Volunteers Coveted for Illegal Sign Issue in San Angelo

Yesterday, at City Council, James Flores, Neighborhood Services Assistant Director, appeared before the City Council to once more discuss the issue of illegally placed signs—a request brought forth by one of the council members.

Flores said in light of recent conversations about these illegally placed signs, he wanted to bring forth some of the issues his department is dealing with in regards to portable and temporary signs. Also, the goal of the discussion, Flores said, was not to talk about simply citing people for these signs, but rather finding a way to get concerned citizens who have issue with them to possibly come forth and help deal with the problem. At this time, there are only six city employees dealing with a city full of 100,000 people—many of whom continue to put up signs illegally.

“That is a constant battle throughout the city for staff,” Flores said.

To elaborate on what his staff deals with, Flores provided some visual images of current signs across the city that has prompted an eyesore for some residents, so they continue to call Flores and members of City Council to complain, hence the reason for Tuesday’s discussion.

“This continues to be a problem,” Flores explained. “We are aware of it. We’re working for heightened awareness with internal departments. Obviously, we blitzed the media.”

When the conversation first came up, Flores said he wanted to bring awareness to the city through use of media and by utilizing the City’s website. Our story on the topic can be found here.

Despite that blitz, however, signs continue to be a problem. Flores said there are problems with portable signs that include plastic material. They’re not fixed to the ground, and must go through a permit process, Flores said. Also, there are issues with temporary signs not fixed to a structure or a ground. These signs are allowed on private property as long as they meet the setback requirements.

Flores highlighted these examples by showing images of lost pet signs, business signs, and of course, candidate signs.

“Tis’ the season,” said Councilwoman Elizabeth Grindstaff, SMD5.

Flores said recommended fixes for this topic have come up a couple of times beginning mid-summer of last year. He said City code officers have incorporated heightened enforcement with the removal of signs and will begin citing individuals who break the ordinance. Bob Salas, director of Neighborhood Services, has also asked for assistance from the the San Angelo Police Department. Flores asked council members if they would like to enforce a volunteer effort.

“We’d be more than happy to support that opportunity,” he said.

Before addressing Flores’ request, a couple of council members provided their thoughts on the nuisance of signs.

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Grindstaff said, “I am regularly reminded of all the illegal signs placed in the public right of way by some of my Facebook friends. And I think we all know, in fact, that they are inappropriate.”

She said she has also heard where Flores’ staff goes out, removes the sign, and reminds the person who put the sign up what the law is.

“That’s good, and I have complete respect for that, but the fact is, in a city with 100,000, we have a lot more people putting up signs than taking them down,” Grindstaff noted. “I’m not sure what the answer is, but I do think we need to be more aggressive about reminding the public, and particularly these businesses that regularly do this. It’s not legal, and it’s not an aesthetic desire in our community.”

Grindstaff said she doesn’t have a solution, but the City needs to be vigilant in education and enforcement.

Flores said that is exactly the message his department wants to send to council, to be more vigilant in this capacity. Citations and accountability are important in this, he said; and people will call, but at the end of the day, there are 100,000 people and less of his staff to deal with this problem.

Grindstaff said she understands the limitations of Flores’ staff, and asked if they could deputize people or volunteers willing to help.

Flores said he believes there are people who can exist in that capacity and it’s not a hard ordinance to comprehend.

“I think it’s something we can educate a couple of folks on,” he said. He added that many people do call in a lot, and they are the ones who can help. This is an easy fix with community effort, and the volunteer base has been vigilant.

In his response to the discussion of signs and the penalties associated with them, Mayor Morrison reiterated points he has made in the past. He said oil is down $30 or less a barrel, and there are people already scrambling around to find a minimum-wage job to keep families together.

“A lot of these garage sales are for survival,” he said. “I’ve been in that position where I had to sell something I didn’t want to so I could make a house payment and buy some groceries. So they put a sign on a pole, and it’s not pretty. But it’s possible that is the only thing these people have to survive and support themselves. I look at the lost pet signs. These are people who’ve lost a family member. They put up a sign. Yes, it is illegal, but there is a reason for this.”

Morrison continued and said he looks at campaign signs, and those are seasonal. He noted that there are already laws in place that prevent these signs from being put in a public right of way.

“We already have these laws,” he reiterated. “We’re looking at bigger punishment possibly? Bigger fines? Because that’s the end to all of this. Why should we hurt our citizens when they are already hurting?”

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Morrison added that there’s people trying to survive and the last thing they’re worrying about are signs posted on a telephone poll. Thus, he said he would vote against any sign control as he has done in the past 13 years.

“But, you bring back what you want,” said Morrison. “There is already a law in place, and we’re trying to set up more rules, and more fines, and more prohibitions, and the end result to all of this is a fine. It’s a citation.”

Flores said the conversation originally started with finding ways to manage the problem, which means taking them down, and that takes volunteer effort.

“We’re not asking for a fine dollar amount,” he said. “This process can become more heightened so people can become aware and a recipient of that conversation. The gist of this is to figure out how we can clean up the city of the trash left behind in this capacity. And that might just be through volunteer effort. I think we can coordinate that. I like volunteer and comply over citing any day.”

Grindstaff said many people are passionate about animals and garage sales, but there are a lot of business signs that are an eye sore to the city.

“That’s for profit entities putting that out, so I want us to be consistent,” she said. Grindstaff also said she wants those people who do care about their community to know that council members care about their interests as well. However, the general public can also go and pull down signs to help with this problem.

If people wish to volunteer and do just that, they can contact James Flores at (325)657-4409.