CORONA DEL MAR TODAY

Council Not So Hot on Electronic Sign for CdM Median

Newport Beach City Council members were less than enthusiastic about a proposal to add an electronic messaging sign to the East Coast Highway median at Marguerite Avenue.

“I think it kind of flies in the face of the village character that Corona del Mar has tried to create,” said Councilman Ed Selich. Selich said he’d prefer to see “something that would look a little more Corona del Mar and not so much Las Vegas-ish, like an electronic sign would be.”

Councilwoman Nancy Gardner asked staff last July to research options for the median, where signs advertising community events are posted throughout the year. Many residents have complained, however, that the sign design of a banner between two sagging poles looks tacky. Also, local Corona del Mar events don’t get priority because sign permits are granted on a first-come, first-served basis.

The cost of the electronic sign could go as high as $42,000, which seemed to make council members wince, particularly since the topic was discussed following a grim, hourlong look at the city’s $8 million budget shortfall at the Tuesday Study Session.

“I could put up with a little tacky,” said Councilman Don Webb, who said he worried that the city might end up paying for electronic signs in other areas where residents don’t like the banners.

Gardner said the Corona del Mar Business Improvement District could discuss paying for the sign. Other options would be to develop a cheaper, more stable wooden frame and develop banner standards.

Councilwoman Leslie Daigle asked that if the council looked at the issue again that staff explain more clearly the current protocol for how sign permits are granted, which events can be advertised, as well as sign dimensions.

Read our earlier story here.

Image from the city’s staff report.

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