OXNARD : Court Says Residents Can Sue Over Signs

Residents of the Oxnard Dunes subdivision who installed signs on their houses protesting a nearby toxic dump can sue the city for allowing neighbors to destroy the signs, according to a ruling Friday by a federal appeals court.

The U.S. 9th District Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled 3 to 0 to reinstate a lawsuit previously dismissed by a federal judge.

The ruling said the residents, Lynda Paxton and Stephen Blanchard, may be able to show that their constitutional rights were violated when two Oxnard policemen stood by and watched as neighbors took a chain saw to the signs.

A member of the Paxton family asked the police to intervene and one of the officers announced that Oxnard City Atty. Gary Gillig had instructed the subdivision’s homeowners association that it could enforce longtime restrictions against signs, said Kate Neiswender, the lawyer representing Paxton and Blanchard.

“The court has given me a cause of action against the Police Department and Gary Gillig,” Neiswender said. “I’ll definitely go forward with the suit right away. We’re going to get as much money as we possibly can.”

Gillig was unavailable for comment Friday night.

The signs, which read “TOXIC,” “Our Home Toxic Dump” and “Oxnard’s Own Love Canal,” were erected in 1990 as part of a long-running dispute between residents of the subdivision, called the Oxnard Dunes, and the city.

Residents sued the city after learning about oil-drilling wastes buried beneath the sand near the subdivision. About 175 residents settled with the city, but several, including Paxton and Blanchard, went to trial and lost.

The city brought charges against Paxton and Blanchard for putting up signs illegally, but the charges were later dismissed.