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Corona del Mar Today: Planners allow A-frame signs in village

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The Newport Beach Planning Commission voted Thursday to change the city’s zoning code to allow A-frame signs in front of businesses — but only in Corona del Mar — and only after a discussion in which a few of the commissioners said they thought the signs were a terrible idea.

“Tenants think that signs are going to be the answer,” said Planning Commission Chairman Larry Tucker. “It’s not something that I think is a great idea.”

Currently, city code bans businesses from using A-frame signs to advertise. Some business owners in Corona del Mar, who had been warned they could be cited because of their signs, asked the Corona del Mar Business Improvement District to help, and the B.I.D. sent a letter to the City Council early this year asking for help.

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The new law would allow A-frame signs within 10 feet of the primary entrance of a business or a pedestrian courtyard. The signs should not interfere with pedestrians or block parking spaces or be located in landscape planters, among other restrictions. The signs also should not be illuminated or have flags, pennants, balloons or any other “attention-attracting devices,” according to a staff report.

Some of the commissioners wondered if business owners would abide by the rule about signs being allowed only on private property.

“Right now, the A-frame signs are scofflaws,” Tucker said. “They’re there. They are going to be in the public right-of-way. I think it’s going to be a bit of an issue.”

Tucker also said he worried about buildings with multiple tenants having multiple A-frame signs in front.

“It’s going to be A-frame sign war,” he said.

In the end, Commissioner Bradley Hillgren suggested that the code be changed for Corona del Mar only, and in commissioners approved that in a 4-2 vote with Tucker and Commissioner Raymond Lawler voting no.

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App will offer guided art tour

As city staff prepares for the official grand opening celebration of a sculpture exhibition in the Civic Center Park, the free My NB mobile app is being updated to include sculpture information to let visitors enjoy a self-guided tour.

In May, the Newport Beach City Council approved the sculptures, which include pieces, such as “Big Wet Dog,” an 11-foot-tall multicolored “Pretty Boy” and a 9-foot sphere created from stainless steel rods.

A panel of experts chose the 10 pieces from 260 submissions, and the city’s arts commissioners voted on the plan that was then forwarded to the City Council for final approval. The pieces were installed throughout the park earlier this month.

A grand opening celebration for the inaugural Sculpture in the Civic Center Park Exhibition will be held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 13, according to a city news release. The event will include walking tours of the Sculpture Exhibition, art activities in the Civic Center Park coordinated by the Orange County Museum of Art, and a presentation by the City Arts Commission and City Council at 3 p.m. in the Civic Center Community Room.

The art activities coordinated by the Orange County Museum of Art will include three stations set up in the Civic Center Park near different sculptures, including a chance to create origami animals near the “Cup Triptych” sculpture, a chance to build a kinetic wire sculpture with pipe cleaners, wires and beads next to “Big Wet Dog” and a chance to make clay creatures near “Pretty Boy.”

The week of the opening, city staff said, the city’s current mobile app, My NB, will be updated to include a sculpture exhibition tour. The app is free in the iTunes and Google Play app stores, officials said.

The app will have descriptions of the sculptures in both audio and text formats and audio statements from the artists, Katherine Mielke, a library spokeswoman, said in an email.

The app will be GPS-enabled to locate the nearby sculpture for self-guided walking tours.

“Currently, there are no plans to expand it to include all the public art in the city but that’s a good idea, and perhaps if it is well received and used, we can add other pieces down the line,” she said.

At the group’s August meeting, members of the Library Board of Trustees discussed the possibility of expanding the app to include public art throughout the city.

The sculptures will be displayed for about two years in the park, and another 10 pieces will be selected and installed next year for another two years.

The current pieces include “Big Wet Dog” by Matt Babcock; “Brandi” by Curt Brill; “Cub Triptych” by Gerardo Hacer; “Double Doily” by Jennifer Cecere; “Odyssey” by Ray Katz; “Pretty Boy” by David Buckingham; “Red” by Jonathan Prince (installation in 2015); “Red Gateway” by Chris Rench; “Sphere 108” by Ivan McLean and “Wintering” by Arny Nadler.

Several nearby residents complained to the City Council about the selections.

“My comments are, No. 1, you gotta be kidding,” said Barry Allen of Corona del Mar at the May City Council meeting. “This stuff is just is just plain ugly, folks — just plain ugly.”

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CdM Chamber will host council candidate forum

The Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce will host a City Council Candidate Forum on Sept. 11.

The forum will be part of the chamber’s regular government affairs meeting, which will begin at 7:30 a.m. at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club, 1601 Bayside Drive.

The District 1 candidate is Diane Dixon; District 3 candidates include Marshall “Duffy” Duffield and incumbent Mayor Rush Hill; District 4 candidates include Timothy Brown, Roy Englebrecht and Kevin Muldoon; and District 6 candidates include Scott Peotter and Michael Toerge.

The meeting could run longer than its regular 9 a.m. finish, depending on the candidates’ comments, the flier said.

The meeting also will include legislative reports from state, federal and local elected officials or their representatives. Refreshments will be served.

Corona del Mar Today appears Sunday in the Daily Pilot. Read daily updates at coronadelmartoday.com.

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