From Harford County government:
As a result of numerous complaints from citizens about the proliferation of illegal roadside signs, beginning October 1, 2011, Harford County will be instituting a Volunteer Sign Removal Program which will be administered by the Department of Planning and Zoning. This program will address illegal signs that are posted throughout the County in rights of way along State and County roadways.
Whether posted by businesses, individuals, neighborhood associations, or non-profit organizations, these signs are a blight on our communities and can pose serious traffic safety concerns. Volunteers will be given, and must agree to, specific guidelines that must be followed in order to participate in the program. All signs will be disposed of at designated disposal sites around the county.
According to C. Pete Gutwald, Director of Planning and Zoning, “This will provide an opportunity for community spirited individuals, businesses organizations to enhance Harford County neighborhoods and improve roadside safety by removing these signs.”
Also commenting on the newly established sign removal program, County Executive David R. Craig stated, “The continual posting of signs at intersections along county and state rights-of-way is not only an eye sore, but a traffic hazard as well. We encourage businesses, civic organizations, non-profits and others to join with us in our efforts to remove such unauthorized signs from along our roads and other public right of ways. Our communities have been plagued by the proliferation of signs at intersections and other public areas for far too long. It detracts from our overall quality of life and appearance of our communities. Let’s join together and put a stop to these illegal sign postings” Craig stated.
For more information or to establish a volunteer team, contact Denise Lynch in the Department of Planning and Zoning at 410.638.3104.
This sounds like the work of some liberals that have nothing better to do then make it tough in a business trying to make it by taking down his little sign. It’s not a problem in this county get over your liberal self and go see if the iceburgs are melting. Damm idiots.
This is a dumb idea.
Purely coincidental that this would apply to real estate signs.
Assuming, of course, that the previous post was really Joan Ryder (is the R silent?) and not an impostor.
County Exec Craig said, “It detracts from our overall quality of life…”?? About signs on the roadside??! Come on! That is ridiculous. I can think of MANY more things in Harford County that “detract from our overall quality of life”–and, believe me, none of them has anything to do with ‘signs along the roadside’! I guess these days, people just aren’t happy unless they are complaining & interfering in other people’s livelihoods.
Oh my! Would the owners of business properties please go out and remove signs that should not be on their property? No doudt in my mind that at least 60% of the “illegal” signs would disappear. In my opinion that would leave 40% to be removed by the county. Well now, let’s put inmates from the detention center out there to remove those remaining signs. After all, they would be earning the food being fed to them. Gosh what an old fashioned idea?
Thank God now we won’t have to look at all those political signs and “buy this house now” signs.
Paul: From what I read in the Comments Section of an earlier story about this issue (on Dagger), “Political Signs” have different rules… I don’t know if that is truly the case, but it’ll be interesting to see what happens with those types of signs. (I wouldn’t be surprised if Political Signs were exempt. How convenient would that be?!)
Bel Air Gal, it’s probably not the best idea to assume what you read in the comment section to be true. If you looked into it I think you’ll find that political signs are subject to the same regulations regarding the right of way and placing them without landowners’ permission.
Sarah: F.Y.I., I did not “assume” that the information about Political Sign placement was true. Not at all. That is why I specifically pointed out that it was contained in the Comments Section (and not part of an actual “article”). I was just trying to tell Paul about a different discussion that I had seen on the same subject matter (from earlier in The Dagger)…and that it would be interesting to see what happens next.
What will happen next? The Harford County Government will hold a County Holiday to memorialize the death of the first person to lose his life due to running through traffic and being struck by a car, because he was working to improve the quality of life of Harford County.
The fact remains that people are placing signs either too close to the road (a safety issue) or on land that they don’t own themselves and haven’t gotten permission from the owner to do so. I wonder how certain real estate agents would like it if I walked on to their property and dumped my trash in their front yard. I suppose an argument can be made that the public right of way belongs to all of us, but at the same time, most of us don’t want the signs junking up our roadsides.
I wonder how many man-hours mowing crews from the state and county waste every year in pulling these illegal signs out of the ground and disposing of them so they can mow. There’s a cost to taxpayers there that could be eliminated or lessened if this volunteer program is successful.
Yes, it is Joan Ryder. I have been advocate of not putting up real estate signs as directionals, opens, etc. I hate them and I am glad they have been illegal even though a lot of realtors use them. It saved me a ton of money not to have to put them up. We haven’t used them in over ten years! Ever since we were told they were going to fine us; however, I never saw that happen. What I was referring to as dumb was having citizens do the work.
Joan, surely you don’t have a problem with citizens volunteering to participate in a program that, if done properly, will a.) beautify our county, and b.) not waste government resources by sending highways crews to pick up junk signs.
You would actually prefer government employees do this on our dime, rather than focusing on fixing roads and the like?
I dislike the little cheap signs that pop up overnight in every major intersection, but the things that really make me crazy are the memorials to whoever happened to die near a roadway and folks put up those cheesy little crosses and plastic flowers… I also don’t mind removing the advertising signs myself, if I could only hop out of my car that quickly without getting hit by a truck.
It’s virtually cleaning up the county, taking them down and disposing of them properly… also pick up some litter while you’re out there.
I am glad Nick recognizes that efforts to make our county more attractive might be the work of liberals. Ironic that it is conservatives want to remove illegal aliens because they are, what? Illegal! So are most of the signs.
I have been a vigilante, removing illegal signs for several years. I have not been killed or hurt in the process and house sales remain high. People in my community still vote because they read something more helpful than a sign. Nothing bad will happen when the signs are removed, but the neighborhoods will be more attractive for it.
No pun intended but I think this is a sign of the times. People are desperate for work in this rotten economy and advertise as cheaply as possible. More power to them and their little signs.
If you want to beautify Harford County, start by tearing down that God-awful sculpture along 24 by the Barnes and Noble. The one that looks like the red fingers of a developer reaching out from the grave to posess the entire county.
My husband is self employed in a very small construction business. We have had these signs in the past and I even went around with my weed wacker and trimmed around the signs. Once I had someone at the entrance to a development move the sign, mow, and put it back before I got to it myself, so they must not have minded it being there. Later we lost at least 3 signs in Harford county that cost over $100.00. I don’t understand why people don’t call the phone number on the sign and tell the person they don’t want it there. I would have come and removed it rather than lose it. We don’t do it any more because of this and business is not good. Signs like this would certainly help. I know this because homeowners let us place his sign in their yards when he does work and we have gotten referrals that way.