The Hernando County Commission is headed in the right direction on revisions to its sign ordinance.
The current ordinance forbids transient signs like the ones that advertise yard sales and Realtors' open houses. The Code Enforcement Office has proposed easing the restrictions to accommodate those uses, but without opening the door for visual clutter.
The changes are reasonable and enforceable, and the commission should be eager to implement them.
The amended ordinance would allow signs to be erected on private property, as long as the landowner does not object, including so-called "directional" signs that guide motorists from busier roads into neighborhoods. The size of the signs has yet to be determined, but as this matter is discussed in greater detail at the required public hearings, the commission's goal should be to standardize them.
One component of the reworked ordinance that must be decided will regulate how long the signs may be posted. To be effective against littering the landscape and ensuring accountability from those who avail themselves of the opportunity, the commission should require that they be taken down within 24 hours of when the advertised event ends.
In addition, the commission should require that the signs include the address and telephone number of the person who posts it and, in the case of directional signs, the address of the location where motorists are being directed. That, coupled with consistent enforcement and clear-cut financial penalties, should be sufficient deterrent for those who might be tempted to violate the law.
The ordinance will continue to outlaw any signs on county rights-of-way. That is an essential element of the law because not only are the signs eyesores, they are distracting to motorists.
The public should be pleased with this ordinance. It establishes reasonable restrictions for those who rely on the signs to conduct business, while doing what is necessary to protect property rights and the community's aesthetics.
