Letter to the Editor: Open house signs

Dear Editor:

The article “Open Houses are Back” (6/17/21) unwittingly and unfortunately condones as acceptable practice a violation of sign restrictions of the Downey Municipal Code.

Specifically, the article states in part “...marketing the open house with signs in front of your house and around the neighborhood” (my emphasis). Neighborhood signs constitute a direct violation of Downey Municipal Code Article IX, Chapter 6, Section 9612, Table 9.6.1 which states “Open House Sign shall only be located on the site in which the open house is occurring.” Repeat: “only be on the site in which the open house is occurring.”

Also, most realtors’ additional “open house” signs (already a violation by being off site) further violate Downey Municipal Code Article IV, Chapter 1, Section 4118, “Signs on Public Property Prohibited” stating in part “no person...shall erect, place or fasten...any sign....upon any public property within the City, including any roadway, curb, parkway, sidewalk, driveway, etc. (With good reason this code section falls under Chapter 1, “Disorderly Conduct”.)

Although most realtors are cognizant of code restrictions on signs, obviously they have been ignored in the past. The result has been city-wide ugly “open house” signs on most weekends before the pandemic, almost all in violation of Downey Municipal Code.

Hopefully The Patriot will peruse future articles to eliminate printing promotion of any sort of code violation.

Richard Sterling
Member, Keep Downey Beautiful