A few weeks ago, David Bennett turned off Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades and pulled into a nearly vacant parking lot at Temescal Gateway Park to use his cellphone.
When he was finished, he passed a stop sign at Temescal Canyon Road and continued back to Sunset.
Then he heard from the state authority that runs the park and other open spaces along the Santa Monica Mountains.
"They sent me a letter telling me I didn't really stop," said the Malibu contractor. "They said it was a 'courtesy' letter because they weren't collecting the fine yet."
That will change next week when the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority plans to start issuing $100 tickets to motorists who don't come to a complete stop at five stop signs equipped with cameras.
Drivers are getting used to the red-light cameras sprouting up at busy intersections around Southern California. But are they ready for what officials describe as the nation's first stop-sign cameras?
Some residents of Beverly Hills, Pacific Palisades, Topanga Canyon and other well-heeled communities near the new cameras are already battling to have them removed. They insist that the parks authority is violating state law by installing them -- a charge officials deny.
Cameras have been erected at the Top of Topanga overlook, a popular ridge-top spot for gazing across the San Fernando Valley between rustic Topanga Canyon and residential Woodland Hills, and in Franklin Canyon as well as Temescal Gateway Park. Franklin Canyon is a deep ravine west of Coldwater Canyon Boulevard in the mountains between Beverly Hills and Sherman Oaks that is known for its picturesque tree-lined reservoir and nature center.
The computerized cameras are owned and operated by Redflex Traffic Systems Inc., run by an Australian-based holding group. Under its contract, the mountains authority will pay the company $20 for each image of a car running a stop sign. The fee for images from a mobile camera that can be used at other stop signs will be $40. The company's fee will be tied to the consumer price index and increase annually.
One of the mountains authority's 16 sworn park rangers will review the video and authorize the mailing of citations to the vehicles' registered owners. The ticket will not show up in the driving record of the driver or the owner.
