By James DeWeese
Dat Hoa Quach’s discount store sat unbothered along a busy stretch of 103rd Street in Corona for 18 years. Then about two years ago, the city Department of Buildings decided that his awning was in violation of a 1962 ordinance that limits the size, type and content of the text that adorns shopkeepers’ entrances.
Quach, a Vietnamese immigrant who has made his living in New York for the last 30 years running two discount stores in Corona, said it cost him $3,000 to purchase the new awning on which 12-inch-tall white letters spelling out “King Discount” now float in the center of the nearly 30-foot-wide sea of red awning.
Quach was not alone. Bridget Fisher, a spokeswoman for Councilman Hiram Monserrate (D-Corona), estimated that 150 Corona businesses had been affected by the regulations.
“I don’t know whose idea this is, but it’s hurting the neighborhood people,” Quach said.
Last year the City Council passed a moratorium on the assessment of penalties for sign and awning violations to give the Department of City Planning time to update the regulations, which mandate that awnings have letters smaller than 12-inches tall, cover an area of no more than 12 square feet and list only the name and address of the company. But the moratorium expired in January, and Rachaele Raynoff, a spokeswoman for the Department of City Planning, said new rules could still be more than a year away.
“It’s a very complex issue,” Raynoff said. “Time is needed.”
As the regulation stands right now, Monserrate estimates 90 percent of the city’s business signs are illegal. And some business owners and politicians fear that the ticket blitz could start again. So last week Monserrate — whom Quach called a friend — and fellow Queens legislators David Weprin (D-Hollis) and James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows) introduced legislation that would extend the moratorium by two years.
The initial crackdown on improper signage came as businesses across the city, and in Queens in particular, were caught in an economic downturn, Quach and other local business owners said.
Rubén Peña, president of the Corona Business Corp., said a two-year moratorium would give the economy time to rebound before businesses were forced to shell out thousands of dollars for new signs.
“The economy is very slow and rents are very high,” Peña said. “I don’t think everybody has the amount of money to have these signs.”
Peña said apart from the moratorium, he would also like to see the city Department of Buildings come up with a clear model for store signs.
“We don’t have any objections to putting up (new) signs and giving the city their fees,” Peña said, “but they should do some work, too.” He said there is uncertainty — even among building inspectors — about such key items as whether phone numbers are allowed on the signs.
Jennifer Givner, a spokeswoman for the Department of Buildings, which is charged with enforcing the sign and awning regulations, said the city agency would continue to cite shopkeepers for violations but that it was up to the Environmental Control Board, which administers the department’s fines, to set and collect the penalties.
Simon Espinar, manager of the Latino Supermarket, said he has had to put up and take down his awning twice since he replaced it a year ago. The awning itself cost $2,500, he said, and installation and removal ran about $500 a pop.
Quach missed out on the first moratorium and had to pay an $800 fine. He said two years ago local leaders encouraged him to hold off on compliance while the City Council worked on a solution. A solution was not reached on time, he said, and he received the ticket the day after his 30-day grace period expired.
The Pedro and Rafelina Salon at 37-66 103rd St. in Corona dodged the bullet.
Tony Adams, a barber who has worked there for six years, said the salon’s owners had watched many other businesses in the area run into problems with the sign and awning ordinance. Before receiving a citation, the owners replaced the salon’s sign with the meager vinyl banner that now dangles above the front window, Adams said.
“The whole block got stripped naked,” Adams said of the crackdown.
Monserrate’s spokeswoman Fisher said she expects the Council to vote on the extended moratorium as early as April.
Reach reporter James DeWeese at 718-229-0300, Ext. 157, or by e-mail at news@timesledger.com.
