LAKE FOREST : Planners OK Larger Sign for Phone Dealer

The Planning Commission has granted an exception to the city sign ordinance to a mobile telephone dealer.

The 3-2 decision Friday allowed Mobile Line Communications to put up 147-square-foot signs--about 43 square feet larger than recommended by city planners.

Dennis Curtis, who owns the firm on Swartz Drive, told commissioners that a lucrative contract with AirTouch Cellular, a major portable phone manufacturer, depended on its getting the larger sign.

Curtis said customers have a hard time finding his business because the Swartz Drive cul-de-sac, set back off busy El Toro Road, is barely visible from the major thoroughfare.

Since December, 42 customers have complained about not being able to find the storefront. Curtis added that AirTouch Cellular is hinging approval of a five-year contract on approval of the larger sign.

Commissioners Richard Neuland, David Carter and Tim Hughes favored granting Curtis’ request.

“I have a lot of sympathy for the applicant,” Neuland said. “I’ve lived here a long time, and that is a hard spot to find.”

“It looks like an alley--Swartz does,” he said. “It doesn’t look like a street.”

Chairman Richard Goacher and Commissioner Peter Burrows felt that granting the exception to Curtis might open the door for other businesses to ask for variances.

“I’m having a tough time with precedent-setting here,” Burrows said.