The Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council recently reviewed county signage regulations to make sure the rules governing signs on public streets and sidewalks are fair and protect the area’s rural scenery.

MAC officials said they want the county to set better guidelines and be more proactive in enforcing the rules to discourage signs advertising dating websites, home businesses and garage sales.

“Advertisement signs are prohibited in all public right of ways, but many people disobey the rules,” MAC member Mike Paule said.

“I think it’s clear that a lot of times people don’t understand they need to get a permit or they choose not to,” Paule said.

According to Ventura County laws, signs aren’t allowed on street medians or other public areas fronting homes and businesses without an encroachment permit issued by the county road commissioner’s office.

Registered political signs are allowed at the entrances of Oak Park during election cycles.

Enforcement is lax because the county doesn’t have enough workers to confiscate the illegal placards, according to Jan Osterhaven, the county’s representative for Oak Park .

Osterhaven said county employees generally only remove illegal signs that pose traffic hazards, but Oak Park residents don’t have to wait for the county to take action.

“Anybody can take out signs from public properties,” Osterhaven said.

Most of the discussion at the MAC’s recent meeting pertained to signs belonging to Brett Garrett, who owns a community information website.

Garrett, who posts numerous signs in the vicinity of Oak Park High School during the farmers market, had asked that the signage discussion be place on the MAC agenda because he felt singled out.

He said he’d never received complaints about his signs until a recent disagreement with some MAC members concerning his website.

“I’ve never had this problem in eight years. If they’re going to enforce sign rules on me, they should do it for all,” Garrett said.

Peter Bailey, vice president of membership for Stevenson Fitness on Lindero Canyon Road, suggested that regulations governing roadside signs on sidewalks near shopping centers should be eased to help businesses attract more customers.

“Maybe if we can balance the aesthetics of the signs with the prosperity of businesses in the community, we could allow a 90-day exemption for new businesses and their competitors,” Bailey said.

Paule said the MAC is reviewing the sign laws to prevent confusion and because the panel has received multiple complaints from residents.

“If one person is allowed to post signs everywhere, it sets a precedent, and before you know it you have 70 signs that you need to pick up, so we’re trying to nip it in the bud because it’s starting to be an issue again,” he said.

Green said sign proliferation is only an occasional problem in Oak Park.

“I’ve taken many of them down and called companies to tell them it’s not allowed. Everybody tries to get away with something until they’re stopped,” Green said.

Although the MAC doesn’t have the authority to change the law, Green said council members want to make the public aware that they can’t put signs in medians.

“When people do have garage sales, they also need to be courteous and take the signs down when it’s over,” he said.