This past Saturday morning I was out on my bike riding on Route 40 in Ellicott City, MD and here comes a puke yellow pickup truck with a flashing yellow light: the tell-tale sign of a state employee. The truck pulls into the large, grassy median, and the driver jumps out of his truck and yanks out two directional signs - the kind builders use to advertise new homes and direct buyers to their model - and throws them into the back of his trunk.
My first thought was to get a picture, and I reached for my cell phone, but I was on my bike, on a busy highway shoulder, and you could imagine how that went. But as I rode, I started to think about what I saw, and what the sign laws are in Howard County. The sign law, as pertaining to Real Estate signs, from the Howard County Sign Code Section 503e states that directional signs permitting open houses, or those that builders typically use to direct to their models are permitted from 4pm Friday until noon the following Monday.
As I was in my car on my way to work, he was still there on Route 40, still hard at work pulling signs. I thought if I saw him again, I'd love to get a photo of this. But I missed:
What really bothered me about this is that I've worked for builders in the past and we always abided by by the sign law. Builders rely heavily on these signs to get prospective buyers to their models. So here's a guy who works for the state and is taking his orders from whoever, on a Saturday, probably getting overtime, on our tax dollars. Our tax dollars that pay for his salary, his uniform, and his puke yellow truck.
Now, my question is, isn't the real estate market tough enough right now without having to deal with this bureaucracy? When I called on Monday, I couldn't find anyone to talk to about it, and that's as far as it went.
I want to know what you think - is just doing your job enough right now?
Tim McIntyre, GRI
tmcintyre@cbmove.com
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Visit my website at www.timsellshomes.com.
Ellicott City Realtor, Catonsville Realtor serving Howard County, Carroll County and Baltimore County for more than 25 years.
You would think they would have better things to do on a saturday! I can see pulling them on Tuesday, but on a weekend?
towns by me have some strict laws, but weekends are pretty safe, and most agents pay for their own signs and dont leave them past the open house. One town locally just put in an ordinance that you had to register your open house and could have 4 or 5 signs pointing the way to your OH, and that the signs had to be removed by a specific date and time. and they made it easy enough to do on line or by email...
this makes sense, and if you leave them out you lose it. Maybe the signs had been out for too long in this case?
Tim,
Here in Anne Arundel County we have the same time restrictions. The problem arises where signs are placed on State or County right of ways. At least in AA County, signs placed in State and County right of ways are forbidden any time.
Rich