PERSPECTIVE : Electronic Signs Boost Economies, Ignite Complaints

The giant electronic billboards that car dealers post alongside freeways are hard to miss. With thousands of glimmering lights, they flash messages to passing commuters about “EZ terms” and “Lo miles.”

Dealers and many city officials see the signs as an unqualified success, drawing hundreds of customers who pump thousands of dollars into the local economy and tax revenue into city coffers.

To others, however, the billboards are a blight--an undesirable mix of Las Vegas and “Blade Runner” that seems glaringly out of place in the low-rise landscape of Orange County.

The 75-foot-tall message sign erected last year at Irvine Auto Center “was sort of a shock when I first saw it,” Lake Forest Councilwoman Ann Van Haun said. “Before, it was a pleasant drive. Especially after the rainy season, you saw green hills and some cattle. . . . Now it’s clutter.”

But aesthetic concerns have so far failed to halt the spread of the signs. They now number about half a dozen, and at least one more is planned.

Their proliferation underscores the growing efforts of cities to cut red tape and work in concert with businesses to attract jobs and customers. Such “economic development” partnerships provide cities with a way of boosting their economies without incurring the debt that comes with big, conventional redevelopment projects.

The campaign is paying off. Huntington Beach spent $360,000 for an electronic billboard after car dealerships on Beach Boulevard projected that the city would get its money back within five years through increased sales tax revenue. The sign went up, and the city recouped its investment--in about two years.

“It gives an identity for the business community in this area,” said Tom Andrusky of Huntington Beach’s economic development office. “It’s a gateway that didn’t exist before. It’s very positive.”

The car dealers proposed the message sign four years ago as the centerpiece of a plan to promote their auto row.

Faced with a sagging economy, most Huntington Beach officials quickly championed the dealers’ cause. Sales of big-ticket items such as automobiles are among the biggest sources of tax revenue for cities, which receive about a penny for every dollar spent.

“The dealers contribute a great deal to our tax base,” said Richard Barnard, assistant city administrator. “We wanted to do what we could to assist them in being more successful.”

The sign far exceeded the maximum size allowed under the city’s sign ordinance, so the dealers sought an exemption. At first, the Planning Department balked at changing the rules.

But the City Council eventually overruled the planning staff and approved the project. The council also voted to exempt dealers from other sign code provisions, allowing them to hang banners and fly balloons along Beach Boulevard.

Huntington Beach’s business-friendly approach prompted neighboring cities to offer similar code exceptions to their auto dealerships.

“The cities are in competition to get cars purchased in their local area,” said Kevin Allen, executive director of the Orange County Automobile Dealers Assn. “I think Huntington Beach was one of the first cities to realize the benefits of working with dealer groups.”

Other communities are quickly catching on. The Irvine City Council changed the zoning around their city’s auto center so that dealers could put up a mammoth message sign that immediately became a landmark for drivers through the El Toro Y, where the Santa Ana and San Diego freeways merge.

The sign, which uses more than 3,000 flashing light bulbs, was completed last year and immediately drew protests from residents of nearby communities who had hoped to keep their stretch of highway free of commercial clutter.

“When many of us moved to this area, one of the things we wanted was some control over the appearance,” Lake Forest council member Van Haun said. “That’s why we’ve tried to make [the freeway area] look attractive.”

Complaints have also come from small-business owners who say that auto dealers are getting special treatment from the city because of the volume of tax revenue they generate.

The bright lights are definitely bringing more paying customers to town. City officials report that sales at Irvine Auto Center--and, consequently, city tax revenue--have risen since the sign went up.

Such successes may be softening critics’ opposition to the message boards.

In Huntington Beach, Councilwoman Shirley S. Dettloff was among the skeptics when the Beach Boulevard sign was proposed. Now, she concedes, “I think maybe it has proved its worth. I think it’s extremely important to the economy of the city and something that attracts business.”

The next message sign will likely be in Costa Mesa to advertise the Harbor Boulevard car row, dealers say, and it probably won’t be the last.

“Cities are desperate for tax dollars to fund the services the residents need,” said Howard Zelefsky, Huntington Beach’s planning director. “One thing they are looking at is ways to make life easier for businesses.”