UPDATE: The press event scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. with County Executive David R. Craig and Director of Planning & Zoning Pete Gutwald regarding the Volunteer Illegal Sign Removal Program has been CANCELED and will be rescheduled for October 13, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.
More details will be forthcoming.
From Harford County government:
Illegal signs, whether posted by businesses, individuals, neighborhood associations, or non-profit organizations, are a blight on the community and can pose serious traffic safety concerns. As a result of numerous complaints from citizens about the proliferation of illegal roadside signs, Harford County is planning to implement a Volunteer Sign Removal Program administered by the Department of Planning and Zoning which is being established to provide an opportunity for community spirited individuals, businesses, organizations and groups to enhance Harford County neighborhoods and improve roadside safety by removing signs that are illegally placed along state and county roadways.
The new Harford County Volunteer Illegal Sign Removal Program will be announced by Harford County Executive David Craig and Planning and Zoning Director Pete Gutwald during a press conference Tuesday at 3 p.m. in the Harford Mall parking lot facing Route 24.
We shall see how well it is enforced when the next political campaign season arrives.
lol..Margaret couldn’t agree with you more. There were signs left up for weeks after the last one!
If signs are illegal, then how come the same type of political signs are OK?
The signs themselves are not illegal, the placement is. Political signs placed in the right of way and in medians are just as illegal as any other. (In fact, illegally-placed political signs have been more likely to be removed by road crews in the past, since they were more frequently reported to SHA or the county by opponents.)
It may have been lost on some people, but this whole program only applies to illegally-placed signs. Signs on private property are not affected. My understanding is that the volunteers will be trained on the difference between legal and illegal placement.
will this apply to the thousands of signs that sprout up during election season or will politician’s signs be exempt?
Speaking as a former candidate for political office and as a volunteer for past political campaigns, I can tell you that the county has been in the process of enforcing a similar policy for quite some time. After I filed, I received a letter in the mail from the county informing me where I could and could not place campaign signs. If I have to abide by these rules, then so should everyone else, small business included.
@CARDCREEK that is a very interesting point…I think this only applies to advertisments for business, something that refers to profit making. if i am not mistaken, in anne arundel county, MD they also have banned these types of signs, but i see them all the time…
I like the fact that the unsightly signs will be gone but I’m concerned about good samiritans doing the removal. These signs are of course at the busiest roads and intersections and it makes me apprehensive thinking of someone trying to something good getting hurt. I cringe when I see pedestrians trying to cross Rt 1, Rt 24, etc. I never see anyone putting up the signs, do they do it at night under a cloak of darkness? Good idea, just hope everyone stays safe.
The key word is “illegal”. Political signs are legal as long as they are there with the permission of the land owner and meet size restrictions without blocking traffic views. The illegal signs are all the house buying, mattress, and phone signs that have been prolific lately. And, yes, they are put up in the dark.
According to O’Malley, the signs shouldn’t be called “illegal”, they should be called “new advertisements” and as such, given benefits equal to the other signs.
Anyways, have a nice day.
Priceless! Perfect!
HA HA HA Maybe they should be called undocumented signs.
The new Harford County Volunteer Illegal Sign Removal Program: I don’t have a good feeling about this. Who decides what is legal and what is not? Who will authorize individuals to go around removing signs? Will they have official identification? Will they have training? What keeps volunteers from degenerating into vigilantes? Isn’t this the job of Harford County Department of Public Works, Transportation Engineering? Why not give them the resources to do their job?
Last I heard, you need A PERMIT to post a sign, any sign, on public property. Seems that HarCo could make up some of their budget shortfalls by simply levying a $25.00 fine for each and every non-permitted sign. They are not legal. It shouldn’t be too terribly difficult to track down the perpetrators in this day and age.
In response to this topic, as well as addressing what MrMarkN has posted…The fine would be a great idea in concept. However, you are likely to run into folks who not only joyously take down signs but then might re-position it somewhere else (as a prank or just being ugly). This would then cause the sign “owner” a fine, even though that is not the place where the owner put it.
