Sign Patrol Cracks Down on Illegal Advertisements : Law enforcement: County workers police sidewalks and median strips of Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Lake Forest, Tustin and Aliso Viejo in search of placards placed in the public right of way.

LAKE FOREST — Mike Simurda walked down Lake Forest Drive on Saturday with staple gun in hand, posting cardboard signs precariously close to the roadway, advertising his wife’s boutique down the street.

He knows that what he is doing is technically illegal but he does it every weekend, nevertheless.

But only minutes after Simurda placed his sign, Henry Sanchez arrived to yank it out, throwing it into the back of his truck.

Call Sanchez and Jose Garcia the sign police. The two Orange County Environmental Management Agency workers, attired in bright orange T-shirts, police the sidewalks and median strips of Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Lake Forest, Tustin and Aliso Viejo in search of illegally placed placards, pennants, banners and other obtrusive signs. Together they haul in about 300 signs a day, keeping the streets free of advertisements that could be a safety hazard.

Last week, the big troublemakers were politicians whose campaign signs cluttered the streets. During the summer months, realtors grappled for prime spots for their open-house advertisements. On Saturday, garage sale and holiday specialty shop signs littered lampposts and utility poles.

The county’s sign law for all unincorporated areas states that signs placed in the public right of way, less than two feet from the curb or sidewalk, will be removed and fines may be levied.

Before they are removed, the signs are photographed and dated, and then dumped in a county yard in Anaheim where they can be retrieved on Fridays between noon and 1 p.m.

Many Orange County cities have similar ordinances, restricting signs to private property. Cypress, Huntington Beach, Garden Grove and Yorba Linda, however, allow signs on public property with a permit or other restrictions.

The County Environmental Management Agency began picking up placards in 1985, in response to complaints of intersection obstructions and visual pollution by hundreds of residents and merchants. Since then, five people have been cited and $1,500 in fines have been collected.

During the first year, county crews collected more than 45,000 signs, said Bill Tidwell, field operations supervisor. By 1989, he said, that number dropped dramatically to 13,450. But last year, 17,402 signs were confiscated. The number is slowly creeping up as more people are advertising their businesses and garage sales the inexpensive way, Tidwell said.

“They tell us we’re ruining their business,” Sanchez, 29, said. “But all they have to do is push the signs back a few feet. That’s all we ask.

“Look at this sign,” he said, pointing to a rectangular one tied to a lamppost. “If my kid was riding by on his bike and poked an eye out on this, I’d be furious.”

That’s something Simurda said he never thought about. “But unfortunately, this recession is making business tough and the signs are the most efficient way to advertise,” he said.

Posted along Lake Forest Drive, on both sides of the street, were at least eight signs with arrows directing commuters to garage sales. Some of the signs had been dated from previous pickups last year. “He’s not gonna get any customers today,” Sanchez said, aiming his camera at one.

Both county workers said that when they see people making illegal postings, they inform them about the sign law. Many people follow their directions, but not everybody likes it.

On Garcia’s first day at work last year, he pulled out a real estate sign from a median strip only to be confronted by an angry realtor who snatched the sign from him and chased Sanchez with it.

“I told him his sign was obstructing the right of way, but he just chased me with it, calling me all kinds of names,” Garcia said.

Some do get bitter, Sanchez said. “They’ll yell out, ‘Jerks!’ But we’re not jerks. We’re just trying to keep the streets safe.”

Real estate agent Thomas Getz of Prudential California Realty in Laguna Niguel said people who violate the sign law deserve to pay the price of losing their placards and possible clients too. “It would be a different story if they were being picked up without justification,” he said.

“Realtors are getting the point,” Sanchez said. “I see less and less real estate signs every week.”

Kathleen Freedman of Lake Forest, whose garage sale sign was ripped from a light post Saturday, said she knows the law but wanted to take her chances.

“That’s fine if they take them down,” she said. “It’s not something to get adamant or angry about.”