CITY REMAINS LAX ON SIGN ORDINANCE ENCOURAGEMENT RATHER THAN ENFORCEMENT IN EFFECT.

Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Two months after Santa Clarita's 9-year-old sign ordinance took effect, city officials continue to delay citing business owners in hopes of encouraging compliance.

Citations might not be issued for another month, city officials said, because the delay has helped businesses work out compromises with city planners.

``We're making progress working with people, rather than against them,'' said city Associate Planner Conal McNamara, who has managed the sign ordinance transition since it took effect Nov. 13. ``We have staff dedicated just to work with business owners on this, and we have people coming in, it seems, every day wanting to work something out.

``There's no firm date yet on when we'll begin enforcement. It really depends on the businesses. If everyone comes in tomorrow, there'd be no need.''

The sign ordinance was approved in 1990, but the City Council agreed to delay enforcement after the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce argued that small business owners needed time to prepare, finance new signs and find other ways to heighten their business' visibility.

Roughly 80 percent of businesses and shopping plazas have complied, according to city officials.

Since November, when the city mailed out warning letters to more than 1,000 businesses and property owners with illegal signs, 27 signs that represented plazas and individual businesses have come down, McNamara said.

An additional 16 are under reconstruction to city standards and staff members currently are reviewing 18 applications for new signs, he said.

The delay also has given city officials more time to meet with corporations with business franchises in the area, he said,. Companies that include Danny's Diner, Bank of America, Ralph's Grocery Company, Arby's and Sav-On Drugs have complied, he said, noting that McDonald's restaurants currently is meeting with city staff to conform the fast-food chain's signs.

The most drastic changes from the sign ordinance would be apparent at shopping plazas, where multiple pylon signs along the outer edges of parking lots would be eliminated or reduced, along with painted wall signs on buildings.

For non-complying signs, the city can issue misdemeanor fines of $100 and place liens on properties for that amount, officials said.

But city officials have said they hope to minimize those cases, because of the extensive administrative work and fees that is required for processing citations.

Many business owners have argued unsuccessfully for grandfathered rights to allow existing, non-conforming signs to remain, but ordinance supporters argued that would be unfair to businesses that invested money to comply.

The city has waived the entire $415 fee to apply for a sign variance and cut the cost to appeal a staff decision to the Planning Commission from $930 to $465.