I run a non-profit and we have our biggest annual community event of the year coming up on October 15th (www.HarfordFallFestival.org). Each year, I purchase 75 – 100 of these kinds of signs to put all over the county, professionally made from a local supplier, to draw people out to our local event that raises money and awareness for the local homeless and hungry in our community. Our volunteers strategically place them (often on private property), monitor them and then pick them up within 24 hours of the event.
Believe it or not, these signs provide one of the best returns on my investment. (Money is tighter in the non-profit world than anywhere else these days; donations come to a halt during an economic climate like ours and unfortunately with the economic climate, we have more and more folks homeless – a vicious cycle). I can tell you that out of all the signs that I purchase, most still end up being taken by someone being mean. It’s quite unfortunate for people like us.
If used properly, this type of advertising should be like a PSA for happenings in our community, especially for visitors to our area that might not otherwise see any other advertisements for a community event. I believe these signs were made for a non-profit or community event – a specific event – and NOT as general advertising for any individual, company or non-profit. These types of signs are for a specific purpose (i.e. an event or perhaps a one day event for realtors to help direct traffic to their open house). I believe the best example of what these signs should not be is the quite unprofessional “ads” (hand-made mattress sale signs and the like) that need to be kept on Craig’s List or other appropriate forum. Those types of signs are what “litter” our community.
Used properly, these signs would not be seen as litter, but for what I believe they were made for, community enrichment.
I didn’t mention that when we put it on private property, it is always the private property of one of our volunteers or business sponsors and it is always done with permission.
This is yet another case of one bad apple ruining it for the whole basket, where our society run amuk demands oversight from government.
In principle, I totally agree with you. It should not be a problem for people like yourself to pay to have some signs printed up, responsibly post them and carefully remove them all in a timely fashion.
However, as we can all see, many or even most of the time this does not happen.
No, you can’t post a sign on public property, with or without a permit.
Someone from DPW spoke at the Abingdon Council meeting last night and apparently volunteers will be registered, will keep logs, turn them in, and they will have training on how to be safe around the roads and exactly where right of way starts and ends. DPW will take on the process of contacting violators.
the sign removal task force is going to be very interesting. Baltimore county has been dealing with this for a long time. For Harford County to think this is going to work is such a shame. Whats gonna happen when a citizen mistakenly removes a legal very expensive sign from a property. whos gonna be responsible for this when the company wants the sign back or to be reimbursed for the cost of the sign. cant wait to see those stories on the dagger
At least in Baltimore County, a commercial sign made of Coroplast stuck on a wire holder is illegal anyplace in the county, whether on public or private land. I suspect Harford County is the same, so I’m not too concerned with a volunteer mistakenly picking up one on private property.
Does anyone have any idea of what might happen when a lawn mower hits one of those wires?
I wonder if my Open House signs and balloons will be included? My sellers won’t be too happy? I do remove my signs though-
well if thats the case then we can say all banners and such
What constitutes an illegal sign?
It’s not legal to place signs in the right of way or medians. It is legal to put small yard signs on private property with permission of the landowner.
Many people unknowingly place signs close to the road on what they believe is their property, but which is in fact the right of way, and therefore not legal.
I think that this is program is a good idea in theory, although I am concerned that some volunteers may think they are acting in good faith and remove signs that they think are illegally-placed, when in reality they may be ok. It’s probably worth a shot though, as these signs are indeed a blight on the community, and it will save taxpayers’ money by not having government employees rounding them up.
We need these volunteers to do the job that government won’t.
Can’t.
Lord help us all if someone has to get off their tail and do something good for the community instead of watching others NOT do it.
Sarah’s comment below is correct. When asked, a DPW official basically said that almost every sign you see stuck in the grass is illegal.
Anything on public/common ground that portends to sell anything is illegal.
Codes are slightly different for signs on private property and campaign signs.
I’d like to recommend something. How about your permit for your sign include the information of who posted the sign and the dates it will be posted, and it should be required that a copy of that permit (4×5 size card or so) be attached to the back of every sign posted.
If you post without a permit or fail to remove by the date on the permit, you are fined.
What a joke! In these troubling times, our leaders are worried about signs? This is almost as bad as the fortune-telling issue. These idiots should be removed from office and banned from public service for wasting taxpayer time and money.
This is the meat of what local government does, and thankfully so.
Too many people run around thinking everyone who gets elected to office is a millionaire, should solve all their problems, save the world, and put a man on Mars.
