A local smoothie shop’s six-month journey toward displaying a new wall sign didn’t go as smoothly as its owner hoped, thanks to initial backlash from the Solvang Design Review Committee (DRC).
Miguel Limon, owner of Sano Pecado in downtown Solvang, requested permission from the DRC in May to put up new signage at the juice bar. The proposal was denied on subjective grounds, but re-examined by the DRC during its final meeting of 2023 on Dec. 21.
According to the staff report, Limon was not given a proper notice on appealing the DRC’s decision in May after the denial. City Planning Manager Rafael Castillo also questioned the committee’s justification for denying the sign and blamed staff for leading the DRC astray.
“Previous city staff did not advise, in my professional opinion, this DRC board properly, based on previous court cases of content-based signage and being content-neutral,” said Castillo, who described the proposed sign as meeting the objective standards required by Solvang’s municipal code.
One of the reasons the DRC originally denied the sign proposal was because the business’s name was absent. Sano Pecado has a separate sign in place that indicates its name, while the requested sign would list some of the juice bar’s offerings, such as smoothies and fruit cups.
Castillo said that staff should have informed the DRC that it’s “not allowed to enforce content-based regulation,” and can recommend that a business displays its name on a sign but cannot require it.
“Why is it only approved if I have my name on it?” Limon asked the DRC at its Dec. 21 meeting. “With all due respect, around town there’s a bunch of signs that don’t have their business names on it, and they list the exact same things that I do.
“At the end of the day, I would just like a fair playing ground,” Limon added.
Committee Member Esther Jacobsen Bates motioned to approve Limon’s sign request and addressed the applicant directly.
“I understand your concerns and certainly there is an inequity that’s present in the community, in its signage, which goes back decades,” said Bates, whose motion passed 3-1.
Without commenting on the sign proposal, Committee Member Cristopher Lapp dissented, while Committee Member Jennifer Dryden Hess was absent.
After the vote, Committee Member Patrick Cavanaugh expressed concern about similar cases of ill-advised project denials and approvals coming back before the DRC in the future. Assistant City Attorney Chelsea O’Sullivan weighed in on the issue.
“Just because we are adapting to new case law, to evolving case law, does not automatically invalidate all our prior decisions under our prior regulations,” O’Sullivan said.
