“What this country needs is a good five‑cent cigar.”
Thomas Marshall, vice president under Woodrow Wilson
What this community needs is a good, strong, and fair ordinance that will permanently eliminate the illegal yard signs that keep appearing along our streets and roadways.
I have railed about these signs for years and apologize for bringing it up again. As spring approaches, yard signs seem to sprout as voraciously as dandelions, especially at major intersections and subdivision entrances.
Despite a reasonable and comprehensive sign ordinance that covers the entire county, many of its provisions are not routinely enforced—particularly the prohibition of non‑governmental signs in public rights‑of‑way and the requirement to remove signs from closed businesses.
Some signs are even stapled or nailed to wooden utility poles. Those poles are private property, and placing a sign on one is no different from placing a sign in someone’s yard.
The ordinance requires signs from closed businesses to be removed within 45 days (Section 11.7.K), yet many remain for months. Frisch’s and KU are recent examples.
What is troubling about the proliferation of yard signs is that so many individuals and companies are either unaware of the prohibitions or simply ignore them. And the number of people willing to remove illegal signs is far outnumbered by those who want to put them up. Yard sale signs, in particular, often remain long after the event has ended.
Most recently, a lawn‑care company placed numerous signs at various intersections, including Colby and McClure Roads—the intersection that routinely attracts the most signs each year.
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Surely the legal counsel for the City Commission and Fiscal Court can craft an enforceable and fair ordinance to curb this abuse, perhaps by imposing a $25 fine for each illegally placed sign. Fines could be assessed against the address of a yard sale or the company named on the sign. To prevent a flood of signs, the fine should apply to each individual sign.
Some signs advertise worthy causes, but they too must be subject to the same rules. There are many ways to advertise; littering the landscape with these hideous signs is not one of them.
And to be clear, political signs placed in public rights‑of‑way are not exempt. We will surely see an abundance of them before the November election.
In the meantime—and given the likelihood that we will never have an enforceable ordinance—private citizens are encouraged to remove these signs whenever they appear. They are illegal and amount to nothing more than roadway detritus.
