Advertising Signs in Township Could Incur Tickets

The advertising signs that have been cropping up in the township fail to comply with a municipal ordinance and may soon result in the owners of the signs receiving summonses.

During the Township Committee meeting Thursday evening, the committee discussed the signs that have been making an appearance throughout the township, but particularly in commercial areas.

“There has been an influx of advertising signs around town lately,” Mayor Nicole Hagner said. “Just so everyone is aware, township ordinances do not allow advertising signs. When our police department sees such signs, they take them down and call the owners of the signs so they can come and get them. But they crop right up again.”

Hagner said it may get to the point where the township committee wants to discuss the ordinance and its enforcement. Political signs are allowed under the ordinance.

The sign for Colony Pool, which is over on Southern Boulevard, is not commercial advertising, Hagner said. Committee member Kevin Tubbs said the governing body may want to take a look at whether the sign ordinance still serves its purpose, and may want to discuss what the township wants to do with any signs, including political ones.

Township Administrator Tom Ciccarone thinks if township officials take an advertising sign down and it goes back up, it’s appropriate to issue a summons.

“If a contractor is working on a site, they can have a sign up while they’re working, and then they have to take it down when they’re done,” he said. “When it comes to political signs, then you’re getting into a Constitutional issue, but even there I do believe you have some authority to regulate how soon they have to come down after election day. But when it comes to commercial signs, the ordinance is very clear, and enforcement becomes the issue.”

A discussion ensued on whether a police officer would have to see someone actually putting up the sign before a summons could be issued. Township Attorney Carl Woodward said that isn’t necessary, just the fact that the sign is there is circumstantial evidence that someone put the sign up.

“If you take the sign down, call the person and say ‘We have your sign, come and get it, you can’t put that up,’ then that’s ample warning,” Woodward said.

Hagner said at some point, the issue will be added to the agenda for further discussion.

In other business:

• Hagner read a proclamation declaring the rest of May and all of June as “Parents Who Host, Lose The Most: Don’t Be a Party to Teenage Drinking” Month 2011. Hagner read the proclamation, which urges adults to not provide alcohol to minors, even in their own homes and calls on those who observe such behavior to contact the police. Committee member Bailey Brower said he objects to the way the proclamation is written.
  
  “I totally object to any kind of condition in which the police department could step in and interfere when my family is gathered for a holiday, and we give a 12-year-old a sip of champagne,” Brower said. “Now, parents who go away and provide beer for a party of teenagers, that I don’t agree with. But the way this ordinance is written is all inclusive and I object to that kind of concept.”
  
  
• Discussed the steep slope ordinance that had been reviewed during the last meeting. A review of the ordinance has found it to be consistent with the master plan, Township Engineer John Ruschke. “The bigger question is what a minimal allowable disturbance would be,” he said.  
  
  After some discussion, Ciccarone and Woodward said they would review the ordinance and make some adjustments. It will be introduced for first reading at the next meeting.
  
  
• Ruschke gave an update on Shunpike Field, saying the contractor’s progress was slow last week due to the heavy rain. “He did what he could, but the major earth moving task came to a halt due to the weather,” he said. “This week the field conditions are better, and he started work again today and is moving forward. We are putting a lot of pressure on the contractor now that we have some nicer weather.”
  
  He added that JCP&L has set the new utility pole, which is ready for the transformer to be delivered, tentatively scheduled for next week.
  
  Hagner said the field dedication was originally set for June 4, but due to the recent rain, it has been rescheduled for June 18, although the field is expected to be open for use before that.