Politics & Government

Ordinances will Limit How Long Signs Can Be Displayed For

Councilman Sadowski: 'Nobody wants these eyesores around town any longer than they need to be.'

Officials are enacting measures to limit how long signs with political- and advocacy-based messages, questions and public statements on them can be displayed. 

The council introduced two ordinances Wednesday stipulating that a “candidate, organization, group or citizen, or their designee,” who wants to put up any “temporary, non-commercial signs,” must first sign an information sheet and provide their contact information. 

“Now we’ll have a way of keeping track of who is responsible for those signs and to ensure that they are taken down in a timely manner,” said Councilman Al Sadowski, who is sponsoring the ordinances.

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The sheets will be available at the town clerk’s office and on the town’s Web site. Only one person will be responsible for a particular candidates’ or group’s signs.

Often, such signs are left up for weeks, or sometimes months, before and after an election or event. Residents may still place signs on their front or side yards provided they are not on a public right-of-way.

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Route 23, Ratzer Road and Hamburg Turnpike are just some of the thoroughfares that are littered with the signs, most often during a school board, primary or general election.

“Nobody wants these eyesores around town any longer than they need to be,” Sadowski said. “Sometimes they are found buried under the snow after a snowstorm.”

Candidates’ signs cannot be posted more than 30 days prior to any election and must be removed within seven days of the election occurring.

The ordinances will give individuals who post signs on public property 24 hours to remove them or be fined; it is illegal to post such signs on public property.

Temporary signs and banners erected by commercial entities will be permitted only after an application has been submitted to the Clerk’s office.

The council is expected to vote on the ordinances at its next meeting, Aug. 17.


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