San Clemente : Law Against ‘For Sale’ Signs in Cars Proposed

Car owners who place a “for sale” sign in the vehicle’s window and then leave their cars parked on city streets may soon find $12 tickets on their windshields when they return.

A proposed city ordinance forbids car owners from parking their vehicles on any city street “for the principal purpose of advertising or displaying it for sale.”

The law was shelved a few years ago because of concerns that it might not be enforceable, but those questions have since been cleared up, and the ordinance needs to be revived, Police Chief Kelson McDaniel said. The City Council will discuss the issue tonight.

Some areas of the city are becoming “‘mini used-car lots,” McDaniel said. “If you allow an area like that to develop, where people leave their cars because they’ll sell quicker, it blights the neighborhood, and it cuts down on sight distance for drivers coming out of driveways.”

A block-long stretch in front of a shopping area on Camino de Estrella, just west of Interstate 5, is particularly bad, with 10 to 15 “for sale” cars parked there at any one time, he said.

Just having a sign in the car wouldn’t draw a ticket, McDaniel said--it will depend on where the sign is placed, where the car is parked, and how long it is left there. New guidelines for enforcement of the law have not yet been drawn up.

“If the vehicle is not driveable because of the sign, then it’s pretty obvious that it’s on the street for sale,” he said, adding that the best spot for a small sign is the left rear side window.

The council will meet at 7 p.m. in council chambers.