Sometimes, most of the time, it’s about signs and parking codes.
Isn’t the problem a lack of enforcement of the current laws, as opposed to the need for new ones? Just a thought…
since we live in a social media world now, smaller issues like these are easy to post and reach a consensus on. I like it. I think there should be a fine for putting those consarned signs all over the place, although I am thinking about the guy who can clean my gutters.
Anyone else seen all the stupid signs in ONE area asking for volunteers for the VFC. I mean sure its a good idea but putting 15-20 of them in a 20ft area? STUPID
Will be happy to remove the eyesores, especially the “Buy you House for Cash – Scam Signs” and the “Cash for Gold – Ripoff signs”
Here’s your sign.
I own a sign company Havre de Grace. Those road side signs are often referred to as bandit signs, since they usually disappear. I wish there were a way they could be regulated. For non-profits especially, this is one of the least expensive ways to advertise.
in the meantime im sure you will continue to produce those signs regardless of how “little” the profit
In this economy I do whatever I can to make a profit, but I do make the client aware of the bandit sign issues in this county. I always suggest they get permission to put it on private property. So there Mr. Snarky.
My intention was not to offend. Im glad to hear you make the purchaser aware of the “bandit” sign issue. Unfortunately, im sure the sign posters such as 1-800-GotJunk and like could care less about blocking the line of sight of someone attempting to merge into traffic whether the sign is posted on private or state property……..Mr. Snarky
Do you also advise them not to put the signs on public property?
They are regulated. They are prohibited. Problem is that there is a small set of people who don’t care, and just go on trashing our roadsides.
UPDATE: The press event scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. with County Executive David R. Craig and Director of Planning & Zoning Pete Gutwald regarding the Volunteer Illegal Sign Removal Program has been CANCELED and will be rescheduled for October 13, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.
More details will be forthcoming.
I have personally taken well over 100 signs off the side of the road in the span of a week. Ryan Homes, Toll Bros, Cash for Cars, Gardiner Furniture, I take them all. Heck, I have driven a block behind the Ryan homes guy and taken them 60 seconds after he staked them. It’s litter, pure and simple.
That said, does anyone need any garden stakes? Thats about the only good use I can find for them (well, that and hanging targets for bow shooting).
Start fining these people – anyone else remember Rommel Crabtree? I miss that guy.
Fines will work… for Baltimore County its has been done…. $250 per day per sign
Apparently, “PBC” you have a lot of time on your hands to stalk the Ryan Homes guy…so why didn’t you pick up all the real trash along those roads as well? A few months ago on a Saturday afternoon, I took a bunch of teenagers to the Abingdon Walmart corridor to pick up trash along the road. We didn’t even make it down to BJ’s and I had already had a pickup bed FULL of trash. Apparently real trash doesn’t seem to bother you or anyone else, but the yard signs do?
I do think that all signs should be done for a specific event, with a specific time-frame with a permit and permission to post in specific areas. That would help get rid of the homemade signs and those companies just trying to get the cheap ads out there. That will help cut down on 95% of the signage out there, while still allowing people like realtors and non-profits to advertise for their one day events. Although I personally find the signs mildly annoying because there are too many of them in some areas, I do read them if I am stopped at a light and I don’t see where they are a hazard to driving….my wife is 5′ tall and does not have a problem with any “obstructing” her vision, etc. What does bother me is all the trash people leave all over the place. Just because our community has highway sponsors, does not mean we have the right to litter everything up for volunteers to have to pick up after us; do people do this at home and if so, who picks up their mess there?
Volunteer hours in our community can be much better spent really helping to make a difference and investing in our community – not picking up after lazy residents.
It’s called Adopt-A-Road.
This is just for signs. No reason you can’t have both.
True, but I am guessing my point was being missed. There are much bigger problems out there to deal with, especially now when we have so many hungry and homeless (especially children) in our community. Good people about to lose their homes, etc.
The volunteers in our community should not be picking up trash; everyone should be cleaning up their own mess. (And our group was independent, not part of the Adopt a Road project). There are hundreds of wonderful non-profits in Harford County that could really use help, but instead, people have to waste their time on this stuff all because people don’t follow the law (illegal signs) and are too lazy to pick up after themselves (the trash).
