ST. HELENS (AP) - A local contractor says he wants voters to put a stop to businesses hiring illegal immigrants by declaring Columbia County a “legal workers only” zone.

“Remove their ability to get jobs, and the problem stops,” said Wayne Mayo, a St. Helens remodeling contractor. “It's a matter of local justice. Local law.”

Mayo wants bright 4-by-8-foot signs reading, “Legal Workers Only,” to be posted across the county. The signs would list contact information for the sheriff's department and federal immigration agents.

His plan asks that the local law enforcement respond to complaints by inspecting job sites and fining those out of compliance. If signs are not displayed, fines of $1,000 a week would be imposed.

A contractor caught hiring illegal workers would face a $15,000 building permit spike per home. Business licenses and rental licenses of those who hire or rent to illegal immigrants could be suspended.

Mayo took his proposal to the Columbia County Board of Commissioners, who told him this week that the county was not equipped to enforce it.

So Mayo plans to let voters decide. He said he will collect the 1,300 valid signatures necessary and try to put the measure on the ballot in November or March.

Such a move would align Columbia County with communities nationwide that have responded to lack of action by Congress by approving local ordinances to displace illegal immigrants.

But it would also set the stage for legal challenges, as other communities have seen.

Up to 90 communities have passed or are considering local laws involving illegal immigrants, including some that would offer sanctuary or special identification cards for illegal workers, said David Adams, chief financial officer for Lookout Services, a company that tracks the issue.

However, a federal judge last Thursday struck down the Hazleton ordinance as unconstitutional, and civil liberties advocates say the ruling shows that such proposals face a daunting legal test.