Too close to the highway

Chico Republican headquarters sit off Manzanita Court, less than a hundred feet from Highway 99. That section of 99 is classified as a “landscaped freeway.” State law says temporary political signs can’t be placed within the right-of-way or be visible within 660 feet from the edge of the right-of-way of landscaped freeways.

Not surprisingly, there were a couple of such signs hung on the cyclone fence that runs between 99 and the headquarters.

Chico City Council candidate Dave Donnan had one there, heard the news and removed his sign. Council candidate Toby Schindelbeck’s sign, however, was still hanging on the fence at CN&R press time.

Tom Austen, a state field inspector, wrote in an email to the CN&R: “If the signs in question are hanging on our Right of Way fence, it’s illegal and the local highway maintenance yard should remove them.”