Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Signs! Signs! Everywhere there's signs!

. Wednesday, June 07, 2006



One of the hot topics here in Chesterfield County is illegal signs. These are those “temporary” signs that are stuck in the ground or nailed to a tree advertising the local pizza joint, nail salon, or affordable health insurance. Chesterfield County has been experiencing tremendous growth over the last several years so there are tons of new businesses popping up left and right. These signs are cheap and effective advertising. It also makes the community look like shit! People are starting to complain and writing letters to the editor for something to be done.

The way the process currently works depends on the type of road it’s on (whether it’s owned by the County or by VDOT). If I remember correctly, I think the County is proactive while VDOT relies on people to report illegal signs. For the County, the business is first given a warning to take down the sign. The next time, the County will take down the sign and there’s a $100 fine for each sign. Obviously, it’s cheaper and more effective for these businesses to pay the fine than to advertise through traditional methods (newspapers, radio, tv, etc). The County needs to levy stiffer fines to take away the incentive for posting these illegal signs.

I feel sorry for the losers I see every night on the way home who wave the Little Caesar’s Pizza signs on the side of the road. They’re almost always waving the sign with one hand while playing games are messing around with their cell phone with their other hand.

7 comments:

Greeneyezz said...

Hey,

just wanted to say

Thank You.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure if the people holding the signs are losers - they're just trying to make some money. No way I'd want that job, though! Blah!

Anonymous said...

dk I'm with you, and boo, that is not nice calling them losers, most are just kids trying to earn a buck, which I give them a lot of credit for as they are not sitting around doing nothing and also not too proud to take that job!

I'd hate it too but I sure wouldn't call them losers. Boo, remember soon, if not already, your little boy is going to be listening to everything you say.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Boo!

I'm with you. Why, just the other day, I called our township about a bunch of those "free advertising" signs I think of as "litter". There get to be so many, especially at some rural corners, that they obstruct the view of oncoming traffic.

Anyhow, within half an hour, I received a return phone call, notifying me that the signs had been removed. And the township even thanked me for informing them!

They should tie the offenders to poles and hand out rotten vegetables, so the rest of us can throw them... kinda like the rocks, ancient civilizations and today's Muslims use.... Maybe even hand out slingshots to the rest of us. You bikers could try to hit 'em on the fly, like the Indians used to do from the backs of their ponies. ;-) I'd pay to watch that...

Mohawk Chieftain said...

Hey! I'm not "Anonymous"; I'm a "Mohawk Chieftain".

Stoopid Server....

Anonymous said...

Boo,
I'd have to agree with gwen and DK that using the term "loser" is rather harsh.

That aside, I hate the fact that Lil Ceasars is even allowed to have kids standing on the sidewalk waving these signs...it blocks my line of vision as I'm trying to pull out of the shared parking lot and it is just plain dangerous for the kids.

Now you have me wondering why code enforcement has never addressed the issue of the kids & signs as other temporary signs are prohibited.

Boo said...

You gotta admit that holding a sign is a pretty lame job.