Sign of an Old Controversy Is Removed

A 44-foot-long sign emblazoned with a skull and crossbones was removed from a house in an Oxnard subdivision Tuesday, relieving area residents who said the structure was an eyesore and hurt property values.

Oxnard Dunes residents and property owners said the infamous “Toxic” sign was such a spectacle that they used it as a landmark to direct visitors to the neighborhood, the site of a former oil-waste dump.

From his balcony next door, Don Viers watched as three workers hired by the Oxnard Shores Community Assn. and a couple of volunteers knocked down the plywood sign using chain saws, ropes and muscle.

“I’m glad it’s gone,” Viers said afterward. “But nobody will be able to find my house anymore.”

Stephen Blanchard, who erected the large plywood sign more than three years ago, saw it as a form of political expression and waged numerous legal battles to maintain it.

But property owners such as Linda Wolf, who owns the duplex across the street from the house where Blanchard put up the sign, said it “held the whole neighborhood hostage,” involving residents in a political controversy whether they wanted to be or not.

Wolf and a handful of association officials, attorneys, property owners and real estate people clapped and cheered as the sign fell from the parapet of 1010 Canal St. to a patio below. The whole process took about 1 1/2 hours.

The new owners of the property allowed the association to remove the sign, said Robert Bartosh, an attorney representing the community group. Bartosh said an Oklahoma real estate firm acquired the property last month in a foreclosure.

But news of the sign’s destruction stunned Blanchard and his attorney, Kate Neiswender. Blanchard said as far as he knows, he still owns the Canal Street property and he intends to consult with Neiswender on the matter.

Blanchard said he hasn’t lived at the house or made a payment for six years, but that he was never notified about a foreclosure.

“I know that the realtors and developers in the area are anxious to get that sign down,” he said. “I know they’re anxious to sell properties on dumps.”

Bob Krakover, vice president of the association and owner of Pacific Shores Realty, said state toxics experts found no significant risks in the area. He also said the sign is hurting business.

He said property owners have been unable to sell their houses--Krakover said he knows of only two condominium sales there in the past year--while prices have plummeted.

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Others who watched the sign fall Tuesday said it might have also hurt housing sales in other beach community neighborhoods, and had hampered efforts to get appraisals and loans.

“Anyone who comes from Wooley Road can’t help but see the sign,” Krakover said. “Even though testing by the state has given the site a clean bill of health, the suggestion that there might be toxics scares the hell out of people.”

The sign had been a visible reminder to renters, homeowners and property owners of the cloud of controversy hovering over this beach community neighborhood since the late 1980s.

The controversy included a series of lawsuits as well as an arson involving the home of former resident Lynda Paxton, who had painted a sign on her duplex on Dunes Street that read “Oxnard’s Own Love Canal.”

The fire remains an unsolved case. In March, plaintiffs agreed to a settlement of lawsuits involving multiple defendants connected with the development at Oxnard Dunes and companies that dumped wastes there.

Blanchard was awarded a $84,000 judgment in the settlement but never collected it because of a legal snarl involving the statute of limitations, Neiswender said. Neiswender said she’s trying to resolve the matter.

Meanwhile, Blanchard continues to pursue his lawsuit against the Oxnard Shores Community Assn. over the association’s removal of a smaller “Toxic” sign in October, 1990. That case is scheduled to go to trial Jan. 9 in Ventura County Superior Court.

Blanchard contends the association trespassed in removing that sign. Bartosh contends the sign violated the real estate codes, covenants and restrictions governing the area.

Blanchard alleges that when he and a friend tried to stop workers from removing the sign in 1990 they hit him with their vehicle, injuring Blanchard’s legs. Blanchard also is pressing a libel suit against an association official, whom Blanchard alleges defamed him in flyers distributed in the neighborhood.