City Panel Urges a Smaller Sign for Carwash

A Los Angeles City Council panel agreed Tuesday to put the squeeze on a giant sponge advertising a carwash in Studio City.

The council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee recommended that the sign, which includes a giant arm and a pink Cadillac, should be greatly reduced in size.

But the panel also supported an exemption that would allow the sign to exceed size limits set by the local zoning bible--the Ventura Boulevard Specific Plan.

The owner of the Studio City Hand Car Wash had agreed in talks with the Studio City Residents Assn. to reduce the sign’s height from 26 to 20 feet to bring it into compliance with the boulevard plan.

But the two sides remained at odds over the size of the sponge. Carwash owner Benny Forat had offered to reduce the area from 88 to 72 square feet, but the residents association demanded it be reduced to 50 square feet.

The committee sided with the homeowners, noting that the sponge still exceeds the 35-square-foot limit set by the boulevard plan.

“That [50 feet] is still larger than the Specific Plan would allow for the sponge, so I would not be inclined to go larger than that,” Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski said.

The committee approved conditions stipulating that lights for the sign be turned off at 11 p.m. and the sign be moved 10 feet back from the street. The panel also accepted an offer from Forat to pay a $6,000 fine, with the money to be used in planting trees along a two-block stretch of Ventura Boulevard, said Fred Gaines, an attorney for Forat.

“We claim victory,” said Tony Lucente, president of the residents group that appealed the original sign approval. “It sends a strong signal that the Specific Plan has to be followed.”

But Gordon Murley, president of the San Fernando Valley Federation, said granting Forat an extension sets a precedent for those who want to put up large signs.

“It affects the whole 17 miles of the boulevard,” he warned.

Forat, who was accompanied by about 30 supporters at Tuesday’s meeting, had previously received an exemption for the sign from the Planning Commission, which cited the sign’s artistic merit.

The planning committee’s recommendation now goes to the full City Council for a final vote. Forat will ask the council to reconsider the 50-square-foot limit, Gaines said.

“It’s smaller than we would have liked,” Gaines said. “We will ask them to see if we can do better on that.”