Korean Business Owners Want Signs To Mark Area

Members of the Korean Chamber of Commerce of Orange County will ask the City Council at a special session Monday for approval to erect a pair of concrete signs identifying a strip of Garden Grove Boulevard as the Korean Business District.

Representatives of the business group, which had previously lobbied the council to install the signs, said they are willing to spend about $30,000 to design and install the cement structures.

The Korean chamber is requesting one sign west of Brookhurst Street and another east of Beach Boulevard to identify the highly concentrated Korean business area of the city.

Residents and some Garden Grove Boulevard merchants have objected to designating the strip the Korean Business District in the past, arguing that the label will divide the community.

“The last time this issue came up, there was some discussion of its merit, because we should look at the Korean business district as a [tourist] destination,” Deputy City Manager Cathy Standiford said.

“There were others who felt that, because we are making such an effort to be unified in the community, it is inappropriate to designate little sections of the city--that we should focus on the community and its diversity as a whole,” she said.

The council is not likely to take action on the request immediately but to give staff members direction on how to proceed.

The council will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Meeting Center’s Founders Room, 11300 Stanford Ave.

Information: (714) 741-5100.