LA city officials crack down on business owner's sign, American flag placement, ignore nearby homeless camps
Los Angeles business owner Arik Air tells Fox News' Ainsley Earhardt about the city's crackdown on a small foldable sign and an American flag outside his business as homeless encampments occupy nearby streets.
A Los Angeles business owner says city code enforcement officials have relentlessly targeted him for setting a sidewalk sign too close to city property while ignoring the growing homeless encampments.
Arik Air, owner of Motostyles, a motorcycle accessory and remote control hobbies store in the Granada Hills area, claims code enforcement officials visited the business multiple times in June and his complaints to city officials including the mayor have been met with silence.
"I'm kind of pissed off because it's an ongoing battle with them for kind of forever," Air told Ainsley Earhardt on "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday. "They keep changing the inspectors and actually to justify their work, they come and give you a ticket for something."
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Code enforcement has cracked down on business owner Arik Air for his placement of an A-frame sign outside the L.A.-based shop. (Fox & Friends/Screenshot)
Air said code enforcement officials in the past have ticketed him for flying an American flag outside the shop.
"The guy called them ‘flag banners,’ and I said, ‘This is not a banner. This is the American flag.’ And, you know, we got a ticket for those in the past. And it was $461," he said.
Last month, Air claims agents contacted him five times about the foldable sign on the sidewalk outside — stopping by in-person the first four then calling the fifth time to ask him to text him a photo of the sign to make sure he wasn't breaking the law.
Homeless encampment on San Vicente Boulevard near La Cienega Boulevard, in the Beverly Grove neighborhood of Los Angeles. (Fox 11 Los Angeles)
Officials continually asked him to move the sign by one inch so it would no longer touch city property, but Air said his property line extends beyond what the city is claiming.
"Even if the sign goes in one inch out or even four feet out, it still belongs to the property owner, not to the city. They decided this is their land. I did a survey online, and it's showing that the property line is much more outside," he said.
Though officials are causing a stir over a sign that isn't obstructing the sidewalk, they continue to ignore a growing number of homeless encampments popping up along the streets of L.A., Air said.
"They never care. They can get to my shop the same day in a couple of minutes, but they cannot go and actually deal with something else down the street," he said.
In light of the repeated visits and fines, Air said he is considering fleeing California altogether. Another business he partners with has already moved to the Charlotte area in North Carolina.
The city of Los Angeles did not respond to the show's request for comment.
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