$500 Fine for Directional Signs

What is your take on Directional Signs?

The City of Bellingham has an ordinance against the use of directional signs within the city limits. Directional signs are only allowed to advertise open houses during the hours of the open house event.

Why would the City of Bellingham have an ordinance against the use of directional signs?

The City of Bellingham has an ordinance against the use of directional signs because there are simply too many signs. Directional signs are multiplying on our street corners and they are not being removed when home are taken off the market. There are currently 542 residential homes for sale within the city's limits. If every listed home had 4 directional signs, we would have over 2,000 signs on the corners our streets.

Most real estate agents have agreed to follow the ordinance. However, there are a handful of real estate agents that still pound directional signs into the ground for every home they have listed. It seems that the biggest violators often put up five or six directional signs to cover every corner.

There is one company in our city that has taken the use of directional signs to a new level. Their directional signs are very bright colors and have a lot of text on them, which really makes them stand out. This company often puts 5 or 6 directional signs up for every listing and leaves them up until someone else eventually takes them down.

The problem with the City of Bellingham's directional sign ordinance is that there is currently no enforcement.

Real estate agents ultimately have a choice to blatantly disregard the City's rules, or do the right thing. Some of this falls on sellers that are unaware of the ordinance and ask their real estate agent to use directional signs. Some of this falls on the selfishness of a handful of real estate agents that chose to litter our streets.

The City of Sammamish has been very proactive with directional signs.

On November 26^th 2007, The City of Sammamish contacted the Seattle-King County Association of REALTORS® informing real estate agents that future violations of the real estate sign code will be fined $500 per sign per day. The City of Sammamish chose to be very aggressive with their fines to help clean up their directional sign problem. I believe that The City of Sammamish has taken a step in the right direction on this issue and I encourage other cities to consider fining violators.

Does your city have an ordinance prohibiting directional signs?

Ryan Martin, e-Pro®, Realtor® - 360-319-0040

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