Nightclubs Join Fight Against Concert Signs

Residents are taking the fight against illegal signs a notch higher and joining with some Los Angeles nightclubs to prevent bands from posting advertisements on public property.

“It’s just another weapon in our arsenal,” said Tony Lucente, president of the Studio City Residents Assn.

The association is stepping up its efforts, Lucente said, in part because in the last couple of weeks their graffiti patrol removed nearly 500 signs posted around Ventura Boulevard in east Studio City.

The residents association is asking nightclubs and other concert venues to have their performers sign agreements not to post signs, fliers, posters and other ads on public property. The agreements will also point out that posting advertisements on public property violates city municipal code and state law, Lucente said.

So far, at least two nightclubs have agreed to seek their artists’ signatures.

“We never really noticed how extensive the problem was until I started hearing from the residents association and started really looking around,” said Elizabeth Peterson, general manager of the Hollywood Athletic Club. “It’s degrading to the community and it just doesn’t look good for the city.”

Peterson said she would start making the agreement part of their general performance contract and also ask other Hollywood clubs to join suit. “If bands and promoters disobeyed, they wouldn’t get work in Hollywood.”

Coconut Teaszer, another Hollywood club, is already seeking signatures confirming that artists have read and understand information on laws pertaining to illegal postings.

According to city code and state law, it is illegal to post a sign on public property such as a light post, street sign or a tree.

Lucente said his group’s latest effort is part of a strategy to take an active approach and not just be left removing the signs. “If you can prevent the signs from going up in the first place, it means you don’t have to spend time taking them down.”