Business needs to know snipe signs arent welcome

[Dog Walker]

Someone needs to tell that new vintage shop, Maria's, that putting out snipe signs in the city-right-of-way will get them a $55 ticket per sign from Code Enforcement.

[mtraininjax]

Someone needs to tell that new vintage shop, Maria's, that putting out snipe signs in the city-right-of-way will get them a $55 ticket per sign from Code Enforcement.

Maybe the signs are worth the ticket? After all the tax preparer, who was featured in the TU recently on snipe signs, on the westside who had over 4,000 in fines, was able to amass over $10,000 in revenue from the signs.

[Kerry]

Jacksonville should do what Clay County does.  Put the phone number on a robo-call machine that calls them a couple of times per hour 24/7 informing them their sign is illegally place until they take the signs down.  As for the tax preparer - I have a hard time believing anyone is happy about paying 40% of their gross revenue in fines.  After taxes and expenses he will be luck to break even on the deal - however, if he likes doing people's taxes for free I guess he found his niche.

[Dog Walker]

Someone needs to tell that new vintage shop, Maria's, that putting out snipe signs in the city-right-of-way will get them a $55 ticket per sign from Code Enforcement.

Maybe the signs are worth the ticket? After all the tax preparer, who was featured in the TU recently on snipe signs, on the westside who had over 4,000 in fines, was able to amass over $10,000 in revenue from the signs.

The tickets ramp up in their amounts and after the first five signs are a flat $355 each.  Hard to make a profit that way.  I think he was bragging and that he could not identify that his revenue all came from the signs. 

For someone like him who puts up so many signs the City will also get a court injunction against his use of snipe signs and the next time he puts them up he will go to jail for contempt.  Sort of hard to run a business from the pokey.

[Tacachale]

^Haha, it's hard to see someone getting jail time for putting up signs.

[Dog Walker]

They only do it for the worst offenders, those who put up dozens of signs over and over again like "Tracy Buys Houses".  I don't think anyone has ever defied the restraining order and been jailed, but don't know for sure.

Snipe signs are not only unwelcome, they are illegal.  By law, if they are in the city-right-of-way, they are considered litter and abandoned property which means that anyone can pick them up and dispose of them; Jacksonville Municipal Code Chapter 741.107.  You can put them in the recycle bin now due to our expanded recycling guidelines.

Signs and posters attached to utility poles more than five feet off the ground are an automatic $355 fine.  Some of the clubs have found that out the hard way when bands have put up posters advertising their gig at a club.  The club gets fined since the law presumes that any business whose name appears on the poster has given permission for the poster.

[Wacca Pilatka]

Jacksonville should do what Clay County does.  Put the phone number on a robo-call machine that calls them a couple of times per hour 24/7 informing them their sign is illegally place until they take the signs down.  As for the tax preparer - I have a hard time believing anyone is happy about paying 40% of their gross revenue in fines.  After taxes and expenses he will be luck to break even on the deal - however, if he likes doing people's taxes for free I guess he found his niche.

Also, he should know that fines and penalties aren't deductible for tax purposes.

[Dog Walker]

Two separate laws in two different parts of the Code.  Un-permitted signs and "off-site" signs are illegal based on the 1987 amendment to the City Charter.  There are exceptions to "off-site" as you can tell from the billboards along our Federally funded highways and the signs left over from the settlement agreements, but they still have to have permits. 

There are exceptions for some temporary real estate signs. There is some sort of blanket permit for them.

A sign that is permitted and located at the site of the business is legal.  To be permitted it has to meet size restrictions based on the size of the business building.  The people in the Sign Permitting office of the City are very helpful to people who are getting the permits themselves instead of using a sign company, at least they were to me.

All signs in the city-right-of-way are illegal.  What's the city-right-of-way?  Generally speaking, it is that strip of land between the sidewalk and the road.  If there is a ditch and no sidewalk then everything on the road side of the ditch is city-right-of-way.  If it has a traffic sign or utility pole or traffic signal pole on it then it is city-right-of-way.  If it is median dividing a multi-lane road, it is CROW.

If a company is working on a home or building, they can put up a sign on that property while there is an open permit for the work.  They cannot put it in the CROW. 

You cannot put up a sign at your home advertising a business, that "off-site" thing again.  Zoning Codes for residential areas also prohibit it.

I have no idea where the term "snipe" sign came from.  Maybe it's because they usually stand up on two little legs like the birds.  They are also called "bandit" signs.  The people who sell them call them "yard" signs, but know that they are illegal; not that they tell their customers that.  Since they are so common a lot of people assume that they are legal and are shocked to get a citation in the mail.

[Dog Walker]

good information to know Dog Walker.

Thanks for clearing it up.  You would think that the city would require posted notification about the rules at the places where these things are sold.

I agree that the sign companies should be required and the ethical sign companies around here do so without being required to.  There are some little "storage unit" sign companies that could care less if their customers get in trouble.  Also a lot of the signs are ordered on-line from out of town companies.  There is a big outfit in Orlando that seems to dominate the illegal sign market here in Florida.

The scams behind a lot of the illegal, roadside signs are many.  "Fix Your Credit for $69 Dollars!"  Riiiight, give them all of your personal and credit information and your credit will be fixed for good.  Some dude in Croatia will buy stuff with your information.   "We Buy Junk Cars. No title OK"  Steal a car and we will make it disappear and give you a few hundred dollars no questions asked.  "Quick Tax Refund"  and your social security number and address will make me a few extra bucks when I sell them on the Internet.  "Queen Mattress and Box Set $225".  Storage unit business selling recovered used mattresses and box sets.  Get somebody,s bedbugs for free.  "We Buy Houses.  Fast Cash" and we will play every game in the book to take advantage of your troubles and give you a pittance.  You might even be left with the mortgage while we get the house.

[mtraininjax]

You would think that the city would require posted notification about the rules at the places where these things are sold.

LOL! I can't wait to see you take this up with Wal-Mart in their office supply section of the store. Or better yet, let's get code enforcement to stake out the local Office Depot! lol!

[Dog Walker]

I almost forgot the biggest snipe sign scam of all.  "Single?" and underneath "Jacksonvillesingles.com" or "SanMarcosingles.com" or "JaxBeachdating.com".

You will find similar signs on roadsides all over the United States.  "Utahsingles.com" etc.  All of these signs are placed by crews working at night on behalf of a company that owns almost 9000 similar domain names.  It is based in Panama City, Panama, outside the jurisdiction of US law, and makes over $40 million per year with these "dating" websites.

You go on the website and fill out the dating profile information requested, age, sexual orientation, hobbies, interests, job etc., etc..  This company then sells this information to companies for targeted marketing.  You will start getting phone calls, mail, email, etc. for goods and services based on your profile.  No dates though.