Jun 24, 2008

City targets sign violations

By Banks Albach / Daily News Staff Writer

The signs are everywhere and they're tasteless, decrepit, unsafe and targets of a new East Palo Alto Planning Department enforcement program.

Those were the less-than-kind words some planning commissioners used Monday night to describe banners, sidewalk signs and neon glows that have proliferated in East Palo Alto, especially along University Avenue.

In the past two weeks since the commission asked city staff to determine whether some of the signs are illegal, the planning department has taken pictures of 50 that are questionable. Since Friday, the department has sent four letters to businesses warning that a citation will be issued within 15 days if no action is taken.

Associate Planner Wayland Li told the commission that his department opted to target businesses that already have additional violations, such as Naidelyn Fashion at 1435 East Bayshore Road, which is operating with an expired use permit and has a sign above its front door that was installed without a permit. The owner, Miguel Vargas, could not be reached for comment Monday.

Bit by bit, the department plans to address the entire city and recommend amendments to the zoning ordinance dealing with signs by the end of the year, Acting Planning Manager Brad Tarr told the commission.

"We'll move ahead geographically and address the city as a whole," Tarr said.

Noncompliance with a citation could lead to a misdemeanor, Tarr said. The other three letters sent to businesses address the signs and banners at People's Plaza on Bay Road, a Metro PCS banner hanging on a building at 1215 East Bayshore Road and a Three Brothers Tacos sign on 1760 West Bayshore Road. All were installed without a permit, according to the letters.

Juvenal Pulido, a manager for Three Brothers Tacos, said he's read the letter.

"I'm (contacting) the city today," Pulido said outside of the restaurant on University Avenue.

Commissioner Renee Glover Chantler, however, expressed concern that the department isn't addressing the city's most important area, University Avenue. Glover Chantler has been the most vocal critic of the explosion of signs, comparing University Avenue after dark to Las Vegas.

"That's what's been catching my eye," Glover Chantler said. "University Avenue has to be a top priority because the image is deteriorating rapidly."

One business that has caught the eyes of many is the new Metro PCS store near Bell Street. With two neon signs, a large monument sign on the lawn and two 10-foot-tall banners on the sidewalk, it appears as though the owner is adding a new one each week, Chantler said.

For now, though, the owner has a free pass, Tarr said. His business was forced to move because of a redevelopment project and was approved for a use permit in late April, meaning he's still in a grand reopening stage, which typically spans two months.

Another point of concern raised by both commission Chairman Robert Sherrard and Vice Chairman Carlos Romero addressed the bigger picture. Isn't it more fair to businesses to amend and update the code first and then alert people about what they need to do, Romero asked.

"I think that there needs to be a comprehensive approach," Romero said. "I don't see that."



E-mail Banks Albach at balbach@dailynewsgroup.com.