Ernie Foster doesn’t want to get in the way of civics or freedom of speech. But he doesn’t want to be dead either.
That’s why, after several near-misses with cars on St. James Road, Foster complained to Vancouver’s code enforcement department about the political signs that made it nearly impossible to exit Petticoat Lane.
The campaign signs, some standing 8 feet tall, were clustered in a grassy swatch where St. James and St. Johns roads meet. The problem was when you turned left from Petticoat Lane, perpendicular to St. James, you couldn’t see cars coming down the hill.
“There was no way to see anything,” said Foster, who lives on Petticoat Lane in the Truman neighborhood. “It was really dangerous.”
It’s been a perennial hassle for Foster and his neighbors, who travel St. James Road several times a day for work and errands. Every time August and November rolls around, so do the signs — multiplying and getting taller.
“It seems like every year it gets worse and worse and there are more signs,” said Maria Smith, who also lives on Petticoat Lane. “It’s ridiculous.”
Smith’s car was nearly T-boned by a vehicle recently as she was attempting to turn from Petticoat onto St. James. The vehicle, hidden behind the signs, suddenly came into view as she turned out and she quickly had to maneuver into a turn lane to avoid a collision.
So are there really more signs this year? Maybe. Foster estimates there were 37 signs before code enforcement officers investigated the complaint and took them down in early August. Cindy Meyer, the city’s code enforcement manager, counted even more.
“I think there were 40 or 50 candidates (with signs),” Meyer said. “It made a stack of signs 3 feet high.”
There were so many that code enforcement didn’t have time to notify each candidate, a standard procedure if the city has to step in and take down signs because they pose a hazard. The signs are now being kept at the city’s operations center, waiting to be claimed.
According to county code, signs are restricted in spots that could cause traffic hazards. Usually this happens when signs are placed too close to intersections and are taller than three feet. Code enforcement investigates every complaint and takes action on a case-by-case basis, Meyer said.
Some people apparently haven’t gotten the memo about the St. James signs. Tony Golik, a candidate for the county’s prosecuting attorney, believed he could still mount smaller yard signs, and was surprised to hear from a reporter that code enforcement wanted all signs removed.
“I’m assuming mine weren’t blocking,” Golik said early last week. “If mine are blocking, I will have them down within the hour.” Golik’s signs were then taken down.
Foster said within days of code enforcement officers removing the signs, more were cropping up. He even got into a spat with a passing driver, who yelled at Foster when he saw him pulling out one of the signs himself.
The man told him to wait a few weeks until the primary election was over and the signs would disappear. “I told him, ‘We won’t be able to vote. We’ll be dead,’” Foster said.
While pleased the city took action, residents on Petticoat Lane are still angered, saying complaints in previous years have fallen on deaf ears. And they wonder if the problem will return in November — and next year.
If officials hadn’t stepped in, “I was going to go tear them down that night myself,” Petticoat Lane resident Jeff Clark said.
Laura McVicker: 360-735-4516 or laura.mcvicker@columbian.com.
