No 'Creative' Billboard for Rainbow Bar & Grill, Planning Commission Rules

A Sunset Strip billboard will not get an upgrade after the Planning Commission denied the application at its Thursday night meeting.

Billboard company Ace Outdoor Advertising sought to replace the existing two-sided 9-foot tall by 16-foot wide billboard that sits atop the at 9015 Sunset Blvd. The company wanted to install a 14-foot tall by 48-foot wide “creative” v-shaped billboard.

A “creative” billboard is one that does not conform to standard billboard parameters. Instead, a creative billboard has an unusual shape or incorporates cut-out extensions or neon LED lighting. The Marlboro Man cigarette billboard that sat across from the for a number of years is one example.

Most creative billboards have a specific advertiser in place when they seek approval, but this one did not. Ace hoped to attract advertisers wanting to take advantage of the creative billboard opportunities that approval would afford. Ace also wanted to add a “Welcome to the Sunset Strip” logo on the billboard.

Intent of the law

The Commission liked the idea of the creative template Ace was proposing, but got caught up interpreting the intent of the creative billboard ordinance. The municipal code states that a creative billboard “shall alter an existing billboard without changing its location.”

The roof of the 9015 Sunset building was deemed unable to support the larger billboard, so Ace wanted to put a new billboard on a pole over the building and remove the existing billboard. By making it larger and v-shaped, it would also slightly alter the location.  

Commissioner Lauren Meister felt that by replacing the existing billboard and changing the location, it did not meet "the spirit or the letter" of the existing creative billboard ordinance. Commissioner David Aghaei agreed, saying it would require a “very liberal reading” of the code. Commissioner Roy Huebner said he was uncomfortable with the liberal interpretation.

Commissioner Sue Bucker was worried about the “location” aspect of ordinance as well, but wanted to be see a more effective billboard on that building. “It’s not too exciting at that end of the Strip,” Buckner said.

Commission Chair Alan Bernstein also liked the idea of a new and exciting billboard and wanted to find some “wiggle room” to approve it.

Two-year window

Another area of concern was the fact that creative billboards only receive temporary approval. This one would expire in two years, at which time Ace would have to get an extension or the original billboard would have to be restored.

Since this new billboard would replace the existing one, staff attorney Christi Hogin said it would be “harder to get it down.” She explained that in two years, if the city wanted the creative billboard removed, a court might rule they have the right to keep it up since it was already built.

Commissioner Donald DeLuccio wanted to see the new billboard and made a motion to approve it, instructing city staff to find a way to work it out with Ace. That motion failed 3-4.

The Commission then voted 4-3 to reject the application entirely, with Bernstein, Buckner and DeLuccio voting against the rejection.   

Afterward, DeLuccio explained to Weho Patch his reasons for wanting to see it approved.

“They were being very creative,” DeLuccio said. “There was actually a template they were putting together. We can never approve advertising content. It was just a template on it. There was a two-year window on it."

He want on to say: "I just felt like within two years, any tension within billboards in the city hopefully would be resolved. In the meantime, they would just be bringing advertisers forward and they would have to come forward within that concept.”

Ace can appeal the decision to the City Council, but afterward, representatives indicated they would likely not be filing an appeal.

The next two scheduled Planning Commission meetings have been cancelled as there are no items on the agenda. The commission will next meet on Jan. 19 when it will hear a Walgreens drugstore mixed-use project at 8120 Santa Monica Blvd. (at Crescent Heights).

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