Bandit sign placement law - Posted by george

Posted by Inland Realtor on October 15, 2005 at 16:18:24:

If the city owns the area between the sidewalk and the street,
how come I have to mow the grass here?

:wink:

Bandit sign placement law - Posted by george

Posted by george on October 15, 2005 at 12:25:24:

I see posts about people fined, why not political signs, why not contractor signs, etc. It usually has to do with the ā€œwhereā€ of the sign placement.

Most city ordinances prohibit the placement on public, city owned property. What does this include? Obviously, the busy street intersections, but how about in front of my house?

If you will look on your survey plat map, your property usually extends to the edge of the front sidewalk. The sidewalk, the 3-6ā€™ greenbelt between the sidewalk, and the street all belong to the city and are easements.

So generally, if you place a sign on your side of the sidewalk, you are not in violation. But put it in the greenbelt and you are.

Contractors know this. Notice where they put their advertising signs when they are working. A local woman was cited for $500 for placing her garage sale sign on the greenbelt in front of her house. If she would have had it on her property side of the sidewalk she would have been okay. Nit-picky, huh?

Anyway, thatā€™s the law. Hope this clears up those in confusion.

george

Re: Bandit sign placement law - Posted by JohnBoy

Posted by JohnBoy on October 15, 2005 at 21:44:31:

That may be the law in your town, but may not be the law in other towns. Some cities prohibit signs even on your own property. Some towns donā€™t even allow realtor for sale signs to be posted on your property if you are selling it.

As far as political signs go, those are usually exempt from city ordinance. Contractors placing signs may be allowed as long as they obtain a permit which most cities will allow since that is only a temp. sign.

Posting an ā€œI Buy Housesā€ sign in your yard would be considered a permanent sign for the purpose of running an ongoing business.

The simple solution is to rent billboards. Buy cheap vans and have them painted and have a rolling billboard you can park all over town in different areas. They stand out a lot more and they donā€™t violate city ordinance, in most cases. I heard there are some cities that donā€™t allow vehicles with signs or lettering.

Check with UPS. You can usually buy their trucks for about $2500 or so when they are ready to get rid of them for new ones. Bright orange letters on that brown truck would stand out great! Look for older trucks from moving companies like U-haul. You can get some nice size box trucks cheap. Just spray some fresh white paint over the box and letter it up with your message! Then drive it around and park it in different areas throughout the town and let it sit there a day or two and move it again.

More people will notice that a lot more than a small sign posted on the side of the road somewhere. A big truck like cargo vans and box trucks get much more exposure! And you are not violating any laws! Plus, itā€™s only a one time investment VS buying hundreds of signs to keep putting up, not to mention the time and/or expense to have them put up.

Iā€™ll take a big van or box truck sitting on a busy corner over 50 small signs posted around town anyday! More eyes will notice that van or box truck. Especially when itā€™s painted in bright colors that stand out and grab your attention! You canā€™t help but see the thing!