UPDATE 08-13-2006 - If you were out driving this weekend and passed by the locations where the Thornwood signs were being illegally placed you would have noticed they were absent this weekend. That is because the good folks at the GA DOT came by this week and dug up the galvanized pipe that had been driven into the ground and removed the anchor stakes that had also been driven in the ground. I can't thank the GA DOT enough for taking care of this hazard so quickly. I had attempted to contact people at the DOT on different occasions to no avail. Due to the lack of contact information on the DOT website I was contacting the wrong people. I finally made contact with Mr. Phil Copeland who is the "Right of Way Administrator" for the GA DOT. He responded to me immediately and notified his District Engineer who in turn notified the local engineer and he was on the problem immediately.
My only disappointment is that it appears the violator did not receive a much deserved citation or bill from the State for the clean up of their damage. In speaking with the engineers the feedback that I received was that they could not believe the extent the violator went to in placing the illegal signs. They said it was the most elaborate scheme they had ever seen anywhere in the State of Georgia. They were especially taken aback by the plastic tag proclaiming the legality of the signs. Hopefully this article will prove more effective than a fine. A fine is an event whose evidence of existence is lost in the bowels of bureaucracy forever. Whereas, this article will be lodged in Google and countless other Internet archives for eternity.
Since the sign ordinance in Oconee County and the State sign laws continue to be selectively enforced in Oconee County, it is apparent the only way to get some people to abide by the law is to bring the violators to the public's attention.
I have created a new photo album that will contain photos of signs that I find in the County that are posted illegally on County or State right-of-ways or utility poles. These will be photos of signs that have been reported to the proper County and or State officials but continue to be displayed.
I have placed a menu on the main page titled, SIGN ORDINANCE VIOLATIONS, with direct links to photos of sign ordinance violators in the County. I will not be using any individual's names in the articles or photos since I would not have been on the scene to see them actually post the sign(s). I will let the names and/or phone numbers on the signs speak for themselves. No matter what individual posted the sign(s), the person(s) or entity advertised on the sign(s), is ultimately responsible for their placement.
I have monitored the placement of illegal signs in Oconee for several years and the photos I have chosen for the first album are currently being placed by someone that has taken the most elaborate steps I have seen to date to illegally place signs in the County. I first noticed these signs five weekends ago. They are still being placed each weekend as of 07-30-2006. This violator could have legally erected a billboard on the highway for less money than all of their fines would amount to, not to mention less trouble. That is if they are ever charged with anything.
The Thornwood illegal sign placements are elaborate. What the violator has done is take a regular real estate sign and weld extensions on the legs to raise the height of the top of the sign to approximately 48" from the ground. Far exceeding the height limits on a legally placed sign that is covered under the Code section the violator claims protection under on the attached tag. (see photo) Then they have driven galvanized pipe into the ground in the right-of-way to drop the sign into easily, violating State law. On three of the signs they have used a commercially available locking device that utilizes a spike driven into the ground and a security cable passed through it and the sign, violating State law again, and you would think possibly a County ordinance. On the fourth sign they have actually secured it the highway guard rail with the locking security cable, violating State law yet again. And the violations continue to compound, yet their signs continue to appear each weekend.
They place the signs on the right-of-way on Friday evenings after the DOT crew and the County Code Enforcement Officers have gone home for the weekend. They return and remove them on Sunday evenings so they won't be there when the State and County employees return to work on Monday mornings. They do this each weekend and were continuing to do so as of the writing of this article on Sunday July 30, 2006. The proper County and State departments in charge of enforcing the sign ordinances and sign laws were notified of this three weeks ago, but it still goes on.
If you look in the photo album you will see a photo of a tag that is attached to each sign. This is the most desperate attempt I have seen to date of someone attempting to make an illegal sign appear to be legal. If this doesn't already violate some County ordinance there should be an ordinance enacted making it illegal for a person to claim, verbally or in writing that the County has sanctioned an illegal act.
The code section referred to on this tag, Article 9 Section 805, is the section that describes Weekend Sign placement. I have copied the relevant section from the Sign Regulation PDF document on the official Oconee County website and present it below. Pay close attention to the setback requirement in Section 805-b.
THE FOLLOWING IS FROM THE OCONEE COUNTY SIGN REGULATIONS PDF DOCUMENT SHOWING DATE LAST AMENDED OCTOBER 4, 2005
Sec. 805 Weekend signs.
Weekend signs are allowed as temporary signs under the following provisions.
(a) Location.
(1) Such signs are allowed on properties in all land use categories.
(2) Such signs shall be erected and maintained only with the permission of the
owner of the property upon which the sign is erected.
(b) Setback.
No setback from the street right-of-way line shall be required for a weekend sign, except
that any such sign shall not be placed within or over the street right-of-way nor
affixed to any tree, utility pole or official traffic sign or structure.
(c) Size.
Such signs shall not exceed 6 square feet in area nor be more than 3 feet in height.
(d) Duration.
Weekend signs shall be allowed only between Friday starting at 5:00 p.m. and Sunday
ending at 8:00 p.m.
(e) Permanence.
(1) Nonpermanent but water-resistant construction materials may be used, such
as but not limited to poster board, foam core board or illustration board.
(2) The words, letters, figures, symbols, logos, fixtures, colors, or other design
elements that convey the sign's message shall be permanently applied to the
sign's face; automatic or manual changeable copy shall not be allowed.
(0 Lighting.
Such signs shall not be illuminated.
END OF EXCERPT FROM OCONEE COUNTY SIGN REGULATIONS PDF DOCUMENT
Three of the four Thornwood signs, even though they do violate more than one sub-section of Section 805, are being placed on the State right-of-way so they are not under the jurisdiction of the County. It appears these signs are at least violating Georgia Code 32-6-51 and Georgia Code 32-6-1, if not more State laws. The one sign that is placed on a County right-of-way, at the intersection of West bound New High Shoals Rd and Bishop Farms Parkway is clearly in violation of the setback requirement of Section 805-b of the County sign ordinance, as evidenced by the photo and the ordinance wording itself.
Now since this is in the public light all we can do is sit back and wait and see if the powers that be will treat this violator the same as they would treat you or me for the same violations. If they do get off with no charges or fines then that will only send a message to everyone else that no one has to abide by the sign ordinances or laws of the County and State.
After all, no one is above the law, or are they?
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