The International Market Place has run afoul of Hawaii’s signage restrictions, which date back to the 1920s when an environmental advocacy group successfully lobbied the territorial Legislature to ban billboards in the islands.

The Waikiki shopping and entertainment complex owes the city more than $3,000 in fines and penalties going back to October when it was first notified that it had to remove its colorful billboardlike signs advertising that the marketplace was “now open” and plugging coming attractions like Tesla and The Street, a Michael Mina Social House.

“We’ve enjoyed our work with the City and County of Honolulu on our project,” said Michael Fenley, general manager of International Market Place. “Through construction we were compliant with the city’s sign regulations. However, it wasn’t until recently when we installed barricades with signs announcing our upcoming tenants that we received notification from the city that they considered those signs to be in violation.”

City Department of Planning and Permitting spokesman Curtis Lum said Thursday that International Market Place had corrected four violations, but two remain open.

“One was assessed a $200 fine, and daily fines of $50 will begin on April 14 if the violation isn’t corrected by then,” he said. “The second has accrued $3,100 in fines as of April 11.”

Fenley said Friday that the marketplace has brought its announcing signs into compliance, but city offices were closed for the Good Friday holiday and were unable to verify that.

Signage violations aren’t unique to the International Market Place, said retail analyst Stephany Sofos, who struggled with Waikiki’s signage rules in the 1980s when she was general manager of Kuhio Mall and a leasing agent for the original International Market Place.

Thanks to efforts by the Outdoor Circle, Hawaii is one of only four states that ban billboards. In Hawaii, signage violators can face stiff state and county penalties, including criminal charges.

“Hawaii has the most strictest sign regulations in the nation, and Waikiki has the most strict in Hawaii,” said Rick Egged, president of the Waikiki Improvement Association.

Egged said WIA worked with the Outdoor Circle to relax signage guidelines for the Waikiki Special District in 2009 to enable better visibility and wayfinding. The restrictions are aimed at preserving Waikiki’s clean look, but many businesses still find them onerous.

“We’ve still got problems,” Egged said. “It’s something that we will be looking at in the near future. We want to maintain a clean look while providing balance.”

Sofos said Waikiki’s signage rules should be reviewed regularly and adjusted, but she supports keeping them strict to ensure that the destination keeps its “sense of place.”

“I’m very concerned that Waikiki doesn’t become a Miami Beach or a Times Square,” Sofos said. “At the same time, leasing agents will tell you that signage matters. A tenant lives and dies by the number of people coming into a shopping center. That’s why there are tons of violations. Everyone is pushing it to the max.”