Opinions mixed on giant ads

CITY HALL — The City Council on Tuesday directed officials to craft a plan that could grant the Americana at Brand and Glendale Galleria permission to place billboard-sized ads on their exteriors, even as Glendale has worked to eradicate large signs from its streets.

Council members had mixed views on plans submitted jointly by the two massive shopping centers, with some questioning the motives behind the signs and others contending that the ads could be a part of the city’s long-term vision and evolution into a growing commercial center.

“I don’t see anything wrong with adding some excitement to our downtown core,” Councilman Ara Najarian said.

He was referring to earlier statements from senior planner Roger Kiesel, who explained that large ads in commercial areas have given places like downtown Los Angeles’ L.A. Live or Hollywood’s Sunset strip an air of excitement and activity.

But allowing the ads could also create a double standard in the city and create problems with regulating content, even if they limited the advertisements to promoting items sold only within the vast shopping centers, Kiesel said.

Representatives for the Glendale Galleria and Americana owner Caruso Affiliated explained that the proposed signs, which may be placed on walls facing Brand Boulevard, Colorado Street, Central Avenue and Broadway, were an effort to bring more business to their tenants.

“A lot of people don’t know what’s inside there because that changes,” Rick Lemmo, senior vice president of communications for Caruso Affiliated, said of the malls, which are largely surrounded by walls that do not offer much indication of what is available on the other side of them.

Businesses in the Galleria have been battered by the recession, but additional promotions could change that, said Ryan Hursh, the property’s general manager.

“Our retailers are having a tough, tough time right now,” Hursh said.

“This is probably one of the toughest retail environments that we’ve seen. Whenever we go to the city, they say, ‘What can we do for you?’ This is an example of what you can do for us.”

Councilman Dave Weaver dismissed that claim, arguing that the sole basis for installing the signs would be to generate revenue from ad sales for the two malls, which could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for each permitted advertising space, city officials said.

Both the Americana and Galleria are well known in the Los Angeles area and draw a range of visitors, Weaver said.

“To have to put up signs to lure people in,” he said. “There is no logic.”

Although the stated intent was to attract customers by advertising only items sold within the properties, Councilwoman Laura Friedman questioned whether the malls would have had problems if they had been structured differently.

She criticized both the Galleria and the more recently constructed Americana for having architecture that is not pedestrian-oriented and that has “created their own problem.”

“In saying that, because you create uninviting buildings with big blank walls that now we put billboards on them — that may be your solution,” Friedman said. “That wouldn’t necessarily be my solution.”

Friedman and Weaver also criticized the Americana for building framed advertising spaces into its property, even though it had reached an agreement with the city to not pursue selling large ads on its walls.

Four council members indicated they might be in favor of some sort of overlay zone that would allow advertisements on either mall to promote products sold within the two properties. Weaver appeared opposed to any concessions for the signs.

But beyond the general idea of an overlay zone, members expressed varying concerns about the placement of the signs near certain busy intersections, or about the content they might include.

Najarian and Councilman John Drayman suggested a “sunset clause” that would allow the zoning concessions to expire after 18 to 24 months, with the council having an opportunity to review its decision at that point.

But before any vote on a plan, a draft set of rules for an overlay zone would first have to go before the Planning Commission.