McCandless tweaking law to keep roadside signs farther from streets, driver sightlines

McCandless Council is poised to change a law it passed last year that was supposed to prevent temporary signs placed along roadways from becoming traffic hazards and litter.

At issue is the barrage of political campaign signs candidates place in the right of way along busy roads, intersections and interchanges as well as the year-round advertisements for things such as yard sales, concerts and dating services.

Signs currently are prohibited on public property but can be placed on private property — with the owner’s permission — if they are at least 3 feet from the curb or edge of the road.

But town officials say 3 feet is still too close to a road to prevent the signs from blocking the view of motorists.

“It (the sign ordinance) doesn’t seem to accomplish what we had hoped to accomplish,” council President Kim Zachary said during an Aug. 10 meeting.

She said litter, created when the signs fall, still fouls the landscape. A number of the placards made from plastic have been found covering stormwater drains. The metal wire used to erect the signs also can damage lawnmower blades, she said.

Town manager Bob Grimm recommended setting the minimum distance from the road at 10 feet to be sure that the signs are on private property because the width of rights of way can vary depending on when a road was constructed.

Councilman David Smith suggested setting the distance at 5 feet to ensure that the town does not interfere with a property owner’s right to put a sign up on their land.

To address the safety and litter problem, which is compounded when mowers turn fallen signs into confetti that can’t be picked up, Councilwoman Shelly Sponholz said the distance “needs to be more like 18 feet” from the roadway.

After discussion, council appeared to lean toward creating a so-called “safe harbor” area that would require signs be at least 7 feet from roadways. That number, however, could change in the final draft, officials said.

The need to set a distance from the road is due, in part, to the fact that many people who own property that abuts a highway don’t know where their land ends and the public right of way begins, said town attorney Gavin Robb.

And in many instances, public and private property lines overlap, which means the town has some control over how that area can be used.

“If anyone knows where the right of way ends they can put it (the sign) right up to it and they’ll be fine,” he said.

But in practical terms, the ordinance needs to provide a clear guideline for where people can place a sign, the solicitor said.

“The idea here is to ensure … that we’re not interfering with any kind of sight triangles when people are coming up on an intersection because these signs are too close to the roads,” Robb said. “We’re trying to use a common sense approach to enforcement. We’re not going to go neighborhood to neighborhood with a measuring stick.”

A requirement that written notice of a violation be given before the town issues a citation also is being added to the law. Violators still could face a fine of as much as $300, but language that calls for that fine to be levied for each sign on each day it is in violation is being scrubbed from the ordinance.

The revisions will be reviewed by council at a public meeting before a date is scheduled to vote on the measure.