Illegal sign enforcement begins in P. County
Posted by Jill Russell on August 12, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Tacoma Weekly archives
Illegally posted signs like these will be removed by Pierce County roads crews beginning today.
Although some cities, such as Fife, already have strict sign enforcement in place, the county has ramped up its own efforts. Road crews are set to begin removing illegally-placed signs in the right of way following the recent agreement involving Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy, the County Council, and Public Works and Utilities.
Illegal sign removal will begin county-wide today. The initial roundup is expected to take up to three weeks to complete to the tune of $95k taxpayer dollars per year.
After that, the worst intersections will be revisited monthly, and high volume arterial roads will be swept quarterly. As illegal sign volumes drop at any given location, the next worst spots will be targeted.
Brian Ziegler, director of Public Works and Utilities said this in a Pierce County press release:
"These private signs in the public's right of way are illegal and will be treated as roadside litter. As it is, this litter cleanup will cost taxpayers about $95,000 per year."
The initial goals of the program are to achieve compliance with sign laws, while maintaining safe conditions for motorists and pedestrians. All collected signs will be recycled, unlike last year when owners were given the opportunity to reclaim their signs.
Repeat offenders will receive written warnings and may be subject to citations and fines.
Find more Pierce County news at www.piercecountywa.org or twitter.com/pierceco.
