Planning Department reports 151 illegal billboards removed, enforcement ongoing

Dan Sider, a Planning Department sign-program manager, told the Planning Commission the department has completed a citywide inventory of general advertising signs and is now in an enforcement phase. "We have a precise and accurate inventory of each of the 1,509 signs in the city along with photographs and detailed information including permit records," he said. Sider said staff has processed roughly 580 signs and that about 151 illegal general advertising signs have been removed to date. He described the enforcement steps available to the department: notices of violation (NOVs), administrative-law hearings and per-sign, per-day penalties that begin to accrue if violations are not corrected after the NOV period. The department is also defending multiple legal actions from sign companies; Sider said about a million dollars in penalties is currently outstanding and tied up in litigation. Commissioners asked about timelines and costs; Sider said, barring further legal obstacles, staff anticipates processing the full inventory by mid-2010. The commission did not take separate action on the report; it was received for information.