Old Coca Cola sign causes neighborhood flap in San Francisco

Published 12:01 am Saturday, February 26, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO — A restored Coca Cola sign decorating the side of a San Francisco house that may date back to the 1930s has set off a surprising spat among neighborhood residents and city officials.

The city says the bright red painted sign on the side of Richard Modolo’s home violates anti-billboard laws and must come down.

City Supervisor David Campos, who represents the Bernal Heights neighborhood, said he’s received passionate e-mails from people on both sides of the debate. Some are concerned that the sign promotes a sugary drink, sending a dangerous message to students at a nearby elementary school.

“We’re trying to fight childhood obesity,” Campos said. “We don’t want to promote kids drinking Coca-Cola.”

But Campos said he’s considering introducing legislation that would create a special “historic sign district” to preserve the 15-by-7-foot sign.

Modolo said he found it in 1991 when he removed siding from his home, which was a grocery store years ago. A friend touched it up and the sign remained.

“It’s been this way for 20 years, so I guess it is part of the neighborhood,” said Modolo, 64.

But city planners came out to inspect the sign after receiving a complaint last month and deemed it illegal. Modolo was told he could face a daily fine of $100 until it was removed. The identity of the person who filed the complaint has been redacted from city records.

“I think it is a neat-looking sign,” Dan Sider, the city’s sign expert, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “But the law is totally nondiscretionary. This is a residential district and an unpermitted general advertising sign.”

Resident Todd Lappin, who has written about the sign for his neighborhood blog, said he supports the Coca Cola sign, saying it’s a way for people to connect to the neighborhood’s working-class past.

“It’s vintage commercial art,” he said.