Buena Park : City Denies Request by Cypress to Post Sign

It was a simple request from one city to another, but the threat of potential lawsuits caused Buena Park officials last week to deny a Cypress request to place a concrete sign within Buena Park’s boundaries. The sign would have indicated the Cypress city limits to be within Buena Park’s boundaries.

“The problem we run into is that it creates a source of liability for the City of Buena Park,” said Don Jensen, acting city engineer director. “If someone were to run into that sign, for whatever reason, we would be held accountable.”

Frank Dalesandro, Cypress assistant public works director, said he had not been officially informed of the Buena Park City Council’s decision not to allow the sign on a Lincoln Avenue median, west of Holder Street. But he added that he was not surprised by the council’s action.

“I don’t blame them,” Dalesandro said. “I probably would have done the same thing.”

Officials from both cities said the concrete sign that Cypress wanted to place on a Lincoln Avenue median, west of Holder Street, could have made Buena Park liable in the event of an accident--another example of cities’ continued concern about their liability in accidents involving public property. Cypress is one of seven cities that border Buena Park.

The spot that Cypress officials chose for their second sign--the city has one on Valley View Street south of Lincoln Avenue--was the closest median they could find to the eastern entrance of their city.