04/13/2009: "New ‘Sign’ For Lambiel Museum"

(Lea Lambiel with a greeting for CD&P Director Ron Henrickson)

When Mr. Lea Lambiel received an enforcement action in 2007 from CD&P (Community Development & Planning) to remove a sign in front of his Orcas museum, Lambiel contested it. He lost.

Lambiel had constructed an expensive, well built, and by all accounts, an attractive sign, constructed out of rock and mortar, to advertise his museum at 688 Olga road. Lambiel is said to have considered it to be a piece of art work, that also served as a sign for the museum.

The sign had been in place since 2006, so Lambiel was more than a little surprised and, as it turned out, rightly concerned, when he was informed the sign had to be removed; but in any case, he proceeded to apply for a sign permit.

County code requires a 45’ setback from the center of the road, but after SJC Public Works inspected the site, they concurred in January of 2009 with a memo from the SJC Code Enforcement Officer that it would be “unreasonable to strictly enforce the 45-foot setback” due to the topography of the property; and recommended a lesser setback of 24.9 feet.

The problem became compounded because the sign was also over an area designated for the installation of a new community water main for the Eastsound Water users Association.

Lambiel had applied to CD&P for an after-the-fact sign permit. The application was denied, and Lambiel hired an attorney to represent him; but in the end, after all was said and done, Lambiel was forced to pay a $700.00 fine, and under threat of $1,000.00 a day fines if he failed to remove the sign within ten days, Lambile’s artwork/sign was removed.

Lambiel was not pleased with the outcome, and has now erected a new piece of artwork that, while not a sign, and not in the county right-of-way, does send a message to the Director of CD&P (Community Development & Planning) Ron Hendrickson.