Shipley defines candidate sign parameters along right-of-way, Town enforcement during 2018
Political candidate signs allegedly violating Town of Farragut Sign Ordinance — by being placed in right-of-ways — has caught the eye of a few anonymous Town residents calling farragutpress.
“We try to stay on top of it if we can,” said Mark Shipley, Farragut Community Development director. “If it’s not real clear that it’s in the right-of-way, we don’t pick it up.”
Though saying he picked up “quite a few” illegal campaign signs leading up to May 1 Knox County Primary Election, Shipley said he hasn’t pulled up many during this campaign cycle, which leads up to early voting (begins July 13) and Aug. 2 Town and Knox County general elections, and state and federal primaries.
Defining “right-of-way,” Shipley said, “Along local streets, which are typically in subdivisions ... if you go to the middle of the road and measure back 25 feet in each direction ... that area normally is your right-of-way. Signs within that space would be in violation of our Sign Ordinance.”
As for other roads and streets in Town, including “an arterial street like Kingston Pike, what I tell candidates is, frankly, if it’s in an area where there’s overhead utilities — it’s not exact — don’t put the sign between the pole and the street,” he said. “Put it behind the pole somewhere. Typically those poles are really close to the right-of-way line.”
Even if the signs qualify, “you need the property owners’ permission, too,” Shipley said.
He said problems caused by these signs within rights-of-way including mowing difficulties for Town’s Public Works employees, “and they can cause (vehicular) visibility obstructions ... like if they’re on a corner.”
Candidate volunteers “sometimes get a little out of control” and violate the requirement without the candidate they support ever knowing, Shipley added.
Town right-of-way requirements can be found on Knox County Election Commission’s website (www.knoxcounty.org).
