Hermosa Beach's plan to install a new digital monument sign and gateway signs near Pier Avenue is roughly $113,000 short of what it needs, even after a half-million-dollar private donation that jumpstarted the project seven months ago.

The Public Works Commission approved conceptual designs for the signage program at its Wednesday, July 15 meeting, but commissioners acknowledged the budget math doesn't work. Design firm MIG Inc. presented an estimate of $641,550 for the digital sign and gateway signs combined. The city has $528,845 available for those two components, Easy Reader News reported.

The gap means staff have ranked gateway sign locations by priority, and only the highest-ranked entry signs are likely to get built unless City Council appropriates more money.

Where the money comes from

Former Mayor Chuck Sheldon and his wife, Missy, donated $500,000 in December 2025 to fund the project. Sheldon won a City Council seat in 1987, served as mayor in 1990 and 1991, and founded Strand Computer Resale (later Curvature) in 1986. The couple were named Hermosa Beach Man and Woman of the Year in 1996.

A separate $50,000 from the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce, originally contributed in 2014, was redirected in April toward downtown wayfinding. The city's general fund added $28,845, bringing the total program budget to $578,845. Of that, $50,000 is reserved for wayfinding alone.

The digital sign

The centerpiece is a digital monument sign planned for the community center lawn at the corner of Pier Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway, replacing a static sign removed in 2019 after structural deterioration. Fabrication and installation are estimated at $150,000, with the total expected to reach $250,000 or more once design and permitting costs are included.

Whatever remains of the Sheldon donation after the digital sign, estimated between $250,000 and $350,000 depending on final design costs, would fund gateway signs at city entry points including Manhattan Avenue and Neptune Avenue, Hermosa Avenue and 35th Street, and the Greenbelt at Valley Drive and Longfellow Avenue.

Safety debate

The plan drew pushback. Resident Elka Warner, who volunteers at the veterans memorial near the community center site, told commissioners she counted roughly 30 signs on a single drive down Pier Avenue and raised concerns about the digital sign inviting children to play on it and distracting drivers turning onto Pier Avenue.

"The beauty of Hermosa Beach is kind of our open space," Warner said at the July 15 meeting.

Newly appointed Commissioner Nate Flory pushed back, arguing the sign's setback from the street would mitigate driver-distraction risk. Pat Dacy, who founded 3V Signs & Graphics in Hermosa Beach in 2010, spoke in support of the program's design consistency.

Bigger fiscal picture

The funding shortfall lands in a city already stretched thin. Council adopted a balanced fiscal year 2026-27 budget on Tuesday, June 23 by cutting roughly $4.5 million in spending to close a $3.2 million structural deficit, according to city records. Voters have twice rejected sales tax increases: Measure B in November 2022 (55% no) and Measure HB in November 2024 by an even wider margin. Council voted 4-1 on June 23 to place a new half-cent sales tax measure on the Tuesday, November 3 ballot.

The city's Capital Improvement Program carries 28 active and pending projects totaling about $36 million, with unmet capital needs exceeding $90 million, the Hermosa Review reported in April.

What's next

All three signage components still require City Council approval before anything is installed. Assistant Engineer Kristian Alarcon told commissioners the $50,000 wayfinding budget may not be enough depending on how much signage the city ultimately wants. No conceptual designs exist yet for the wayfinding portion.