Pop Go the Ad Balloons : Costa Mesa Outlaws Inflatables Despite Merchants’ Protests

To some, mighty Godzilla, giant Uncle Sam and a bright yellow T-shirt that fly proudly, if garishly, over the businesses here are landmarks.

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To others, the mega-balloons are overblown eyesores.

Now, after months of debate and despite strong protests from merchants, the Costa Mesa City Council has stuck a needle in those balloon behemoths, outlawing any that are more than 24 inches in diameter. Oversized balloons must come down by Aug. 5.

“They are unattractive,” City Councilwoman Mary Hornbuckle said, “and I don’t think they have much of an impact on the amount of business the merchants can do.”

A number of residents have complained to the City Council about the yellow T-shirt balloon, in particular. It flies over T-Shirt Wholesale Mart, which is tucked away on a side street off 17th Street, and it is a local landmark, store manager Joe Sou said.

“When we don’t have it up, people complain that they can’t find us,” Sou said. The T-shirt balloon is not hoisted over the store every day, he said, and when it isn’t, he sees a definite downturn in business.

The T-shirt has stirred more protest than any of a dozen other advertising balloons, however, primarily from residents who say it makes the city look cheap. As one citizen put it at a recent council meeting, “People coming out of Newport Beach see that big T-shirt, and they know they are now in Costa Mesa.”

Hornbuckle said the council discussed the issue several times with delegates of the Chamber of Commerce, but the business group did not take a stand.

Many shop owners say their fortunes rise and fall with the helium balloons.

One of those merchants is Lawrence Belland, vice president of Global Cellular on Newport Boulevard. His store’s inflatable ad is shaped like a hot-air balloon and displays the name of the business prominently.

“If the balloon was in the middle of a neighborhood, they might have a case,” Belland said of residents who have complained. “But we are are in the heart of a business district, not off the beaten path.”

The council was not swayed.

“Some of these balloons are huge,” Mayor Joe Erickson said. “They annoy business people as well as residents because they junk up some areas, and that detracts from business as a whole.”