Sign, signs, everywhere signs (but not for long)

My father has always had a lot of causes, but chief among them would be the annoying roadside signs that pop up all over the community. By default, this is one of my pet peeves as well.

These annoying signs started littering the area in the late 80s and early 90s when there was a lot of new home construction. Each developer tried to outdo the next with a larger, more fluorescent sign, leading potential buyers toward its development and promises of a free bonus room.

More recently, it's not the developer signs that have become an issue but rather the "work at home," "meet singles in your area," and "need a mortgage" signs that proliferate every corner. Oh, and of course the "100 signs for $100" sign is all over the place.

Over the years my father has made it his personal mission to remove these signs at any opportunity. They're not just an eyesore, you see, but also a traffic hazard. In addition to making it distracting and difficult to see around busy intersections, the signs also fall into disrepair and cars can pop a tire by accidentally hitting a warped wood post or metal insert laying in the street. (Yes, I've actually done this.)

The signs themselves, located in the public right-of-way, have actually been illegal for quite a while. By county code, each sign is subject to a $500 per day fine. The problem is that the code only allowed a county inspector to remove the signs and as you might have guessed, they didn't exactly do that.

It's this long history of fighting the illegally-placed signs that makes a recent action by the Baltimore County Council all the more sweet. Finally, the council has taken a non-developer oriented stance and will allow citizens to legally remove these illegally placed signs.

So watch out illegal signs: Your days are numbered. And I can see the back of my father's van filling up very quickly these days.