive director of the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce.

Yet, Talbot conceded that many of the property owners were notified of the deadline three years ago. Changing the regulation now would not be fair to the majority of owners, who have already changed their signs, he said.

Victor Law, owner of Alpha Medical Pharmacy, 703 W. Valley Blvd., said he paid $2,000 to replace a rooftop sign left by the previous tenant after he received city notification that it had become obsolete. The city approved his can sign in 1987. “How will I know that new signs won’t be obsolete five years from now?” he asked.

Although the business owners seem to have won a reprieve, Mayor Talmage V. Burke stood behind the restriction, noting a hodgepodge of signs in the city.

“We compete with (all the) cities of Los Angeles County,” he said. “Sales taxes are an important part of city revenue. As we bring uniformity, aesthetic attraction follows and creates the perception that we are an upscale city.”

Because the signs must eventually be removed, Talbot urged the business owners to apply for federal Housing and Urban Development funds, which he said could cover up to half of a new sign’s cost. The city’s Community Development Department has a reserve of about $50,000 in HUD money available, he said.