Awash in Legal Morass

For years, Ben Forat tried to figure out what was wrong with his money-losing carwash. Customers just wouldn’t come, and those who did complained they had trouble finding it.

Then he had a vision.

“I needed a big sign.” said the 35-year-old Studio City business owner.

The behemoth fiberglass confection he put up--a flesh-toned hand, clutching a giant yellow sponge emblazoned with the words “Studio City Hand Car Wash” with a replica of a hot pink Corvette on top--got him plenty of attention. Forat’s business tripled, but the local homeowners association went nuts, complaining that the sign--which was erected without a permit--violated city codes.

Two years after the brouhaha began on Ventura Boulevard, the neighborhood spat has spilled into Los Angeles Superior Court, where Forat and his mother, Shamsi, were charged last week with erecting an illegal sign and failing to comply with a city Department of Building and Safety order. Both are misdemeanors.

Forat said he doesn’t know why his mother was criminally charged, because he is the sole owner of the carwash in the 11500 block of Ventura Boulevard. Both mother and son face a maximum of a year in county jail and a $2,000 fine if convicted. A judge will have the discretion to order the sign’s removal.

“It’s a completely illegal sign,” said Dale Thrush, planning deputy for City Councilman Joel Wachs, who represents the neighborhood. Thrush said Forat repeatedly refused to comply with city law.

“He’s either going to have to conform or the sign will have to be removed,” Thrush said.

Prosecutors and local critics said the 26-foot high display stands 6 feet taller and juts out 8 1/2 feet closer to the street than city regulations allow. Neighbors first began complaining in 1998, Deputy City Atty. Don Cocek said.

Last March, a Los Angeles City Council committee ruled that the sign could be granted an exception from the law if Forat reduced its size, moved it farther back from the street, paid $6,000 to a special account for street beautification along Ventura Boulevard and apologized to the public, city prosecutors said. But Forat has so far refused. “They’re trying to destroy my property rights as a business owner,” Forat said.

He has sued the City Council, claiming that it abused its discretion, in a lawsuit that will be heard next week.

Forat said he offered to pay the $6,000, but that Wachs’ office asked him to increase the amount to $20,000, which Forat considered outrageous. He believes the criminal charges were filed in retaliation for his refusal to pay.

Thrush verified that Forat had offered to pay $6,000 to the tree-planting fund, but said that the amount wasn’t enough.

“It struck me that that wasn’t going to get us much,” Thrush said.

The $20,000 was suggested as “one of the things he could do for the community for all the trouble he caused,” Thrush said, adding that he thought the amount had been proposed by the homeowners association. Studio City Residents Assn. Officers, who Forat said are his prime antagonists, could not be reached.

Others in the community said they could not understand the fuss.

Cruising by on his in-line skates, 48-year-old Studio City resident Deland Lupson said he likes the unusual sign. “It’s very visual,” Lupson said. “It’s more artsy-craftsy than the other signs. I don’t see what’s the problem with it.”

Jerry Ledbetter, who manages a brake repair shop across the street, agrees. “I think it’s great. It’s part of what makes Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard. It makes you feel good to see it. Every businessman wants his business to stand out.”