COSTA MESA : Advertising Sign Rules Set Aside

City merchants will now be able to erect banners advertising their products and stores for as long as they want--at least until Dec. 31.

The City Council voted Monday night to eliminate certain time limits, bowing to business owners’ complaints that the banner restrictions were hurting sales.

Before Monday’s meeting, shops in the city only were allowed to put up banners for 56 days a year--and no more than 14 each quarter--but now they are permitted to put them up for as many consecutive days as they want.

The city is in the midst of drafting a new sign ordinance that would do away with the current, 40-page ordinance regulating time restrictions, letter height, sign width and word count.

A proposed ordinance considered Monday night would give businesses more leeway, allowing them to hang banners for a total 120 days. But the council rejected it, saying the change would not be much different from the current plan.

Before the vote, representatives of two homeowner associations spoke out against the multitude of banners around the city and called on the council to adopt a stricter sign ordinance. But council members Peter Buffa and Sandra Genis suggested drafting a one-formula ordinance for all signs, including size, letter height and word count.

Randy Garrell, a local business owner and member of the sign ordinance advisory board, said he was happy with the council’s decision to send the proposed ordinance back to the staff for more work. “We’re looking for a more simple, more user-friendly sign ordinance, and this is a start,” said Garrell.