Well I agree with that. Some of us spend far too much time, and sometimes money, cleaning up and wiping the butts of all the little cry babies out there.
Is it legal for someone who is not part of this organized effort to take down signs in the median or at intersections? Could I (a taxpayer) actually get in trouble for removing something from state or county (i.e. taxpayer-owned) property?
I would not recommend it, if only for the reason that I wouldn’t want the actions of an individual to call into question the entire program. I would just sign up to volunteer.
But legally speaking, unless it’s a campaign sign, I don’t see how you can get in any legal trouble. If there’s a sign in right of way public property, it’s not supposed to be there, period.
And so the vigilantes begin… I pass through the intersection of Ring Factory and MacPhail on my way to work. I noticed that there was a sudden ‘sprouting’ of about 20 of the bandit signs on the wire stakes on all four corners. This morning they were all down…but they were thrown in the street, on the sidewalk and into lawn areas. What a mess.
Unreal HCPSTEacher10….that saddens me….there is always someone in the bunch that ruins it for the rest of us.
That’s too bad. It was made clear that volunteers are to collect the signs and take them to a specific drop point, where the County is supposed to recycle or dispose of them.
Is removing a sign that is on private property is considered stealing.
^^^^Opps, an extra “is” and a fogotten question mark (?)
I know Rommell Crabtree and his family very well. Darn signs grow around here like weeds. Does anyone know where I can read or obtain a copy of this sign law? The county has been fighting this stuff since 1994, but the way traffic is around here lately it would be hazardous to have volunteers go out and take down signs. Perhaps an incentive to do this – like take 25 junk signs to the Scarsboro landfill and waive the $5 tipping fee for your regular trash. Just a thought.
Hey all,
I believe the law regarding signs is under MD Code, Natural Resources, Section 5-407(c), which states, “A person, without first obtaining the written consent of the owner, may not paint, put, or fix any advertisement, sign, notice, or other writing, other than a notice posted pursuant to law, on or to any stone, tree, fence, stump, pole, building, or other structure which is in or upon either the public highway or property of another, or procure, direct, or induce the painting, fixing, or placing of the advertisement or sign.”
This may or may not be the code, but it is the code I found through my research, as briefly conducted as it was.
I do not profess to be an expert on the subject and I am not offering legal advice. Were it me, I would not remove any signs placed in or on public property as it might be considered theft. Simply because property(sign) is left in a certain location does not mean it is abandoned and as such, the rightful owner may still hold title to the property(sign). If this is the case, the taking or removing of the sign might in fact be theft.
Also, in reading this law, and laws relating to this, such as right-of-way laws, I would imagine there are questions as to if the sign is placed on land that is right-of-way, what are the specific terms of the easement for the right of way, if any.
If the property is private, did the sign placer obtain permission? If not, it is possible the sign placer trespassed.
I think I might also be concerned with the need for a permit, as the law does not state it requires a permit, simply permission. I think a permit might be required in some places/instances, but I have not found any laws/codes/rules regarding the requirement to obtain a permit (though I did not conduct an extensive search on this).
One final thing I find interesting is the particular wording of the code. As these signs are not affixed to anything specifically mentioned in the code, I think an argument could be made that as the signs are self standing, the code might not apply. However, I doubt a court would rule that way, as one could also argue the metal stakes used to hold the signs are poles and/or based on the concept of ejusdem generis, the stakes that hold the signs would fall into the same class as the others mentioned in the code for affixing signs.
Anyways, have a nice day.
Paul Mc
To further complicate things, what if the posters actually do have written permission? How would the removers know that? Would there be consequences for removing a properly-posted sign from private property?
Not my signs, and not my property, so I really don’t care one way or the other. It’s an interesting situation though.
No volunteer is going to enter onto private property for any reason (except being confused I supposed). But anyone can call DPW to report a sign on private property.
The volunteers in this program will only remove signs on public property.
Section 267-33 of the zoning code covers definition and placement of signs. It can be found on teh county’s website at http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/PlanningZoning/Download/975.pdf .
Most of the signs seen along 24 and 1 and 152 are illegal.
…. and all balloons on mailboxes for birthday parties will be popped and cut loose as well lololol