Sign of the Times : Ojai Cracks Down on Violations of 13-Year-Old Law

As Ojai city officials envisioned it, the sign ordinance they approved13 years ago would preserve their town’s quaint charm and rustic beauty by restricting the size, color and placement of signs.

Plastic-like business signs were to be replaced with petite, wood-carved ones or other subtle displays that harmonized with the city’s natural environment.

But city leaders say the ordinance has been ignored, forcing them to start issuing citations of up to $200 to merchants who have failed to comply. That, in turn, has set off a chorus of grumbling among business owners who think that the regulations are too strict, outdated and need to be amended.

“The city really has exhibited the patience of Job,” said Bill Prince, city director of planning and building. “But I think we’ve gotten to the point where businesses realize we’re not going to be patient any longer.”

When the City Council approved the ordinance in 1981, merchants were given nine years to comply because of the poor economic climate, Prince said. A series of problems during the past four years further delayed enforcement. The most recent setback was the replacement of a sewer line along Ojai Avenue, which merchants said diverted customers from downtown businesses.

But now city leaders say it is time to force compliance.

In about a week, Prince said, the city will begin issuing warnings, followed by $50 to $200 citations, to merchants who have not changed their signs.

Businesses such as Ojai Liquor, Pat’s Liquor and Unocal 76 say they are installing new signs, but City Manager Andrew Belknap has warned them that the signs must be in place soon.

“We have tried every way we know how to get voluntary compliance,” Belknap said, adding that the city is willing to work with the merchants, but unless they are making good faith efforts, they will be cited.

Ojai Liquor owner Jose Yobe is working on a new design for his large illuminated sign that stands along Ojai Avenue, but he worries that a more modest display won’t attract customers.

“If I take that one out and put in a smaller one, I’m going to lose all my business,” Yobe said.

Les Gardner, owner of the Attitude Adjustment Shoppe, a local liquor store, agreed.

“It would be nice to be a very small-looking town,” he said. “But since we cater to tourists, they need to be able to identify us. That’s our problem, trying to be indistinguishable and still be seen.”

Ojai is one of several Ventura County cities with sign ordinances, including Thousand Oaks, Ventura and Simi Valley. Belknap said Ojai’s law is one of the strictest in the state.

Under Ojai’s regulations, businesses are allowed a limited amount of total signage based on the size of their building’s face and the distance between the sign and the building. The maximum height for free-standing street signs is 4 feet, 6 inches.

Additionally, the 22-page ordinance bans billboards, flashing or rotating signs, signs affixed to vehicles, bus benches or fences, and signs that are lit from the interior.

“I think a lot of us are unclear on how the city is interpreting the sign ordinance,” Gardner said. “I think there should be a forum, perhaps through the Chamber of Commerce, where the city, staff and merchants could discuss this very thing.”

With the prospect of citations looming, business owners have become increasingly critical of the law, city officials said.

“As this thing has tightened down to where the city now has the legal means to enforce it, it seems (businesses) have started to beat the bushes, so to speak, to amend the city sign ordinance,” Prince said.

But, he said, “I would not entirely disagree that the sign ordinance could be revamped and made more user-friendly. It is on the strict side.”

Ojai City Councilman James Loebl said he would not be opposed to meeting with merchants, but added that the city has given them ample time to comply.

“I don’t necessarily believe that any ordinance created is divinely inspired and can’t be improved upon,” Loebl said. “There is no question that the sign ordinance is complex.”

One aspect of the law that merchants and city leaders agree on is the need to preserve the aesthetic quality of their community.

“I believe that the reason Ojai looks better than most other cities of its size is because of the enforcement of the sign ordinance,” Loebl said.

Leonard Koire, co-owner of Regal’s Ojai wine and cheese shop, agreed.

“I think it’s a fine ordinance; I genuinely do,” Koire said. “The problem is there’s too many exceptions.” He said the city needs to be consistent in its enforcement of the law.

Belknap admitted that enforcement is difficult.

“The majority of the enforcement we do is based on complaints, and we try to be as fair as possible in that,” he said. “When we do make enforcement efforts, business owners often point to (other) businesses and say, ‘What about them?’ ”

Another problem the city is confronting is “creeping illegal signage” from new businesses that have erected signs without knowledge of the ordinance, Prince said.

But Koire said no one from the city informed him that the law existed when he opened his business more than a year ago.

A manager at Nora’s Bistro, a restaurant that opened in October, said operators weren’t told about the law either.

Nora’s two standing sidewalk signs, shaped in the figure of a woman holding a menu, were the subject of debate at a meeting of the Ojai Redevelopment Commission this week.

“I agree that you don’t want all these crazy signs everywhere,” said Luciano Sautto, Nora’s manager. “But . . . the ordinance is old. I think it should be broadened a little bit.”