Last weekend, there was a spate--no, more than a spate, a deluge--of signs along nice, tree-lined, high-traffic Roosevelt Boulevard here in Philly: a grand opening of a furniture store (which will soon be liquidating, I suspect), and a "lost lease" by a discount clothing store.

The latter was a typical liquidation. The signs included notes "SUPPORT LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT" and "ALL SIGNS REMOVED BY SUNDAY P.M.", and had a phone number with a NJ area code. How do you like these jerks, coming over the bridge and messing up our nice neighborhood! These were on metal step-stakes that looked like they had been used many times before; this must be a regular "business" for these people. I must have pulled a couple dozen of them, just walking, mostly at one large intersection (Adams Ave.), all in the ROW. I'm sure I'll be getting more tomorrow.

>Last weekend, there was a spate--no, more than a spate, a
>deluge--of signs ...
>The latter was a typical liquidation. The signs included
>notes "SUPPORT LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT" and "ALL SIGNS REMOVED
>BY SUNDAY P.M.", and had a phone number with a NJ area code.

Hi:

Please see the general thread "D&D Promotions - The Sign Sale - liquidators".

Furniture stores and Kmart use one or more companies in California to promote sales and liquidations. I suspect all of these signs come from D&D, although there may be other companies involved. They put signs up in pairs at every major intersection for miles around the store. They put them up Fri night and take them down Sun night so they won't get caught by Code Enforcement. And they put them up sometimes for 2-3 months.

Could you do me a favor? Call the store and ask who the company is they are using? If you could find out, it would really help.

Then, call local Code Enforcement in every city where the signs are placed. This is particularly important. The only way you are going
to get rid of the signs is to get CE involved. That worked really well here in Denver. A furniture store put out these signs for weeks. We must have removed thousands. Then CE got involved. They told the store that if they found one more sign, they would end up in court. And the signs stopped.

Another general suggestion is to carry a copy of your city's sign code with you. That will help if you are ever questionned as to what you are doing.
Keep up the good work!

DenverShark

>Then, call local Code Enforcement in every city where the signs are placed.

Ah, Denvershark, you've never been in Philadelphia, have you?

I lived there for quite a few years--a call to any branch of city government about something like illegal signs is more likely to be met with a string of profanity than any other response.

The folks there are going to have to yank the signs themselves, like it or not.

That's not to disparage Philadelphia; I still really like the place (and damn, do I miss a real cheesesteak hoagie!!). But unless things have changed a whole lot, the city govermnent isn't going to get involved.

Redstone

Hi, Redstone:

Sorry to hear PA authorities are not interested in this issue. I still think it's worth a call to CE there. Then yank the signs.

DenverShark

>
>That's not to disparage Philadelphia; I still really like
>the place (and damn, do I miss a real cheesesteak hoagie!!).
>But unless things have changed a whole lot, the city
>govermnent isn't going to get involved.
>
>Redstone

I wonder if Ed Rendell is still Mayor? He could perform miracles if it was an issue he was interested in. He is the type of guy who would go out and pull them up personally, if it was on his personal issue list.

Newbie

Newbie (not)

Nah, Ed's our Governor now, don't you know?

Anyway, today, I got about another twenty, plus a half dozen "We Buy Houses" and such.

Later in the day, I happened to pass the big intersection that had been spammed so badly (and had now been cleaned up twice), and the "liquidators" had some kid out there holding a long stick with three of their signs attached to it.

>Later in the day, I happened to pass the big intersection
>that had been spammed so badly (and had now been cleaned up
>twice), and the "liquidators" had some kid out there holding
>a long stick with three of their signs attached to it.

Three signs on a stick is standard practice. I remember seeing this at an intersection in Dallas thinking it was planted in the ground. The guy holding the stick was motionless in the median and hidden by the signs. I had already gotten half way across the street when the sign "moved" and I suddenly realized there was a person behind it. I turned around and walked away since I had no intention on confronting the guy.

Newbie

Newbie (not)

This is the same liquidator style that Kmart and others have used. I believe that in most cities the law allows people to hold signs as a method of "free speech". However, I have never actually checked the law on this matter.

I remember one weekend when all of the street corner guys went to lunch at the same time, leaving their signs on the ground...

DenverShark

In Dallas, Addison, and Farmers Branch TX, carrying such signs is illegal. The Dallas ordinance prohibits carrying or displaying anything intended to attract attention. I think it specifically mentions signs, banners, balloons, and even costumes. I can't remember if it specifically mentions "for commercial purposes" or something similar. I think that political or what are sometimes called "viewpoint" signs could not be prohibited though they might be subject to some conditions.

Though it is unrelated, I was looking through Dallas ordinances some months ago and came across an ordinance that prohibits the carrying or possession of tubing or hose on the streets. I asked a few people about this and the best explanation we could come up with was that the tubing could be used to siphon gas from cars. (Our second best guess was to prevent being "beaten with a rubber hose" though we didn't think this was ever a real problem.) Somehow I don't think this ordinance would pass constitutional muster though I doubt anyone would care enough to challenge it.

