COSTA MESA : Big-Name Company Gets OK for Sign

After two hours of debate, the Costa Mesa City Council could not decide whether having seven-foot-high letters embedded in a side of Triangle Square would constitute a sign.

The council did agree Monday night, however, that whatever the letters would be--sign, architectural enhancement or just plain tall type--they should be allowed.

In a 4-1 decision, with Councilman Jay Humphrey casting the dissenting vote, the council agreed to allow the massive letters spelling out the name of Nike Town, one of the center’s major tenants.

The council sided with the Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Merchants Assn. and a small number of others who came out to champion the chiseled characters’ cause.

“It is clearly an architectural element,” argued Councilman Peter F. Buffa, who made the motion to approve the letters. “It is not a sign at all. . . . It is something etched into the side of the building.”

The letters came to the council’s attention this summer after the Planning Commission, voting against the recommendation of city planners, agreed to allow them. Two years earlier, the commission had approved restrictions for Triangle Square that stipulate a maximum sign height of 28 inches, in conformance with the city’s sign code. But in August, the Commission granted Nike permission to put up the seven-foot-high letters.

Council members Humphrey and Sandra L. Genis appealed that decision, however, forcing the developer to bring it to the council.

“I was concerned for a number of reasons . . . a major concern was what kind of precedent might be set,” Genis said about the appeal. “It seemed to be approved because of who the applicant was, as opposed to what the applicant was doing.”

Anti-sign forces agreed. They argued that the council was granting special privilege to a powerful corporation and forgetting the little guy who came before them only to be turned down.

Jean Park, a Costa Mesa resident since 1958, warned the council that it was setting a dangerous precedent. “Those letters are not there to hold up the building. It is to tell people Nike is in town,” Park said.

Jerry Klein of Triangle Square, who was supported by by several local businesses, said: “We look at it as an architectural element rather than a sign element. These are simply letters pushed into the building. These kinds of signs, when seen in other buildings, are noble--if you will--and interesting.”

Genis, however, was not able to persuade her colleagues, and she later voted for the proposal herself. After a motion to shrink the letters failed, the council agreed to allow the lettering.

The letters will appear on the second floor of one of shopping center’s domes on the corner of 19th Street and Newport Boulevard. They are currently under construction.