by TRC_Admin | Feb 3, 2018 | Trees
Photo: The Florida Times Union
“The drive along Interstate 95 in Georgia gets uglier by the day as trees are taken down, but state transportation officials say the clear cutting will improve safety.
The ‘vegetative management projects’ along I-95 are aimed at reducing the number of traffic fatalities and serious injuries along the interstate corridors in the state’s coastal region, said Jill Nagel, spokeswoman for the DOT’s District 5 office in Jesup…
The projects consist of removing all the vegetation inside the right-of-way and anything that’s hanging over the fence. All the cut trees and brush is then mulched flush with the ground, Nagel said.
Actually, not all of it. One of the contract companies loaded a couple of trailers with saw timber pine logs Tuesday at the Woodbine exit.
No grubbing will be permitted so the soil surface won’t be disturbed to remove stumps or roots.
Photo: The Florida Times Union
The clearing of trees will benefit billboard companies who will no longer need to get permits to cut trees to ensure their signs can be seen.
Starting in 1963, the Garden Club of Georgia had lobbied for control of signs on Georgia roadways and was successful in getting hundreds removed. More than 15 years ago, the Georgia legislature adopted a statute to allow the clearing of trees from in front of billboards. The Garden Club sued saying the law violated the gratuities clause of the Georgia constitution but the courts ruled that billboards also benefited Georgians…
The DOT is monitoring the projects to ensure the work results in visual quality.”
— Terry Dickson, The Florida Times Union
Read entire article
by TRC_Admin | Feb 3, 2018 | Billboards, City Signs, Legal
Photo:Orlando Sentinel
“Pasco County, which prohibits digital signs for commercial uses, is poised to ease that restriction.
Kind of. Sort of.
If you own 200 acres or have a 35,000-square-foot building with 2,000 seats or 450 parking spots, you can have a digital sign.
So far, that would be the Pasco County Fairgrounds outside Dade City and the Florida Hospital Center Ice complex in Wesley Chapel.
The county commission is considering amending its sign rules to allow the LED signs that rotate messages for so-called regional attractions, defined as tourist destinations that play host to at least 50 events throughout the year.
The proposed change comes 18 months after the Pasco County Fair Association asked for permission to install a digital sign and a year after the grand opening of the ice center, which used a mobile LED sign company to tout the new complex…
Currently, the county’s land development code bans digital signs that change messages. The rules aren’t applicable to government agencies using a flashing message for a public purpose.
That’s why a few public schools and the Pasco Hernando State College campuses have the brightly lit LED signs.
Commissioner Mike Moore said he wanted the commission to carve out a similar exemption for community development districts as part of the ongoing rewrite of the land development code.
The signs also are visible on businesses in some Pasco cities, including Dade City and Port Richey, which allow the digital signs.
‘I’m good with it,’ said Commissioner Kathryn Starkey, who founded Scenic Pasco and advocated for better sign controls in the county in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Allowing LED signs for regional attractions is the second time the commission has eased its previous hard-line stance on aesthetic controls. Last year, commissioners lifted their ban on all new billboards to allow outdoor advertising companies to swap new LED billboards for traditional signs with static messages…”
— C.T. Bowen, Tampa Bay Times
Read entire article here
by TRC_Admin | Feb 3, 2018 | Snipe Signs
Photo: WTSP
“Snipe signs — you see them everywhere; while you’re driving, walking or riding your bike. You probably had no idea how many problems they cause.
Now, two men in Hillsborough County have made it their mission to get rid of as many illegal signs as possible. The public can help, too.
Sometimes even before the sun is up, Jim Reed and Bill Staley hit the pavement along State Road 60 in Brandon. One after another, they pick up the signs that they call ‘roadside spam.’
‘Free TVs, free money, we will pay for your rent, we will give your groceries, this that,’ Reed said.
Snipe signs are illegal in the right-of-way in Hillsborough County. The signs can’t be installed on public property, but the law is difficult to enforce. It is why drivers and pedestrians see these signs at busy intersections in the county…
Anyone can pick up the signs. They are considered litter. Besides the fact that they are not visually appealing, the signs end up in storm drains, can be a hazard to the county crews and can promote scams.
There is a lengthy list of prohibited signs in Section 7.02.02 of the county code. It is important to note that most of these signs are allowed on private property.
‘We have collected 56,000 signs from Eastern Hillsborough County,’ Staley said.
That’s about 150 signs per week. Last year, Hillsborough County Code Enforcement officers picked up an added 70,000 snipe signs.
It’s important to note that Staley and Reed can’t show partiality, but they do not always pick up lost pet signs or yard sale signs right away. The pair picks up everything else, sometimes right after the sign is put up. Staley and Reed have volunteered for almost seven years and hope the community learns a lesson…
Anyone who wants to volunteer to help pick up snipe signs should visit the Hillsborough County website. If you decide to go out on your own, remember not to pick up signs on private property.”
— Hilary Zalla, WTSP
Read entire article
by TRC_Admin | Feb 3, 2018 | Snipe Signs
“Another week, another batch of ‘snipe’ signs removed.
That Whac-A-Mole-like scenario is a routine part of the workload of code enforcement officers, including those who work for the city of Destin…”
— Tony Judnich, NW Florida Daily
Read article here
by TRC_Admin | Feb 3, 2018 | Billboards
Photo: Orlando Sentinel
Orlando commissioners Monday OK’d a plan that aims to remove billboards from the city’s neighborhood streets by allowing them to be swapped out for digital signs along major roadways.
The Digital Billboard Exchange Program, approved unanimously by the City Council, will allow companies to build digital billboards along Colonial Drive, Orange Blossom Trail and International Drive, among other main arteries, in exchange for tearing down several traditional billboards in other areas.
The city is specifically targeting 16 billboards in its main street districts such as Mills 50 and College Park. Chief Planner Jason Burton said the program’s goal is to cut back on “visual clutter” and encourage development.
Anti-billboard advocates argued the city could have required the removal of more standard billboards in exchange for each new digital sign, and that digital billboards are distracting to drivers…
‘As we move this city forward into a true metropolitan city my hope is that we do complete exchanges, and the whole city is full of digital boards,’ said Commissioner Regina Hill, who called standard billboards ‘outdated.’
— Orlando Sentinel
Read entire article
