Enforcement may be an issue with flier ban in SM
CITY HALL — Hang a menu on a doorknob, get a ticket.
That may soon be reality in Santa Monica, where city officials late Tuesday agreed to look into banning unwanted advertising left at homes and businesses.
Resident Jill Chapin, who asked the City Council to consider the ban, said the seemingly endless flurry of fliers, leaflets and other ads are both a nuisance and a safety concern. Uncollected fliers scream out to burglars scouring neighborhoods for a suitable target, she said.
“People are inundated with unsolicited advertising,” added Chapin, who suggested a local no-flier list be established much like the national do-not-call list aimed at telemarketers.
Chapin also suggested that like with the do-not-call list, the offending companies be punished rather than the workers who hang menus and coupons.
City Councilman Herb Katz asked that city staff research the issue further, looking in particular at Beverly Hills, where officials said a similar law exists.
“Like this lady, I am inundated with stuff all over my steps, unwanted,” Katz said.
The council unanimously agreed to study the suggestion. The issue likely will return later this year.
City Manager Susan McCarthy cautioned the council that a similar law already is on the books that bans leaving advertisements on car windshields in Santa Monica, but that the law is not actively enforced.
“I don’t think that we could commit” the resources to enforce a new ban, McCarthy said. “Unless of course we dropped all hedge enforcement, for example.”
McCarthy was jokingly referring to a 1948 city ordinance limiting hedge and fence heights to three-and-a-half feet in front yards, and eight feet in side and back yards. The law was enforced in 2003 and 2004 after years of dormancy, causing outrage among some residents, who were threatened with fines of $25,000 a day.
Rather than adopt a new law that may not be enforced, McCarthy initially had suggested a more traditional approach.
“The most effective way to keep that stuff from building up is for neighbors to take care of neighbors,” she said. “The annoying proliferation of that kind of thing is not something that we have a great solution for.”
After scant discussion, the council agreed the matter deserved a closer look.
While staff is researching other cities and making its own recommendation, McCarthy said she would happily discuss the issue further with Chapin.
“I’d be glad to talk about it,” she said. “Because it piles up at my house, too.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 27, 2005. Read the original PDF.