Halloween spirit or advertising hook?

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- Orange and black streamers flutter around the strip

mall’s light posts, drawing attention to bold “Halloween� signs at their

center.

They are heralds to the October holiday, put up more than two months

early by Halloween Adventure Shops, a company opening a new store at the

strip mall on East 17th Street next month.

“They’re very attractive-looking and they go with the season, said Jim

McDevitt, manager of the company.

But the signs and streamers -- posted around the shopping center

anchored by Mother’s Market and Kitchen -- are coming down this week,

McDevitt said, long before Halloween.

Advertisement banners on light posts have been prohibited by the

city’s municipal code for years, and city officials sent the company a

notice two weeks ago asking it to take down the decorations.

The deadline is today and the city could file a criminal complaint or

citation if it is not met, said Sandi Benson, chief of code enforcement

for Costa Mesa.

McDevitt said the city never gave him a formal deadline, but he plans

to have the decorations removed some time later this week. However, he

disagrees that the decorations are advertisements because “Halloween� is

the only word on the signs.

“They don’t even have the name of our store,� he said. “How can they

be advertisements? They are just decorations.�

Some decorations are allowed, but Benson said the Halloween signs are

considered advertisement banners because they are intended to bring

attention to the store.

“These draw the eye to the Halloween store,� she said. “We consider

them banners, which can only be installed flat against building attached

on all four sides. They can’t be attached to light poles.�

Susan Eddy, property manager for the strip mall, said she doesn’t

think the signs and streamers are any different from the Christmas

decorations put up by the shopping center.

“They don’t advertise a particular store, so I’m kind of confused as

to why the city is doing this. I’m hoping we can keep them up,� Eddy

said.

Benson said the decorations are different, however.

“Christmastime is a different thing because the decorations are more

generic,� she said. “They are not intended to draw attention to a

particular business. If they put Halloween decorations throughout the

mall and they were just intended for the spirit of the season, that’s a

different thing than what is there now.�

Some advertising banners are allowed -- such as those at Harbor

Boulevard car dealerships -- but businesses must receive special permits,

Benson said.

Some shoppers at the 17th Street strip mall said they do not

understand why the city objects to the decorations. Jamie Wood, a Garden

Grove resident who works in Newport Beach, said she thinks the signs

should be allowed.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing,� she said. “They’re not blocking

anything and they are very simple. This is a shopping center; it makes no

sense to me that they would be illegal.�

Irvine resident Neida Velazquez, who was applying for a job at the

Halloween store Monday, said she likes the signs. She said they

definitely focused her attention on the Halloween Adventure store,

however.

“I think they’re awesome because they let everyone know what’s coming

up,� she said. “They are very seasonal. I’m going to apply at the store

because the signs caught my eye. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known it was

opening.