I don't mean all those political signs around election times. They can be a bit much. But the signs put up by small business owners who can't afford to advertise their services any other way. The "I buy houses" signs and the pressure washer services and others. My guitar teacher has been using those signs for years. "co-sponsor Dwight Hudson said he's ready to go after the music teacher littering his district." "If he's out there listening, we're coming after you, buddy," Hudson said. I don't see how the signs would bother anybody. It's not like they are advertising gay porn or anything objectionable. Whether they're selling guitar lessons, buying houses or running for office, sign-placers were put on notice Wednesday afternoon by the East Baton Rouge Metro Council. Co-sponsor Matt Watson said he's collected 50 illegal roadside signs in a single day, while co-sponsor Dwight Hudson said he's ready to go after the music teacher littering his district. "If he's out there listening, we're coming after you, buddy," Hudson said. The city-parish had an ordinance barring roadside signs, but police officers and deputy sheriffs had to witness the sign being placed. It was a loophole in city-parish policy, said councilwoman Barbara Freiberg. However, the signs include business names and contact information. The new ordinance unanimously passed Wednesday lets law enforcement officers use that information to track down the violators and enforce a penalty, Watson said. It also raises the fine amount for placing a sign in a right of way, on utility poles, utility boxes, trees, and elsewhere on public land. The new ordinance lets city police and sheriff's deputies cite the responsible party with a misdemeanor punishable by $200 to $1,000 per sign or imprisonment up to six months per offense. Councilman Chandler Loupe was pessimistic the ordinance would engender real change. "I don't see any police officer responding to this call," Loupe said. "This is fluff, right?" Watson said it's one of several tools in the city-parish's arsenal, and Hudson said the city-parish can target specific, repeat offenders. "This is not fluff," Hudson responded. "We all know who's responsible," Watson added. Loupe backed off his assertion and said he hoped the measure would be fruitful. Several other council members, including Freiberg and Erika Green, said they look forward to the removal of eyesores in their neighborhoods. "This is a huge step forward in the process," said councilwoman Tara Wicker, one of the leaders of the council's blight committee. Only four signage cases were prosecuted last year, said Parish Attorney Lea Anne Batson. She told the council she did not know how those cases were resolved. Wicker said she hopes district and city court judges will consider sentencing offenders to public service so the people placing signs can be ordered to remove other signs. Councilman Buddy Amoroso said his district is littered with home-buyer signs, but he wanted to make sure the new ordinance would also hold responsible those politicians running for office who advertise in rights of way. It does, Batson asserted. "This is something that we should've done a long time ago," Amoroso said. Business owners will be informed of the city-parish's new sign ordinance when they apply for occupancy licenses, Batson explained. "Ignorance of the law is no excuse," Watson said.
The thing is, other than political signs most of them are put out but small businesses like lawn services and tree services and things like that but people who can't afford any other kind of advertising. They must work. My guitar teacher has been putting them up for 40 years. Now there is Craigslist but not everybody who would use a particular service looks on Craigslist. A few of the signs I've seen have a website address instead of a phone number. The sites I have looked at after seeing the sign is usually for some dubious make money at home scheme where you sign up on the site and never talk to the person putting them up. Hard to track those people. You might think the signs that say "We Pay Cash for Your House" are put up by people with wads of cash. Not so. They are in the wholesale real estate business that takes very little money to get involved. They find a really motivated seller and get a contract to sell for a low price and then find a buyer who will pay more and their profit is the difference in the prices. It's just wrong and bad for the economy to put these people out of business.
It’s all about “beautification”. City councils think it’s trashy. Probably hate them for advertising for free. I’ve advertised in the Mississippi Market Bulletin and social media. But, they don’t really care about most of these small businesses because it doesn’t present a taxable business for them. Just my $.02
