OXNARD : Protest-Sign Painter Pleads Not Guilty

A Ventura County woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday to three counts of violating zoning ordinances for painting signs on her fence and on the side of her house to protest an oil-waste dump buried beneath her old neighborhood.

Lynda Paxton, a former resident of the Oxnard Dunes neighborhood, painted the words “Our Home Toxic Dump” on her fence and “Our Own Love Canal” on her house. Although Paxton moved from the neighborhood in June, 1989, she still owns the property.

The city of Oxnard took action against Paxton last month because the signs violate an ordinance that requires her to get approval from the city’s planning director before changing the exterior color, material and design of her residence, said Assistant City Atty. Charles Wessler.

But Paxton called the situation ludicrous. “Innocent victims are being prosecuted criminally . . . when people who defraud, I mean the developer, go scot-free,” she said.

Paxton’s signs were designed to bring attention to the oil-waste dump that was found in 1985 beneath the 100-parcel subdivision known as the Oxnard Dunes. She is among 175 residents who filed a $3.5-million lawsuit in 1986 against 120 defendants, including developers, real estate agents, oil companies, previous landowners and landfill operators.

The preliminary hearing on the zoning charges was scheduled Jan. 7. Paxton will represent herself.