Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Encinitas business owner faces citation for signage

Steve Amster says city is being unfair

Steve Amster
Steve Amster

Business owner Steve Amster is about to fight city hall — again. He says the City of Encinitas’ sign ordinance discriminates against small businesses such as his while it gives special privileges to corporate stores and commercial realtors.

Any day now, Amster expects his Garden State Bagels at 171 N. El Camino Real to be cited by the city’s code-enforcement division. He has already received a threatening letter, asking him to remove his three, small, freestanding signs — two sandwich boards and a larger plastic arrow.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“They are clearly on private property and not interfering with the sidewalk,” Amster says. The city’s letter states that the signs can be a “hazard” to the public; Amster says he won’t remove them. If he’s cited, he says he will take legal action against the city for discrimination.

A protest sign — not placed by Amster — at the corner of Coast Hwy. 101 and Encinitas Blvd.

Amster points out that during the 28 years he’s been in business, different commercial leasing agents, representing his shopping center’s building, have had a much larger “For Lease” sign permanently posted in the same area. He also noted that in the front of almost every shopping center along the heavily commercialized El Camino Real, a commercial leasing agent’s sign — 4’ x 8’ in size or larger — is permanently posted. They have been the same signs for years, he says.

Amster also correctly pointed out that the nearby McDonald’s and Jack in the Box have flags, banners, and signs displayed. Years ago, Amster fought for, and won, the right to hang temporary promotional banners in front of his business.

More recently, in July 2012, he asked an illegally parked sheriff’s motorcycle officer — waiting to catch passing speeders — to leave the bagel shop’s parking lot. The officer has not returned to this site since the incident was reported here.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Steve Amster
Steve Amster

Business owner Steve Amster is about to fight city hall — again. He says the City of Encinitas’ sign ordinance discriminates against small businesses such as his while it gives special privileges to corporate stores and commercial realtors.

Any day now, Amster expects his Garden State Bagels at 171 N. El Camino Real to be cited by the city’s code-enforcement division. He has already received a threatening letter, asking him to remove his three, small, freestanding signs — two sandwich boards and a larger plastic arrow.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“They are clearly on private property and not interfering with the sidewalk,” Amster says. The city’s letter states that the signs can be a “hazard” to the public; Amster says he won’t remove them. If he’s cited, he says he will take legal action against the city for discrimination.

A protest sign — not placed by Amster — at the corner of Coast Hwy. 101 and Encinitas Blvd.

Amster points out that during the 28 years he’s been in business, different commercial leasing agents, representing his shopping center’s building, have had a much larger “For Lease” sign permanently posted in the same area. He also noted that in the front of almost every shopping center along the heavily commercialized El Camino Real, a commercial leasing agent’s sign — 4’ x 8’ in size or larger — is permanently posted. They have been the same signs for years, he says.

Amster also correctly pointed out that the nearby McDonald’s and Jack in the Box have flags, banners, and signs displayed. Years ago, Amster fought for, and won, the right to hang temporary promotional banners in front of his business.

More recently, in July 2012, he asked an illegally parked sheriff’s motorcycle officer — waiting to catch passing speeders — to leave the bagel shop’s parking lot. The officer has not returned to this site since the incident was reported here.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

OSHA rules wall falls our fault

Who, U.S.?
Next Article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.