City gives theater’s penguin the cold shoulder; code cited

Alicia Robinson

If you’re a giant, inflatable Emperor penguin, it’s a cold, cruel

world out there.

Or maybe not cold enough. A 20-foot promotional penguin became

extinct after a week of surveying the Balboa Peninsula from atop the

Lido Theatre.

It landed there to draw moviegoers to “March of the Penguins,” a

documentary about the Emperor penguins’ grueling yearly journey

across the Antarctic to breed.

The flightless bird apparently doesn’t read either, or at least

wasn’t familiar with the Newport Beach city sign code, which

prohibits inflatable signs.

“We found this company that had a penguin, and we thought it’d be

a real neat visual for the theater, and the city made us take it

down,” said Lyndon Golin, president of Regency Theaters, which owns

the Lido Theatre. “We didn’t know the penguin was a sign.”

Defying Newport’s perpetually balmy weather, the penguin nested on

the theater’s marquis July 1. It disappeared a week later, leaving

passersby wondering if the bird had gone in search of icier climes.

“It was the coolest inflatable penguin and everybody just loved

it,” said Julie Mattson, a Newport resident who noticed the penguin

and later saw the movie. “It’s just really neat seeing something out

of the ordinary once in a while.”

The penguin prompted honks from passing drivers, and when the town

was swarming with partyers on the Fourth of July, people were

snapping its picture, Golin said.

“I thought it was cute, because they’re doing the thing on the

march of the penguins, and it’s been attracting a lot of people,”

said Lei Kaisa, a server at the Lido Diner. Customers at the diner,

which is next door to the theater, even suggested ideas for other

inflatable novelties the theater could use in the future, Kaisa said.

But rules are rules, and in Newport Beach, there are no

penguin-specific exceptions.

The city sign code forbids a variety of specialty signs, including

inflatable ones, city Planning Director Patricia Temple said.

“We tell people they’re not allowed. If they call and say, ‘Can we

have these?’, we tell them no,” she said.

The theater was probably the worst place to violate the sign code,

because there was no chance of escaping the city’s notice. City Hall

is a block away.

“Every employee on this campus drives by there every morning. It’s

right on our front doorstep,” Temple said. “How could we not notice?”

Business owners can apply for a special permit to allow an

inflatable sign, and the Planning Commission must approve the

request.

But Temple said few such requests are ever filed.

The penguin’s demise hasn’t deflated the enthusiasm of audiences.

The movie has been quite popular, Golin said.

Mail carrier Cyndy Lugaro said she enjoyed the movie, but people

on her Via Lido route have been asking: “Where did the penguin go?”

The penguin episode has been an educational experience for Golin,

at least regarding the city sign code. The lesson hit his pocketbook

also -- the theater was fined $100 for its pneumatic gaffe.

“In hindsight, we probably should have researched it to see if

there was going to be a problem, but people got to enjoy it for a

week,” Golin said.

“March of the Penguins” plays at the Lido Theatre through the end

of July.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at

[email protected].