Local News in Brief : Hollywood Sign Plans Not Firm

Embarrassed Hollywood Chamber of Commerce officials Thursday described as “premature” a chamber-authorized news release last week that implied agreement had been reached with a solar energy company to light the landmark Hollywood sign.

“I think (the release) sort of jumped the gun,” said Bill Welsh, chamber president and chief executive officer.

A spokesman for Arco Solar Inc. of Camarillo, which last April proposed lighting the monument permanently as a demonstration of sun-powered electricity, expressed surprise at the chamber’s announcement, saying details had yet to be worked out.

The announcement caused chagrin among residents of the Hollywood Hills whose homes are near the sign and who are opposed to lighting it because they believe that doing so would increase vandalism and loitering.

Chris Baumgart, head of the chamber effort to illuminate the sign from dusk to 11 p.m., said the news release was a “misunderstanding.” He said the chamber is “not trying to do anything” until it comes up with a plan to satisfy residents’ concerns about security.