Manassas ready to prosecute over 9500 Liberty sign

MANASSAS, Va. -- City Attorney Robert W. Bendall says Manassas is prepared to prosecute Gaudencio Fernandez and Delia Alvarez this month for erecting a sign at 9500 Liberty St. in defiance of a city ordinance.

City officials determined the sign was against the law after it was posted on the property in November.

The sign has since been removed.

Bendall said the city will take the couple to court anyway.

“We will be prosecuting on what was up in November of 2009 and not what is up today in January of 2010,” Bendall said.

A city ordinance passed earlier in 2009 allows for signs that are no more than 32 square feet. The sign was at least twice that size.

Fernandez said that he would fight the charges and contends that the city only put limitations on the size of signs after he started putting them up, and that the ordinances and restrictions were aimed to keep him quiet.

“We have to keep looking for our rights. Since we started implementing our political messages, the laws are being changed and none of those laws existed when we started back in 2007,” Fernandez said.

“The City of Manassas never did have laws to restrain the dimensions of political signs. These days they have many laws restraining political expressions,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez has erected at least three signs on the property at the intersection of Prince William and Liberty streets, and was forced to remove them all — usually for building code violations.

One of the previous signs, protesting the Prince William County’s anti-illegal immigration resolution, stood for seven months until the city took Fernandez to court and forced him to remove it.

Fernandez got a continuation in that case for the lack of an attorney.

Fernandez removed the 60-foot sign before his final court date and the city forgave the fines against him and Alvarez.

Bendall said the City of Manassas was prepared to go to court.

“We do not know whether or not the property owner is represented by counsel at this point,” Bendall told the city council Monday. “We will be prepared to prosecute the offense on the 21st.”

On Dec. 12, the couple sent a letter to the city asking about the procedure to install a sign that would be 201 feet by 14 feet.

City officials responded Jan. 11 with detailed guidelines outlining procedure on how to go about getting permission to build a sign that exceeds limits set out by city ordinance.

Fernandez said he had not yet received the letter.

In 2009, Fernandez accused the city of putting roadblocks in his way when he went to get permits for the signs he builds on the property that is zoned residential.

Bendall told the council that most businesses hired attorneys to help navigate the intricacies of the city’s code and permitting process.

“This couple has decided not to do that and has asked us to outline what is involved in addressing their inquiries,” Bendall said.

Bendall went on to say that the city was in receipt of a letter from Alvarez dated Jan. 5 which stated that the property had been sold.

A search of land records at the Prince William County Courthouse show that the property remains in Alvarez’s name, Bendall said Monday.

The city has asked that Alvarez provide proof of the sale of the property.

Fernandez said Thursday that the property had been sold.

Manassas Bureau Chief Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.