Newbie (not)

How about that! Philly announces a crackdown on signs:

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10042960&BRD=2340&PAG=461&dept_id=488595&rfi=6

I'm not impressed by the community group mentioned in the article who've removed "100 signs since February". I mean, so have I (easily that number), and I'm not bragging.

>How about that! Philly announces a crackdown on signs

Well, dang, am I happy to be wrong about something (see my prior discouraging post in this thread).

That's the first I've heard about a bounty on signs. Half a buck apiece may not sound like a lot, but I'd sure be happy to collect a reward for ripping signs, no matter how small.

Though I would give all the money to a charity, I would bet that there are any number of city kids who could really use the reward money. I hope the program is getting enough publicity to get people out there ripping signs down.

Bolus, do us a favor and keep us updated on any progress in Phila. It would be real interesting to see how the bounty program pans out.

Redstone

>>How about that! Philly announces a crackdown on signs
>
>Well, dang, am I happy to be wrong about something (see my
>prior discouraging post in this thread).
>
>That's the first I've heard about a bounty on signs. Half a
>buck apiece may not sound like a lot, but I'd sure be happy
>to collect a reward for ripping signs, no matter how small.
>
>Though I would give all the money to a charity, I would bet
>that there are any number of city kids who could really use
>the reward money. I hope the program is getting enough
>publicity to get people out there ripping signs down.
>
>Bolus, do us a favor and keep us updated on any progress in
>Phila. It would be real interesting to see how the bounty
>program pans out.
>
>Redstone

If I remember correctly, the bounty on signs is available to non-profit community groups. What a great method for fund-raising.

Newbie (not)

It's been hard to tell whether the sign-bounty program has had any effect. You see, Election Day's coming up and all the political signs make it hard to see the illegal commercial ones. There must be several hundred of them within the mile-long section of Roosevelt Boulevard that I usually patrol, but I'm not sure what to do with all these political signs. I just found another article that says they are excluded from the clean-up:

http://www.northeasttimes.com/2003/0828/signs.html

It's ironic that the two politicians quoted in the newspaper article I mentioned (Mariano and Rizzo, son of the former mayor) are both using large numbers of signs. Mariano even sponsored a bill to make the political signs illegal, but admits that politicians are among the "worst offenders".

I've taken down about 30 commercial signs since the "crackdown" was announced, and only a handful of them were new. I don't see many new commercial signs going up, which might be the happy result of the announcement of the crackdown. Also, the area north of me, which I know has several active community groups, has seemed very clean lately.

Very interesting article!! What is the son of Frank Rizzo running for? Is he the incumbent? I remember Frank very well from my years in Philadelphia, first as Police Chief and then as Mayor. I thought his agreeing to take and then failing a lie detector test about backroom deals was the height of his arrogance.

This is from the article:
"To be considered legal, posted signs must be registered with and authorized by the city?s Department of Licenses and Inspections. L&I will stamp each sign to indicate that it is legal. The cost is $25 per 100 signs and $15 for each additional 100 signs. There is an additional fee of 75 cents per sign to cover the cost of the stamp that indicates city approval. String is the only permitted means of affixing signs to poles. Adhesives are strictly forbidden."

What kinds of signs do they authorize to be put up?

Are they still limiting the sign bounty to organized non-profit groups?

Newbie

Newbie (not)

>Last weekend, there was a spate--no, more than a spate, a
>deluge--of signs along nice, tree-lined, high-traffic
>Roosevelt Boulevard here in Philly: a grand opening of a
>furniture store (which will soon be liquidating, I suspect),
>and a "lost lease" by a discount clothing store.
>
>The latter was a typical liquidation. The signs included
>notes "SUPPORT LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT" and "ALL SIGNS REMOVED
>BY SUNDAY P.M.", and had a phone number with a NJ area code.
>How do you like these jerks, coming over the bridge and
>messing up our nice neighborhood! These were on metal
>step-stakes that looked like they had been used many times
>before; this must be a regular "business" for these people.
>I must have pulled a couple dozen of them, just walking,
>mostly at one large intersection (Adams Ave.), all in the
>ROW. I'm sure I'll be getting more tomorrow.

This clothing store was at it again over the Memorial Day weekend. Identical M.O.: signs on heavy-duty step-stakes, "SUPPORT LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT", "ALL SIGNS REMOVED BY SUNDAY P.M.", NJ phone number, the same intersections were spammed too. I took a nice long walk on Monday a.m. (Memorial Day), and pulled up more than 30 of these signs. Hey, "Sunday P.M." had already passed!

Good work!

I can't recall if this is a liquidator or simply a promotion.

If a liquidator is brought in from out of town (this is probably a CA liquidator). They tell the store owner that the federal bankrupty filing orders them to place liquidation signs. This is not the case; no federal law requires that local and state laws be broken. When questioned by the public, the liquidator will tell this lie and naive individuals will fall for it.

The best and most effective way to get rid of the signs is to involve Code Enforcement. CE from several cities have contacted liquidators and told them that the next sign they place will get them hauled into court. It works - and I encourage you to contact CE.

DenverShark