Every few years the landscape in Northeast Florida changes drastically. Gone are the wide expanse of untouched greenery. No longer visible are the beautiful wildflowers along the side of state road A1A.
Almost overnight, signs advertising political candidates appear as though a group of magical landscaping elves worked their pointy toes off.
This year, all of the candidates running for seats on the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners have the same party affiliation, so all qualified voters, regardless of party affiliation, can vote in the Aug. 24 primary.
And with the primary only five weeks away, campaign signs have popped up everywhere.
James Acosta, code enforcement supervisor for the county, said campaign signs can be erected prior to elections to which the political campaign signs pertains.
"Once they are registered, [candidates] can put up signs," said Acosta. "There are limits on where they can go."
According to the St. Johns County sign ordinance, signs can only be placed on private property with the consent of the property owner. The ordinance states that signs that are placed in the public-right-of-way are prohibited and can be removed by a Code Enforcement officer without notice to the candidate.
Acosta said the signs must be removed within seven days after the election. He said Code Enforcement is mainly complaint driven, with officers doing sign sweeps during the week and at unannounced times during the weekends.
Acosta said he does not recommend anyone remove signs from prohibited areas.
"We prefer that you do not [remove signs]," he said. "Notify a code enforcement officer and let us handle it."
Violations of the ordinace can result in monetary fines. For a first violation an offender will be fined $118. For each repeat violation the fine is $268 with a maximum penalty of $500 and or 60 days in jail. More serious violations may result in an appearance before a special Magistrate. In that case, fines are issued per day the violation exists. The first violation is up to $1,000 per day with repeat violations up to $5,000 per day.
As for the likelyhood of this year’s election bringing out a ton of signs, Acosta said its possible.
"It happens every year," he said. "Some times we get more people calling them in than others."
sarakaufman@pontevedrarecorder.com
(904)285-8831 ext. 16
July 26th 2010 - 7:15AM