04/17/2008: "Reminder: Not All Signs Are Legal"

ig_Signs_Sandwich_Orcas-1 (60k image) One goes up, and then another, and another, but all were to be removed after the County Council responded to complaints from citizens.

And many were removed when SJ Community Development and Planning Code Compliance Officer Jeff Wasnick began enforcing a County Ordinance which prohibits -with some exceptions- off-site advertising signs.

Wasnick began “tagging” signs with a notice that unauthorized signs will be removed by the County. Last Summer he tagged 40 signs on Orcas on one day, and 20 on Lopez the next.

Wasnick said that “Last month I only tagged two signs on Orcas and two on Lopez.”

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Many of the sighs are of the so-called “sandwich boards” type and like mushrooms in the spring, start popping up as the tourist season arrives. Wasnick attempts to warn advertisers that illegal signs will be tagged, and then Public Works employees will pick up the signs.

They will be held for a limited time in the Sheriffs storage building in Friday Harbor; the Orcas Senior Center, and at the Cormorant Building on Lopez . The owners are allowed to retrieve their signs, but the signs will be held at these locations for a limited amount of time, and then disposed of.

“Ninety percent of the feedback we’ve received on this enforcement program has been positive,” he said. “They tell me everything looks cleaner and less cluttered.”
The other ten percent of the feedback, Wasnick said, comes mostly from non-profit groups and the owners of small businesses that are not located on a major road.

The San Juan County code requires that business identification and advertising signs be mounted or painted on a building unless the business cannot be seen from a public road. Off-premises outdoor commercial signs are not permitted. Additionally, residential and commercial identification signs, outside of urban growth areas and activity centers, can be no more than two square feet in size.

Signs offering directions can only refer to geographical locations, such as Roche Harbor or Eastsound and can include nothing beyond the location name, the mileage and a directional arrow. Prior approval from the County Engineer is required before directional signs can be erected.

The lone exceptions are special events signs, which can be displayed for a maximum of 30 days within a year. These event signs are not allowed within the area covered under the current Eastsound Sub Area Plan though.