New ordinance will allow digital sign facing 405 Freeway in Fountain Valley

A new electronic message board could be going in overlooking the 405 Freeway in Fountain Valley.

A divided City Council ultimately approved the first reading of an ordinance to allow for freeway-oriented signs with a digital display to be placed on properties that are engaged in vehicle sales and have at least 1,100 continuous linear feet of freeway frontage.

The ordinance allows for an on-premise sign to be put in within the Fountain Valley Crossings Specific Plan area. The council’s decision on the code amendment mirrored a 3-2 vote of the Planning Commission on Nov. 8.

The deciding votes Tuesday were cast by Mayor Glenn Grandis and Councilmen Patrick Harper and Jim Cunneen; Vice Mayor Ted Bui and Councilwoman Kim Constantine dissented.

Frank De Gelas, owner of Mike Thompson’s RV Super Stores, located on the south side of the freeway at 18240 Ward St., said the business has struggled in recent years. He called on the council to push through the ordinance, making a case that his business had lost visibility due to the recent freeway expansion project.

Mike Thompson’s RV Super Stores, next to the southbound 405 freeway in Fountain Valley, has leased the property since 2003.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“What you have now looks like an RV storage yard,” De Gelas said. “Behind it are buildings that look like RV repair shops. We’ve lost that freeway visibility. … What we’re trying to do, and the reason that we need the sign that we’re talking about, is when you view it going northbound, the center divider is now very high. … We need it high enough that you can see it.”

The recreational vehicle dealership is on city-owned land, formerly the corporate yard, that has been leased by the business since 2003.

Fountain Valley has already opened the door for two electronic billboards to catch the eyes of those traveling along the freeway.

Since the Mike Thompson’s RV Super Stores sign would advertise its own goods and services offered on site, it would be classified as an on-premise sign.

“I think we should be a little more accommodating to these folks right here,” Harper said, referring to the Mike Thompson’s RV Super Stores team in the room. “They’ve been a good partner with the city. It’s not going to have a major impact on the other sign that is 2,000 feet away. It’s going to help their business. I think the sooner we approve this and they get the sign up, the better. Don’t cut your nose off to spite your face.”

The secondary lot of Mike Thompson’s RV Super Stores, adjacent to the northbound 405 freeway in Fountain Valley.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Fountain Valley senior planner Matt Jenkins said the proposed sign would be 50 feet tall, with two digital display panels measuring 13 feet tall and 34 feet wide for an area of 442 square feet.

Mike Thompson’s RV Super Stores would still have to apply for the sign, and the city sign committee would have to approve any on-site digital signage in the Fountain Valley Crossings area, Jenkins added.

Grandis pondered whether a sign for the recreational vehicle dealership could be put on hold until the two electronic billboards it previously approved could be installed. That prompted De Gelas to say the business would “probably move” in order to be competitive.

De Gelas added that an on-premise sign would not be regulated by Caltrans, which was then confirmed by Community Development Director Omar Dadabhoy. That allayed what Grandis called his “biggest concern.”

Councilwoman Kim Constantine has repeatedly opposed electronic message boards along the freeway as they have come up for consideration.

“Council majority approved the digital billboard by the water tank,” said Constantine. “It’s not here yet, and I don’t care if it ever comes, but people have got to be looking where they’re going, getting on the freeway and merging, not looking at signs.”