The proposal for new advertising space would require a change in city rules because the signs would be larger in total square footage than what is allowed for the properties, according to a city report.
But the new signs, which officials say could be limited to advertising only for products or services offered within the two shopping complexes, could bring some benefits to Glendale if the City Council, acting as the agency, adopts a targeted plan, Lanzafame said.
“There are certain ways to structure this that we think would make it positive, and there’s ways where, if you allowed certain things, it could have some negative impacts,” he said.
While large billboards and signs have drawn the ire of residents in the past, the proposed advertisements would be placed along blank walls, Lanzafame said.
“If you have blank walls, that may not be as attractive as they could be with an architectural element like a wall sign,” he said.
The signs are an effort to give passersby “an understanding for what is actually inside the Americana or the Galleria,” said Rick Lemmo, senior vice president of communications for Caruso Affiliated, which owns the Americana.
The advertisements could capitalize on public perceptions of the relationships between large advertisements and lively city centers, said Roger Kiesel, a senior planner for the city.
“It sort of draws people just to see what’s there,” Kiesel said of areas with large advertisements, like the Sunset strip in Hollywood, or West Hollywood. “That was one of the benefits to allowing these signs is that maybe eventually just having these signs [in the area] will become a destination.”
