The Laguna Beach Planning Commission on Feb. 5 approved a sign permit for Farmers & Merchants Bank at 401 Glen Eyrie Street, with conditions that the upper logo sign not be illuminated, be pin‑mounted (no lighted backing), and not be installed until the building’s perforated metal panels are fully installed and undamaged.

Sarah Olsen, the city’s planning technician, summarized the application and noted two outstanding facade elements: perforated metal panels at the building’s northeast and southeast corners and sunshades along the west elevation. The bank proposed an illuminated canopy sign and an illuminated logo wall sign; staff recommended careful consideration of the wall sign’s scale and illumination, and said the applicant had specified a 7,100‑Kelvin LED that staff flagged as a cool, bright color.

Commissioners and applicant
The applicant’s representative, Cynthia Lima of Science & Services Company, explained the logo panel dimensions and said the submitted 7,100‑Kelvin figure was an error. She said a prior Corona Del Mar installation used 4,000K and the team proposed the same warmer temperature for this sign. Lima also told the commission the perforated panels originally arrived damaged twice and are being refinished; the panels have not yet been re‑delivered.

Commission action and conditions
Commissioners unanimously approved the permit with the following conditions: the logo sign must be non‑illuminated; it must be pin‑mounted with no backer raceway or internal illumination; and the logo sign installation is conditioned on completion and installation of the perforated metal panels on the corner of the building. The roll call was unanimous (Goldman: yes; Whiting: yes; Dubin: yes; Chair Pro Tem Kellenberg: yes; Chair Sadler: yes).

Rationale and context
Commissioners and staff discussed sign size, pedestrian scale and color temperature. Several commissioners said the canopy sign (consisting of green painted aluminum letters with white backers for halo illumination) was acceptable, but they wanted the upper wall logo to be more subdued so it would not visually dominate the refined perforated‑panel treatment. Commissioner comments favored a warmer LED color temperature (about 4,000K) and removing internal illumination from the logo panel to reduce visual impact in the downtown setting.

Applicant explanation and schedule
Lima told the commission the panels arrived scratched in November and again two weeks before the hearing; the project team has ordered a third set and is refinishing parts. She said the sign cannot be installed until the perforated elements are in place because the facade details are coordinated: the perforated panel is intended to meet the edges of the sign panel.

Quote
- “The panels arrived damaged in November and then again 2 weeks ago,” — Cynthia Lima, applicant representative.
- “There was an error in our plans with the 7,100. That’s normally what we use for internally illuminated, acrylic face letters… We would propose to utilize the same color temperature as we did in Corona Del Mar,” — Cynthia Lima.

What was decided and what comes next
The permit is approved with the listed conditions; staff will return permit paperwork for issuance once the applicant shows the perforated panels are installed and the logo sign is submitted as non‑illuminated and pin‑mounted. The commission found the action exempt from CEQA.

Ending
The commission’s conditions aim to preserve the building’s chosen architectural treatment while allowing the bank signage needed for identification; the applicant said it will continue to work with fabricators to deliver undamaged panels before final installation.