Used vehicle sales on Kanan to end soon

MICHAEL COONS/The Acorn NO MORE--Vehicle owners who park along Kanan Road north of Canwood will no longer be allowed to park there and sell their cars from the street. City officials say the situation is dangerous.

Sooner or later you see them in just about any community; public areas such as streets and parking lots where people display vehicles that they want to sell.

It happened almost overnight in Agoura Hills. The east side of highly traveled Kanan Road just north of Canwood Street suddenly became lined with cars and trucks plastered with "for sale" signs.

"One day there was one car and the next day they were like bunnies, they were everywhere," said Agoura Hills City Councilman Dan Kuperberg.

Last week, the council put a stop to the practice by approving a resolution that limits daytime parking between Kanan Plaza Shopping Center and Hillrise Drive to just two hours. The limitation lasts from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and also applies to Kanan Road near Idle Drive.

"The reasons our city streets exist is not to make them a used car lot," said City Councilman Jeff Reinhardt. "I think this is the only appropriate action."

The two-hour limit means customers can still park on Kanan Road while doing business in the shopping center.

Upon a request by Kuperberg, city engineers will increase the red zone just north of the shopping center to eliminate parking altogether. City Councilwoman Louise Rishoff suggested a red zone all the way to Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

The cars for sale aren’t the problem, according to the council; it’s the passersby who stop on the road, double-park and get out to take a closer look.

"It’s becoming a serious traffic hazard," Rishoff said. "We’re already overloaded on Kanan."

Los Angeles County laws already prohibit parking a vehicle on a public street with a "for sale" sign visible to traffic, but the law isn’t being enforced, according to the city.

"The sheriff’s department advises that the courts are not accepting citations written against this law, therefore they are longer enforcing this law," said Dave Adams, Agoura Hills city manager.

"We have no ‘for sale’ signs already, but the judges are making the law," said City Councilman Denis Weber.

The new parking limitations allow the city to take the law into its own hands.