Help clean up Broadlands/Loudoun

County of Loudoun News Release

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March 30, 2009 Loudoun County to Launch Volunteer Program to Remove Illegal Signs


Loudoun County recently entered into an agreement with the Commonwealth of Virginia obtaining approval to remove illegally placed signs from within the right-of-ways located in the county.

The Code of Virginia prohibits advertising within the limit of any highway, which includes the roadway, shoulders, and median strips. Penalties for placing such illegal signs can include the removal of the advertisement, a $100 fine, and having to pay the costs of removal. Businesses that routinely place illegal signs in right-of-ways could be subject to injunctive actions through the court to prevent their continued placement of illegal signs.

Loudoun County is using existing staff resources for this effort and is also issuing a call for volunteers to supplement the program. Before a volunteer is eligible to collect illegal signs, the volunteer must attend an orientation/safety briefing and agree to adhere to the program guidelines. The first briefing will be held on Monday, April 27, 2009, at 6:30 p.m. in the Board Room of the Loudoun County Government Center, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., in Leesburg.

The pilot program will run through June 30, 2009, at which time staff will report back to the Board of Supervisors on the effectiveness of the program efforts and will receive direction on continuing the effort.

In addition to the call for volunteers, the county is also requesting cooperation from the private sector in curtailing the placement of illegal advertisements along the county roadways.

For additional information, please contact Keith Fairfax, Zoning Enforcement Program Manager at 703-777-0397 or by e-mail at keith.fairfax@loudoun.gov.

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Contact: Keith Fairfax, Zoning Enforcement Program Manager, 703-777-0397

 

Hubby & I have a couple of dozen signs in our garage (we do not take the real estate signs) so should we just drop off the signs to Keith Fairfax office?

Top Kick & the Bedding Store are the latest violators, we are pulling up their signs almost immediately after they put them at the 4-way intersection.

 

There will be more information as to the guidelines to follow at the meeting on Monday.

My plan is to render the sign unusable and return them to the owner for disposal. Maybe returning a large number of signs will ge the point across of how much money they are wasting.

Since this program is only temporary, the other alternative is to bring the signs to the Board of Supervisors meeting to drill home the point of this problem. There are several exisitng laws on the books that the county refuses to enforce:

See Section 8

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+33.1-369

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+33.1-373


In my opinion these signs cause a road hazard as a distraction to drivers, but more importantly they block the vision of drivers. Unfortunately it will take a major accident, and a lawsuit against the company, county, and state for failure to enforce existing laws design to protect the citizens.