Land a Plane Without an OK Now and You’ll <i> Really </i> Pay

A fine thing, Montebello city officials thought.

It was bad enough that city penalties for petty offenses had remained the same for years. Now the city didn’t even know for sure how much to fine criminals and scofflaws. Court officials had lost the original list of fines in a 1989 fire and had been operating from notes and memory ever since.

So the City Council approved a new and tougher fine schedule for transgressions such as parking and driving illegally, having overgrown vegetation, storing materials on roofs, putting clotheslines in front yards, landing an airplane without permission and erecting inflatable signs.

Most of the new fines are $20 or $50.

The council action came after court officials recently requested a formal fee list, and city staff members could not locate one. That’s when the staff concluded that the fines were too low.

“Basic bail has just stayed the same for years and years,” said Eva Williamson, records supervisor for the Montebello Police Department. “All of the bails were very, very low. They were upped about 50%.”

The new fee schedule still must be approved by the local Municipal Court before taking effect, officials said.