Why biz owners hate L.A.

The story of Francisco Gamero and his pet-grooming salon on Ventura Boulevard says a lot about the way small business owners are sometimes treated in this city. As reported by the Daily News, Gamero found himself out of compliance with something called the 1991 Ventura-Cahuenga Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan, which regulates signs in the area. City inspectors ordered Gamero and other merchants in a strip mall to remove or reduce the signage in their windows. Otherwise, they would be fined or even serve jail time.

Merchants who were cited at the strip mall said that the inspector who issued citations told them they were being targeted in response to a complaint. Tom Huerta, senior inspector for the Code Enforcement Bureau's signs operation, has declined to comment on why the city is only now beginning to aggressively enforce compliance at that strip mall under an ordinance that has been in effect since 1991.

Forget about getting the name of the complaining party. State law prohibits the city to disclose that information. So what exactly is in this silly ordinance? Mostly, it prohibits all window signs unless they state the store's name and hours of operation, or are security signs, logos or holiday paintings. Signs that are permitted may not occupy more than 10 percent of any window area.

In other words, it's all right for electronic billboards to be driving nearby residents out of their minds, with little or no relief from the city, but it's not all right for some guy who wants to advertise his pet grooming business in his own window! This is sheer idiocy at work.