City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
Meeting Date: 08/23/10 Item Number: A-2
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM: Approval of a Pilot Program for the Placement of
Banners on Street Light Poles in Culver City for City- and Redevelopment Agency-
Sponsored Events.
Contact Person/Dept.: Helen Kerstein/PW Phone Number: (310) 253-5618
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date: _______________
Public Notification: (Email) Meetings and Agendas – City Council (08/18/10); (Email)
Downtown Business Association (); (Email) Chamber of Commerce (); (Email) IndieCade
(); (Email) Share our Strength (); (Email) Culver City Exchange Club (); (Email) AAA Flag
and Banner ()
Department Approval:
Charles D. Herbertson)07/29/10)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (08/02/10)
Chief Financial Officer Approval:
Jeff Muir (by M. Noller) (08/04/10)
City Manager Approval:
John M. Nachbar (08/18/10)
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council approve a pilot program for the placement of
banners on street light poles in Culver City for City- and Redevelopment Agency
(Agency)-sponsored events.
BACKGROUND:
Culver City Municipal Code (CCMC) §17.330.040.B.7 allows the City and/or Agency
to place banners in the public right-of-way relating to civic events or activities that
are either organized or sponsored by the City and/or Agency. Consistent with the
provisions of this Section, the City currently has a process for allowing the
organizers of City- and Agency-sponsored events to apply for the placement of
banners over the public right-of-way at three locations: Washington Boulevard at
Walgrove Avenue, Overland Avenue in front of the Veteran’s Memorial Building,
and Sepulveda Boulevard near Berryman Avenue. However, the City has not had a
similar process in the past for allowing organizers of sponsored events to apply to
place banners on street light poles. Because the City Council has not considered
the policy question of whether to allow the use of street light poles for City- and
Agency-sponsored events, the use of these poles has been limited to City and/or
Agency-organized events and activities (for example, the Agency has placed such
banners on Culver Boulevard for the winter holidays and on Washington Boulevard
for the “Here Now There Then” public art project).
DISCUSSION:
City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
Recently, staff has received requests from organizations interested in placing
banners on street light poles in order to provide additional publicity for their City-
and/or Agency-sponsored events. Given the interest in allowing these banners and
the potential for them to provide valuable promotion for sponsored events, staff
recommends establishing a program to allow for the placement of banners on the
City’s street light poles for City- and/or Agency-sponsored events.
Staff recommends initially implementing a pilot program on Culver Boulevard in
Downtown Culver City, since this is an area where the placement of banners is
frequently requested and there are already brackets installed at appropriate
locations. If this pilot program is successful and there is demand for additional
locations, staff anticipates seeking the City Council’s policy direction on expanding
the program to other commercial corridors.
Staff suggests that this street light pole banner program be modeled after the
existing program for banners over the public right-of-way. Similar to that program,
use of the street light poles in the pilot program area would be limited to banners
relating to civic events or activities that are organized or sponsored by the City
and/or Agency as permitted under CCMC §17.330.040.B.7. Organizers would go
through an application process established by the Public Works Director/City
Engineer, which would be very similar to the one that exists for banners over the
public right-of-way. Upon approval of the applications, the street light pole banners
would be installed and removed by the City’s designated contractorunder the
existing contract approved by City Council on February 22, 1010.
Organizations interested in placing banners on the street light poles in the pilot
program area would be required to pay the full cost of the design and fabrication of
the banners, unless the City’s and/or Agency’s sponsorship included funds to cover
those costs. In addition, event organizers would be required to pay the same banner
permit and installation fees that are currently assessed for the three banner locations
over the public right-of-way. See Attachment 1 for a listing of the relevant costs
associated with the placement of banners on the street light poles.
It should be noted that the City and Agency have a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) with the Chamber of Commerce, which covers banner installation. It
specifically provides for the City to install banners, as City resources permit, at any
or all of the three locations over the public right-of-way, if available, and waive
applicable fees. However, as the street pole locations are not identified in the
MOU, if the Chamber desires to utilize these locations in the pilot program area,
then it would have to pay for the associated costs, unless the Council and/or
Agency took separate action to amend appropriate funds to cover those costs.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
Staff proposes that all costs associated with street pole banners, including
fabrication, permits and hanging/removal, be borne by the event organizers. Thus, City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
there would be no direct costs to the City and/or Agency associated with this
program, although there would be some minor staff time required to process
additional applications. This commitment of staff resources is expected to be
small, especially if the City initially implements a pilot program on Culver Boulevard
as is suggested.
Currently, the organizations would have to pay for the permit fees, and fabrication
and hanging/removal costs unless a separate action was taken by the City Council
and/or Agency Board to waive those fees/costs and appropriate funds for those
activities as part of the City’s and/or Agency’s sponsorship of the event. If the City
chooses to establish a cash sponsorship program for City- and Agency-sponsored
events, as is proposed in another agenda item presented this evening, then
organizations could choose to use some or all of their sponsorship funds toward
the costs relating to the street light pole banners.
ATTACHMENT:
1. Costs Associated with Hanging/Removal of Street Light Pole Banners
MOTION:
That the City Council:
1. Approve a pilot program for the placement of banners on street light poles in
Culver City for City- and Agency-sponsored events.
MEETING DATE: 08123/10
AGENDA ITEM: Approval of a Program for City- and Agency-
Sponsored Events to Place Banners on Street
Light Poles in Culver City.
ATTACHMENTS
Pages|109| Costs Associated with Hanging/Removal of Street Light 1
Pole BannersCosts Associated with Hanging/Removal of Street Light Pole Banners
City Permit (per FY 10/11 fee schedule approved on 4/5/10) -$117
Hanging/Removal (per contract with AAA Flag and Banner)
25 street light pole banners - $737.50 ($29.50 each)
50 street light pole banners - $1,225 ($24.50 each)
100 street light pole banners -$2,250 ($22.50 each)
Note: these costs are in addition to manufacturing costs. Manufacturing costs vary
depending on the number of banners ordered, but staff estimates them at
approximately $3,500 for 50 banners. Also note that, in the proposed pilot area
along Culver Blvd, there are 25 poles, which can accommodate 50 banners.