(A) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to prevent visual clutter, minimize traffic hazards, and maintain political neutrality. Municipalities have a serious, essentially esthetic, duty to prohibit signs from being posted on rights-of-way or on public property.
(B) Specifics. No person shall paint, mark or write on, or post or otherwise affix, any political or commercial handbill or sign on the town’s rights-of-way or upon any sidewalk, parkway, curb, electric light or power or telephone wire pole, or upon any appurtenance thereof, or upon any lighting system, drinking fountain, street sign, or traffic sign.
(C) Exceptions.
(1) Political signs may be displayed around the polling place, no closer than 50 feet from the polling place, on the day of any public election.
(2) Church or civic non-profit groups may display a sign for a particular dated event up to three days prior to the event so long as it does not obstruct a motorist’s view of the street, and is no larger than eight square feet in size.
(3) Individual property owners may display a small (no larger than three square feet) name and house number sign in front of their homes on the town’s right-of-way so long as it does not create a problem for the town in mowing or maintaining the parkway.
(D) Authority and enforcement. According to G.S. § 136-32, the town has the authority to remove and destroy unlawfully posted political, commercial, or other kinds of signs not expressly permitted under this chapter. Further, it has the power and authority to remove unlawfully posted signs on state rights-of-way which fall within the town’s boundaries.
(Prior Code, § 21-5) (Ord. passed 12-18-1986) Penalty, see § 10.99