Illegal Signs at Offramp Make a Sudden Exit : Land use: Caltrans tears down developers’ directional ads. Firms say they didn’t know they were breaking any rules.

Just about any community in the hills of South County could be found from the signs posted at the Oso Parkway exit off Interstate 5, pointing drivers to such places as Coto de Caza, Wagon Wheel Canyon, Rancho Santa Margarita, Dove Canyon and New York City.

New York City?

Sick of the confusing cluster of signs posted at the offramp, Laguna Hills Councilwoman Melody Carruth recently tacked up a handwritten sign pointing the way to the Big Apple.

But now, the California Department of Transportation is cracking down on the unauthorized signs and the development firms that installed them on state property.

Last week, a Caltrans crew tore down five of the signs, leaving three approved signs directing motorists to Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo and Laguna Hills.

And Caltrans officials said they will be calling each of the developers to update them on the proper procedure to ask for permission to erect a freeway sign.

Carruth said she posted the sarcastic New York City sign to draw attention to the problem.

“What a pleasure to get off the interchange and not have to look at those absurd signs,” she said.

Oso Parkway is a gateway to many of the new communities blossoming in South County. Over the past three years, roadway extensions have been carved into the hills of the Saddleback Valley both east and west of the freeway, providing vital highway access to the burgeoning new housing developments.

“Oso Parkway is literally the yellow brick road out to these various developments,” said Tom Martin, a spokesman for Coto de Caza’s developer. “We were the first ones out there with our sign, then everyone else tagged onto it with their signs and it became an eyesore.

“Tell you the truth,” he added, “I don’t like the way those signs look either.”

The road extensions also paved the way for prospective home buyers to find the dozens of housing tracts in the area. Hence, the unauthorized signs, which mimic the green and white directional placards used by Caltrans, are basically advertising for the developments, transportation officials say.

“It’s illegal outdoor advertising,” said Caltrans spokeswoman Pam Gorniak. “Otherwise, what’s to prevent some merchant from saying, ‘I’ve got to sell my product, let’s put up a sign’ ” on a freeway offramp.

Colleges, civic groups and other establishments often apply to Caltrans to put directional signs at freeway exits, and the agency weighs requests based on how many people would benefit from a sign.

“We have to be careful,” Gorniak said. Too many directional signs in one location “can be confusing and dangerous.”

Violators technically are guilty of trespassing and violating a state highway sign code, she said.

Caltrans is warning some developers who put up signs without permission.

In Coto de Caza’s case, Martin said the developer hired a company to post the sign, believing it was being done properly.

“We assumed that the rights to place the sign, and all the correct approvals, were in place per our sign company,” he said.

The Santa Margarita Co., which is developing the Rancho Santa Margarita and Las Flores communities, applied for a directional sign in 1992 but was turned down.

Company spokeswoman Diane Gaynor said the developer saw the other signs being installed and thought Caltrans had changed its mind about directional signs. So Santa Margarita put up a sign.

“Within the last six months to a year, we started noticing all the other freeway signs and assumed the policy had changed,” she said. “We regret the error.”

Developers of the Dove Canyon and Wagon Wheel Canyon housing projects could not be reached for comment.