Signs, Signs, Everywhere A Sign

AVON PARK - All this week, April Hartseil has been driving up and down Highlands County's roads in a white, six-year-old, county-owned Ford Ranger, stopping to pick up signs.

Four code enforcement officers are joining her and the rest of the state in a statewide cleanup, Hartseil said.

On Wednesday, she patrolled Nine Mile Grade and County Road 621, between U.S. 98 and S.R. 70.

"I must have pulled up 60 signs," Hartseil said.

Which meant Wednesday was not an eight-hour day.

"I must have put in 11 hours, but I got in a few inspections along the way," Hartseil said.

Saturday is a statewide cleanup day. Several agencies are participating in the second annual National Code Compliance month.

"I intend to do Highway 27," Hartseil planned. "It's too busy during the week, jumping in and out of the truck."

Hartseil calls illegal signs "snipes."

"They're tacked, nailed or glued to utility poles, but they're against state regulations," Hartseil said. So are the garage sale signs in the medians and the corners of highways.

Prohibited uses of the right-of-way are display advertising, solicitations - even for charities - of free merchandise, goods, property, services, storage, servicing or non-emergency repair of vehicles, said Gloria Rybinski, a public relations specialist for Highlands County.

"They're a distraction to motorists," Hartseil said.

Utility companies dislike signs nailed to their utility poles because the holes open a pathway to insects, rot and disease.

Allowed uses of the rights-of-way include art festivals, parades, fairs or other special events, with a permit from the county or city government, Rybinski said.

Unauthorized use of the public right-of-way is prohibited by Florida law. Illegal use of the right-of-way is a violation of Highlands County Code of Ordinance 12.14.303. Each day a violation continues is a separate offense of Florida Statue 337.406. Violators can be fined $500 a day and imprisoned up to 6 months in jail, Rybinski said.

For more information, or to file a complaint, call 402-6641.