County Tells Burger Joint: Remove 'BLVD' Sign

Before Christmas, Patch reported how Alameda County Building and Planning rules derailed the opening of Muzo's hot dog stand on Castro Valley Boulevard.

Now those same rules have flummoxed a second local eatery.

In a letter dated January 3, building code enforcement officials ordered the owners of Boulevard Burgers to take down the neon "BLVD" sign over their restaurant.

Why would the county object to a "BLVD" on the Boulevard?

Boulevard Burgers partner Gordon Galvan said when he called the county he was told that the sign doesn't conform to the Castro Valley Central Business District plan of 1993 (see sections 5-l and 5-m for the language on signs).

Fine print in those Business District Plan rules is also what stopped the opening of Muzo's.

When Galvan questioned the sign order he said he was told that there was no process to appeal the order.

County building and planning officials did not return calls Monday.

This wasn't the first time Boulevard Burgers and the county had collided over signs, Galvan said.

When the restaurant opened in September 2012, Galvan and co-owner Michael Wiesner hung small signs in their front window to advertise that they sold beer and wine.

Galvan said they were ordered to take down those signs because, under the county's definition, any such advertisement made the restaurant into a tavern, which opened up a whole other set of requirements.

So the beer and wine signs came down.

Now the owners face an order to take down the "BLVD" sign that is the restaurant's "face" to Castro Valley.

"We have so many people tell us how much they like the sign," Galvan said.

The issue with Muzo's revolved around a different set of requirements in the same downtown business plan -- a prohibition on walk-up food takeaway joints in the downtown -- a stricture that Muzo's owner Marc Michieli questions given the improvements that have made Castro Valley Boulevard more of a pedestrian throughfare.

He is still working with county officials to iron out those problems and get permission to open.

Have you seen the BLVD sign? Do you think it should come down or stay up?