By Jonathan Friedman
Lookout Staff

April 1, 2010 -- City officials are sending a warning to Pacific Park about three signs it had on the Santa Monica Pier without obtaining permits. One covered the entire side of the Ferris wheel. The next time any illegal signs go up, it could cost the amusement park some money.

“The City’s going to issue a clarifying letter because there were three violations,” said Kate Vernez, assistant to the city manager for community and government relations. “And they are going to be cited if this happens again.” A citation could include a fine.

All three signs were advertisements for the athletic shoe maker Asics. The Ferris wheel item appeared during the Los Angeles Marathon on March 23, and was taken down after that day.

The other two signs, located at the north and south ends of the pier, were reported to the City on Saturday. They were taken down on Monday at the instruction of a City code enforcement officer. Mike Magdaleno, Santa Monica’s code compliance administrator, said he did not know if those signs had been up since the Marathon.

Magdaleno said his office gave Pacific Park a “general admonishment” because “you can’t just put up signs without a permit.” He said he was impressed with the speed at which the signs went down.

“This was one of the fastest compliance cases we’ve ever had,” Magdaleno said. “They took down the signs within 12 hours of us getting the case.”

Pacific Park responded to questions for this story with a press release.

“Pacific Park continues to work in good faith with the City of Santa Monica to resolve any signage compliance issues related to the Los Angeles Marathon,” the release stated.

When asked about the Ferris wheel sign at the recent City Council meeting, Ben Franz-Knight, executive director of the Pier Restoration Corporation, said the ad was “part of (Pacific Park’s) enthusiasm with the LA Marathon and also an effort on their part to put in some sort of stop gap for anticipated revenue they may lose with the event taking place.”