Yard sign regulations strictly enforced
City ordinance can make advertising your summer sale tricky
4:19 p.m. Friday, May 16, 2008
This video requires the free QuickTime plug-in.
"All of a sudden, within the past year or so, they've been taken," says Mary Jo Amirault.
She is gearing up for her neighborhood's annual garage sale. It's been a tradition for these neighbors for thirteen years. But they don't like the fact their garage sale signs are being taken.
Resident Jo Ann Michael says, "One time, they took our big sign down at the end of the street and I chased a guy down to get it back."
But it wasn't a vandal she chased down. It was a city employee. Neighbors all over Topeka say the City has stepped up its effort to crack down on sign ordinance violators. Signs found in the easement are being taken and a $30 fine will get them back.
According to city ordinance, temporary signs need to be ten to twelve feet away from the street. One "For Sale by Owner" sign is less than eight feet away.
Yard sign alternatives
- Post a sign on your car
- Place an ad in the newspaper
- Put a listing in www.craigslist.org
- There are several Web sites where you can advertise your yard/garage sale. Google "garage sales" to get specific Web site information
Read the city ordinance concerning garage sales here.
But what really upsets neighbors is that signs like these are allowed to stay while their garage sale signs are getting yanked. Vicki Hearrel says she got permission from the thrift store to have their signs on this truck at 10th and Mac Vicar but she still got heat from a city employee.
"The city personnel came back and said we were going to get fined," Hearrel said.
Hearrel insists she didn't break any rules.
"I think it's wrong for the city to put something like that. The people who go to garage sales, they're not trying to do anything wrong," she says.
And these ladies worry their customers won't be able to find them without the signs to guide them.
"The sign police will come out and take your sign no matter where you've put it," says Amirault.
A spokesman for the City says there are three employees dedicated to pulling garage sale signs. And you're only allowed to have them out Thursday through Sunday.
Comments
Note: ktka.com does not necessarily condone the comments here, nor vouch for the factual claims made therein. Nor do we review every post.
May. 16, 2008 at 8:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)catskinner (anonymous)
that is our city, worried about a little ol' sign that might help people sell their unwanted items or people to find the sale of such items, but if you have a problem house in your neighborhood that CLEARLY does not meet city codes... and YES I and several other neighbors have called the city to report and complain about this house.. they (the city) will leave you high and dry. when did it become OK to use indoor paneling for OUTSIDE siding? when did it become OK to not paint the non-compliant shed you built? when did it become OK to build a cement block wall without ANY anchor system? wall already fell over due to weather HA HA but now it is a bigger mess... oh well, keep up the great work on removing those dangerous signs.
ps. KTKA, can YOU help find a solution to this eyesore and get our property values back on track?
May. 16, 2008 at 9:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)hemmer (anonymous)
If the city is concerned that signs are left after a garage sale, then wouldn't common sense tell you that in order to post a garage sale sign you must clearly write your address on the sign. Then if the sale is over and on Tuesday the sign is still up, the city can go to the house where the garage sale was and fine the owner or give them a warning. I agree some people forget to take their signs down, but the majority don't forget. First it was no signs on poles, then it was no street signs in front of the sidewalk, then it was supposed to be behind the sidewalk, now you can't even put a sign up in someone else's yard (even with permission) if they aren't having the sale. Does the City of Topeka have any common sense? It is just a matter of time before garage sales are outlawed. I am having a garage sale this summer, and I will get my message across one way or another that I am having a garage sale. Ha. I find it more annoying that people stand at intersections waving a "CAR WASH" sign in my face or stand there at an intersection collecting money or that homeless people wearing Nike shoes and new clothes are holding signs up at the entrance of Wal-Mart begging for money and the city doesn't do anything about that. There should be a law against that. No wonder no one wants to move here.
May. 16, 2008 at 10:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)kswx29 (anonymous)
That's the City of Topeka for you...all of the big problems persist while little non-problems get the spotlight. Code Compliance needs to take a stroll through my neighborhood and get REAL code violations rather then worrying about garage sell signs that will HELP some people get some extra cash.
May. 22, 2008 at 6:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)inetdr (anonymous)
Sounds More Like Russia Than America !!!!
3 Fulltime SS Officers To Guard against Signs.
What A shame. Why Don't Voters Elect Some Better
Represenatives ???
Post a comment
(Requires free registration.)