Old light box signs plague Agoura

Thank you for your coverage of the Agoura Hills planning commission’s meeting, at which I spoke last week ("Agoura Hills sign ordinance generates differing viewpoints"). A small but significant correction is in order.

It was not the freeway-facing signs which I described as a kind of grandfathered plague, but rather the fairly numerous old light box signs that escape current code because of their age and because they remain illuminated long past business hours.

One particularly prominent one rests on a high pole, where it can be seen—if not read—nearly a mile away, and blazes all night even though the business closes by 5 p.m. each day.

Others are clumsily mounted with lots of exposed cable and brackets above rooflines where normally signs would be hung below. At 11:15 p.m. they beckon the passerby with their lights even though the proprietor called it a day five hours before.

I might also suggest going easy on the "differing points of view." I was surprised and delighted by the favorable reception the commission gave our suggestions and criticisms. And their criticisms of existing code, such as the odd provision that all signs be made of wood, are things we needed to hear.

A few things remain to be clarified, such as the difference between security and sign lighting, but I expect little difficulty in coming to an agreement on new language for the code.

Robert Evren

Planning and Zoning Committee, Old Agoura Homeowner’s

Association