‘Litter on a stick’ comes under fire from county citizen
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Signs like this one on at the corner of Highway 431 and County Road 814 near Cantrell’s gas station are illegal on roadside public property.
One concerned Randolph County citizen has had enough of roadside advertising signs, and wants the county to crack down on what she called “Litter on a stick.”
Patt High addressed the Randolph County Commission at Thursday’s workshop meeting and showed a short video with multiple images of signs placed on public rights-of-way. Such placement of signs is illegal.
“Painting, roofing, lawncare, landscaping, internet,” High said. “They’re taking over ownership of the corners.”
High seemed ready to take matters into her own hands, while also asking for the cooperation of county law enforcement.
“So my question is, can citizens continue to pick up such litter all year round? Or do we need to call a deputy to cite the sign’s owners for littering. I personally have reported littering on County Road 123 a year or two ago,” she said.
Roadside advertisement signs have become more apparent in recent months due to the political campaigns leading up to the state’s primary election last month. Many of those signs are still in place – on public rights-of-way – even though the candidates they represent are either no longer running or have been elected.
State law explicitly prohibits political signs on public rights-of-way in Randolph County. Advertising signs are also prohibited on public roadside property statewide. Violations of the Randolph County law can bring a fine of $50-$250. The laws also prohibit attaching signs to power poles.
High pointed out that many of the signs have phone numbers and business names on them, which should make it easy to track down the owners of the signs and cite them for the infraction.
“I would like you stop the sign brigade by posting a notice, perhaps on the Sheriff’s Facebook page,” High requested, “That says any signs that are not removed in the next two weeks, we’re going to take it down. And we’ll cite the owners if we have to take the signs down.”
Sheriff David Cofield was not at the Thursday meeting, but commissioners were receptive to High’s message.
“These people are abusing our county and just making us their trashcan,” she said.
