SAN FERNANDO : Council to Consider New Sign Ordinance

The San Fernando City Council will take another stab Monday at regulating signs, and this time it hopes to avoid the controversy that has marked previous attempts.

But at least one car dealer plans to be a spoiler.

Eduardo Perez, owner of San Fernando Auto Sales on San Fernando Road, denounced the proposed ordinance because it would prohibit him from displaying banners for more than a maximum of five 21-day periods a year.

“I spend $10,000 on (banners) and most of it is labor,” Perez said. “They have to bring in a crane every time.”

In addition, Perez said, the ordinance is too confusing for the average business owner to understand.

If the ordinance passes, car dealers will be required to apply for permission to hang banners and submit a schedule for when they will use them, said Howard Miura, the city’s community development director.

The ordinance would place time limits not only on banners, but also “similar objects which wave, float, fly, rotate or move in the breeze.” It would also limit the size and placement of window signs.

The city has been trying to pass the sign ordinance since spring, but faced protests that such a ruling would not only hamper businesses, but also restrict free expression.

City Atty. Julia E. Sylva said Friday she has combed the rewritten ordinance for possible violations of free expression, and found none. “Everything is in perfect order as it pertains to the First Amendment,” Sylva said.

The new proposed ordinance also backs away from earlier attempts to ban signs painted directly onto plywood. Now, any material will be permitted so long as it is not combustible, a provision already in the city’s building codes, said Sylva.

Plywood would be permitted only if it was made fire retardant, Miura said.