Airborne Assault : Businesses Swear by Their Blimps; Some Residents Swear at Them

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Nope. More likely it’s a blimp or a balloon.

They are dotting the skies of Ventura County increasingly these days. Hovering like UFOs over businesses, they advertise everything from hot tubs to hot cars to hot dogs.

They serve the same purpose as signs. But, when it comes to the law, they’re not exactly signs.

In Ventura, they’re called “decorative devices,” and businesses must get a permit, good for up to 45 days per year, to fly the giant balloons. As many as five helium-filled blimps have clustered, off and on, above car dealerships along the Ventura Freeway.

In Simi Valley, businesses can get a permit, good for 30 days, twice a year. But, unlike Ventura, in Simi Valley the balloon must be devoid of wording or logos. That would make it a sign, city officials say.

Business owners, plagued by sluggish sales in a recessionary economy, say the blimps floating 100 to 200 feet high and the rooftop balloons attract customers.

But in some areas, the attractions are starting to raise eyebrows as well as eyes.

In Simi Valley, Connie Morgan complained to City Council members last month about the giant rooftop balloon at a new McDonald’s and a 30-foot yellow Godzilla with red polka dots at a car dealership.

“I don’t know if you have an ugly law or not,” Morgan said, adding that when the balloons are lighted at night, it looks like a circus. Looks aside, she also worries that the balloons will come loose and cause an accident.

But Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton said that the city looked at clamping down on balloons a year ago and decided “it was virtually impossible without getting silly.” How do you draw the line between an inflatable Godzilla and a guy handing a balloon to a kid, he asked.

Even the permit procedure was news to Terry Jones, owner of the new Jack In The Box restaurant in Simi Valley. Not only did he lack a permit for his rooftop balloon when he opened this week, but his balloon carried an illegal logo.

“I’m not trying to break the law, but it seems a little severe,” said Jones, who planned to keep the balloon up only 10 days. Given the economy, businesses “need all the help they can get.”

Jones, who recently obtained a permit, said his customers like the balloon, and he doesn’t think it’s ugly.

Nor does Don Conniff, general sales manager at First Nissan in Simi Valley, think his Godzilla is ugly.

“It’s not illegal; it doesn’t cause anybody any harm or grief,” Conniff said. “I don’t see the ‘Darth Vader’ dark side of a balloon.”

The company spent $8,000 on the balloon to use annually during its April “monster sale,” he said, and it has attracted “bunches of people.”

In Ventura, the increasing number of blimps, especially along the freeway, hasn’t caused much of a ripple.

“I just don’t get any calls on them,” said Laurie James, Ventura code enforcement specialist. Nor have they caused much of a stir in Oxnard.

But Oxnard inspectors last month made Erick Johnson, sales manager at Cal Spas in Oxnard, take down his blimp. Oxnard allows them for grand openings, no longer than 30 days.

Cal Spas opened its Oxnard store four months ago, and was hoisting the blimp most days, Johnson said, unaware a permit was even needed.

“We want to fly it every day--I don’t see what it hurts,” Johnson said.

Johnson might have had his wish had not someone complained to the city. Oxnard, along with Ventura and a few other jurisdictions, doesn’t have the staff to actively look for violations. Instead, enforcement comes after someone alerts the city.

“I’m not going out there and count balloons every day and enforce this,” James said, adding that she has her hands full with health and safety violations.

“Everyone is going through a difficult time,” she said. “Businesses need a little boost in sales. We’re sensitive to that issue.”

Bill Porter of Casitas Springs sees it differently. He was bothered enough by the growing number of balloons that have popped up over Ventura’s skyline that he wrote City Councilman Gary Tuttle.

“One was nice, but five?” Porter said, referring to the cluster of balloons by the auto dealerships near the freeway. “How many more will go up? I think it’s tacky.”

He said the city is tough on anyone who wants to erect a sign--even the electronic sign for the auto dealers along the freeway was heavily debated before it was approved two years ago.

His annoyance with the balloons drew a ho-hum response from Tuttle: “I’m not thrilled about them. I don’t know who is. But there is plenty I need to do. This is not on top of the agenda.”

Ventura’s car dealers are big contributors to the city’s sales tax base, a point made by Richard Cusolito, general manager at Weber Motor Co.’s Nissan and Mazda dealerships, which went to blimp advertising a year ago.

Cusolito said the city should be happy to have the balloons up in the air because more sales will boost revenue to the city.

Weber and several other local businesses bought their blimps from Giant Advertising, a Costa Mesa company that has been in demand by recession-plagued retailers since it opened in 1989.

Owner Scott Zimmer said he sells 50 to 100 a month to the auto industry, but his customers also include restaurants, furniture chains, auto suppliers, radio stations and motels.

“Ninety percent of our business goes out of California,” Zimmer said, because of tight restrictions throughout the state on blimps. In a bad economy, that doesn’t make sense to him.

“You need to do what you can to get people off the street and in the door,” Zimmer said.

In Thousand Oaks and Camarillo, the blimps are prohibited, even on a temporary basis. Moorpark allows them for 30 days, twice a year. In the unincorporated areas of the county they are permitted for 30 days in any 90-day period, provided they carry no wording.

Mike Arrambide, general sales manager of Barber RV Sales and Service in Ventura, said his blimp has been flying without a permit because he didn’t know one was necessary. It has attracted customers. It was flying a few weeks ago when someone, headed for another dealership, saw the balloon, stopped and bought a motor home.

Across town, the Vagabond Inn’s experience with its blimp last month was not so pleasant. Although it seemed to help business, it snagged on a palm tree and developed a slit from nose to tail, according to Derek Toms, general manager in Ventura.

“I had to climb the tree and retrieve it,” he said.