Friday, May 7, 2010

Why are so many yellow signs littering our roadways?

Why do we see so many of these faded yellow signs all around town?   This one was up over two years before the city finally removed it.  
Last year, the city spent months on end writing a new sign ordinance to mitigate commercial sign pollution, but they do nothing about these old land use signs.  Why?  Do some of these signs bother you? 
They serve a useful purpose to notify residents of a new project underway.  But, seldom are they taken down once the project is over.  We have to live with this "litter". 
The city is so good at keeping our streets, parks and boulevards clean.  So, what's gone wrong here?  Part of the problem is the burden of  removing land use signs is left to the developers.   By city code they are supposed to remove the signs within two weeks after the project's "Final Decision".  But, the developer isn't required to remove the signs within a reasonable time.  We are left with the litter.
Personally, I don't mind the yellow and large white signs being up a little longer so we all can  know "something is going on."   But, to leave them up for months on end is "too much information".  The sign in this photo was staked for years on RED-WOOD Road and NE 90th St. at the Bella Bottega entrance.  It was finally removed after a citizen called Steve Fischer, in Planning and Community Development.  Does this sign pollution bother you?
Opinion By Bob Yoder
Photo by Yoder 

5 comments:

  1. Yes it does. The developer should remove it as indicated in your entry. There should be some fines involved so that the developer is motivated to make sure signs are down or that the fines pay for a city employes time in removing them. The city planning department will be onsite at least in the early stages of the development and can remove them then.

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  2. I agree, the developer and city should do these things but most of the time they don't.

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  3. The bigger question is: Why can't the city put this info online in some sort of mapping system (e.g. Google Maps)? No one can read the content from more than two feet away, and it would be nice to able to look things up!

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  4. Sounds more like something to type for the sake of thinking your website has some sort of value. Why not write important articles that affect residents of the city instead of your personal agenda.

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  5. I think this IS an issue worthy of the posting and discussion. Those signs are supposed to inform interested parties about changes so that they know their opportunities to comment in support or object. Many times I have parked my car and walked over to the sign to read about the proposed change only to find the sign illegible and the bin holding the flyers empty. Can't the city find an economical and effective way to make this information available? Perhaps they could post a URL on the sign that would permit me to view the information on-line and even post comments at that time.

    The city has made substantial investments in the city web site and other IT tools and they should use them to improve access to information such as this. Ben2K had a great suggestion to add these locations to an on-line map where we could view proposed changes in our neighborhood or other areas of interest.

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