I am sick of having to take down the garage sale signs and tape
from the posts on Church and Third streets after people post their
signs for the weekend.
“I am sick of having to take down the garage sale signs and tape from the posts on Church and Third streets after people post their signs for the weekend. Is it that hard to come back after your garage sale is done and take your sign and tape away? It makes our neighborhoods look like the flea market. I will start saving your addresses and then will go to the city to see if you had a permit for that weekend.”
Red Phone: Dear Sick Of Cleaning Up Your Mess, Red Phone can appreciate your desire to keep the city looking good. The city recently has begun cracking down on illegal signs promoting business and fined a gun show promoter $4,600 for illegally tacking more than 40 posters around town (see “A sign of the fines,” Aug. 3.)
Zoning Ordinance Section 37.31(q) prohibits the “attachment of placards, posters, announcements or similar signs to any fence, pole, tree or any other object along the right-of-way of a public thoroughfare, except those of an official nature authorized by a city ordinance.” The city enforces violations such as these both proactively and by complaint.
“I am not aware of any fines that have been levied due to the illegal posting of a garage sale sign,” said Code Enforcement Officer Scott Barron. “However the code certainly provides for that possibility.”
Municipal Code Sec 3.5 authorizes and empowers any citizen of Gilroy that observes and is offended by advertising attached to lamp posts, poles, trees etc. to remove and destroy the prohibited advertisements. So, if you put a sign up, make sure to take it down afterward or you’ll be inconveniencing someone else.
Puncturevine wreaks havoc
“I am alarmed at the proliferation of an invasive species known as puncturevine. I have done some work to eradicate a few local colonies, but it is awful, hated and difficult to control. I know there may be more pressing subjects needing attention, but there is a huge mat of these plants at the west end of Encino Drive, and foot traffic is scattering seed/thorns into the bike lane of a popular thoroughfare. Fire may be the only solution to eradicate this plant at this stage of the season. They are found along all the roads I have encountered, and most bicycle tires succumb to this menace. Would Red Phone task some businesses to sponsor an environmental rescue effort?”
Red Phone: Dear Poked, puncturevine, also known as goathead, is indeed difficult to get rid of. Even when precautions are taken, the thorns still seemingly find a way through tires or into the skin of animals. Your efforts to get rid of local patches of the weed are sure to be appreciated by bikers and pet owners alike.
Fire is one of the ways to get rid of them, but it is impractical in the city. The weeds can also be controlled through weevils, bugs that eat the plants before they can develop, or through spraying.
To get rid of large patches of puncturevine, you can use a herbicide as well.
The city used to kill the puncturevine with herbicides but has since stopped because of concerns about it getting into the ground water, said Steve Warner, owner of Sunshine Bicycles.
“There are hundreds of flats each year,” he said. “This time of year is especially bad, especially on the west side. If people don’t do something to be proactive, there is no way to avoid getting flats.”
Some bikers have had success using rubber tube liners and heavy duty tubes, he said. Others use a lubricant sealant inside the tubes to keep them from leaking.
For more tips and suggestions on preventing flats, visit
