Valley Center will notify residents, remove roofing signs left in rights-of-way after Nov. 30

Valley Center’s City Council approved a staff-recommended plan to begin removing roofing and contractor signs left in public rights-of-way after Nov. 30, following a surge of temporary signs placed after a recent storm.

Kyle (city staff) told the council that post-storm roofing signs have proliferated and that staff removed signs from street corners and public property but received requests from residents to leave signs in some rights-of-way because the signs signal to others that work is underway. Kyle said the city’s ordinance currently allows signs on a property for 14 days after a permit is issued, but checking the permit status at each address would exceed available staff time. He proposed notifying residents via the city’s social channels and Text MyGov that staff will begin removing signs from rights-of-way after Nov. 30; roofing companies and residents may retrieve removed signs from the city.

Councilmembers asked about exceptions for work that extends into spring and whether permit notices could include sign rules; Kyle said solicitor/contractor permits are good for six months after the storm and that the permit-generation process could be updated to print sign-duration text on the permit display card.

A council member moved to authorize staff to notify residents and to remove signs remaining in the right-of-way after Nov. 30; the motion included guidance that signs on private property should be removed by the resident 14 days after completion of roofing work. The motion passed by voice vote.

The action is administrative direction to staff rather than an ordinance change; staff indicated they will use social media, text messages and possibly the local newspaper to inform residents of the timeline and retrieval process for signs.