The yearly and very American tradition of yard sales is
under attack. An article in the Potomac
Local mentions a Virginia state law making it illegal to “place signs in
the right-of-way of all public roads.
These include signs placed on traffic signs, staked in the medians,
tacked on utility poles and nailed to fences.”
According to the Virginia
code if you paint, print, place, put or affix a sign or advertisement
within the limits of any highway you will be assessed a civil penalty of
$100. But that is not all. The Commissioner of Highways may also charge
you the cost of removing or obliterating the “public and private nuisance”. It does not mention what the cost will be.
But all is not lost! You
can still place a sign for your yard sale on your own property! You read that right, you can advertise the
yard sale with a sign on your property because otherwise people passing by will
not be able to determine you are having a yard sale. But wait, Prince William County has enacted
regulations on the size of sign you can place on your property. No sign
greater than two square feet shall be erected without a sign permit being
issued by a zoning administrator.
According to the Prince William County municipal code,
an individual requesting a sign permit must place a deposit or guarantee of at
least $50. They must provide a “scale
drawing of the sign showing all dimensions, height, copy, colors, type of
material, structural and architectural supports or backgrounds, method and
hours of illumination, and a scaled location plan of the site. In order to advertise your yard sale with a
sign larger than two square feet you must call up the zoning administrator
(hope he answers), send him all of the details of the sign and then have him perform
a site visit to approve of the sign.
The most shocking part of this regulation, it is not even
enforced. Upon a phone conversation with
the sign inspector, I was informed the regulation is only enforced if someone
reports the violation (highly unlikely as most people probably do not even know
about the regulation) and then the sign inspector will be dispatched to inspect
the disturbance call. Upon arrival the
sign has already been removed and there is nothing for the inspector to do.
This leads me to ask whether this regulation is even
necessary. My view is the regulation is
absolutely pointless, but also unjust.
The government is infringing on your property rights by telling you what
you can put on it and even how you can put it up if they do approve of letting
you put it on your property. The
government should step away and allow individuals to do what they want with the
property they own. Because after all if
the government is allowed to tell you what to do with your property is it
really yours?
It's not just government, HOAs enact even stricter restrictions on signs in neighborhoods. There are more than a few neighborhoods in PWC that allow no signs whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteSome HOA regulations are pretty silly, but the difference between HOAs and zoning regulations is that HOA agreements are a private contract between the housing community and the homeowner. Also, given the size of your average HOA community, its a lot easier to address disagreements and bad regulations.
DeleteGovernments steal that choice from you, and god forbid you try to challenge it. You'll either go broke in regulatory and legal fees or die of high blood pressure.
HOA's are just as contractual as local government is. By choosing to live in the community you have to join and be subject to the HOA, just like you have to be subject to the local government of the county you move into.
DeleteGod forbid you try not joining the HOA, or obeying them. Same thing could be said of the result as the last sentence of your last comment John. Both are a form of government that is often overlooked and needs to be fought.
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DeleteIt is exeptionally rare that a community will form an HOA if one is not already in place. Government, by its very definition is prone to more intrusive regulation over time regardless of the will of its citizens. Just look at whats going on in Fauqier, a county that not too long ago prided itself on being agriculture-friendly.
DeleteYou can pretty much count on a non-HOA community staying that way unless the entire community wants one, which hardly ever happens. The same cannot be said about government regulations. So if you buy a property with the intent on keeping some of your work equipment on it because current county code allows for it, you have virtually no say in the matter if the local government changes its mind. Government is a heck of a lot harder to fight or change leadership than an HOA.
We can argue that its still a voluntary contract to stay there, but not everyone can just pick up and move to a different county.
The problem, John, is that there actually ARE people in this county who will complain! These folks seem to think they have the right your property as well as their own. Thats why we have such intrusive zoning regulations here to begin with.
ReplyDeleteIt is not Prince William County. It is a state code. If you had even a glimmer of an idea how much litter, destruction of property, replacement cost for the posts, poles, light fixtures, fences, damage to landscape, etc. that we all pay for, perhaps you'd consider the whole picture.
ReplyDeleteYou can put your yard sale signs in your yard. You can't put them on county, state or someone else' private property.
Last night, PWC hosted a class for residents to educate them. There is a class for business Wednesday morning, May 1 at 10:30 AM at DSB, Room 202.
I hope you'll be there..
Connie, I mention pretty clearly the right-of-way regulation is in the Virginia Code.
DeleteThe point of the article is how the county through yard sign regulations is able to tell you what you can and can't put on your own yard on 'private' property.
Hello, John Trent. We haven't met, yet, but we have some friends in common :-)
DeleteWe have "intrusive" regulations regarding property rights because left to their own devices, neighbors will put anything and everything on their property if there is no HOA to tell them otherwise.
I understand the logic in saying, "It's my property...I can put anything I want on it", but that logic does not work well in older neighborhoods where people are packed like fish in a barrel and one neighbor's "rights" affect another neighbor's "rights".
I've had debate with folks like Tom Fitzpatrick, John Bonich, Al Alborn and Bill Golden, as well as numerous county officials, politicians and policy makers.
I realize I am unable to change anyone's mind by the written word, but i would be happy to meet you anytime, tour my community and let me show you the world from my side of the fence.