Are you one of the many local residents who allow candidates to place their political signs on your property?
As more and more signs pop up like brightly-colored weeds on the landscape throughout the area, here are some rules and regulations about where these signs can be placed on your property.
Here are three reminders from the Michigan Department of Transportation:
- Candidates must ask permission to place signs on their property, and those signs must be removed 10 days following the election. The primary date is Aug. 7, and I’ll let you do the math.
- Signs must be placed more than 30 feet from the edge of the roadway and they can’t block sight lines of intersections or commercial driveways.
- The signs can’t have steel or wooden posts.
In addition, the Washtenaw County Road Commission has published a brochure on the topic, (and no, they can’t help you when it comes to allegations of sign thefts, which happen every election season).
However, according to the Road Commission’s sign removal policy brochure: road crews have been directed to remove any or all signs that “are judged to be a distraction or traffic hazard and are illegally placed within the road rights-of-way.”
It’s all about safety.
So, here are three reminders from the Road Commission:
- Place your signs behind sidewalks or utility poles
- If there aren’t utility poles or sidewalks, signs should be a minimum of 33 feet from the center of a 2-lane road or 60-feet from the center of a 3-or-more lane road.
- Removed signs will be disposed of immediately and will no longer be kept at the Road Commission.
Here’s the complete Road Commission brochure.
And, since this is just the first cycle of this year’s election season – the general election is Nov. 6 – here’s a site that will help you with additional campaign sign questions.
