City to enforce fees for illegally placed political signs

Political candidates will now have to pay a bit more attention to the placement of their campaign signs, as the city of Granbury will be starting to enforce fees for signs that are placed illegally.

Until now, political signs were exempt from any fees — an oversight that was just brought to light recently. According to Deputy City Manager Michael Ross, the proposed change was considered after 36 signs had to be removed at the beginning of the political season.

“Political signs are currently exempted in our fee schedule,” Ross explained. “We're talking about not exempting those and making those signs apply to the same fee schedule requirements as any other sign in the city ... We learned that the political signs were exempt, so this was just something we're bringing before the council that will be in effect next time around for the political season to begin.”

The specific proposed change to Section 1.50.227 (c) of the city’s Master Fee Schedule will eliminate the exemption for political signs. As a result, fees will now apply if the city has to return illegally placed political signs to their owners — just like any other type of sign.

“If you’re going to charge a fee for an illegal sign for something that says ‘Haircut $6.99,’ and not for a political sign, you’re not being fair and equitable to everybody,” City Manager Chris Coffman said.

Under the new change, the first offense for illegally placed political signs is $50, the second offense is $100, and the third is $100 plus administrative fees.

During the discussion, Place 2 Councilmember Eddie Rodriquez highlighted the challenges surrounding the placement of political signs. He explained that candidates often struggle with where to place their signs and want to avoid issues with the city, as they are simply trying to promote their campaigns.

"One of the questions I have for the city attorney is, who gives the city the authority to pick up these signs?” Rodriquez asked.

City Attorney Jeremy SoRelle explained that the city’s authority to remove political signs derives from a municipal maintenance agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation. This agreement — in place since 1968 — allows the city to enforce regulations in TxDOT rights-of-way, including the prohibition of political signs.

“The issue with this agenda item is that — I don't know the reason — but for some reason in 2018, an ordinance was passed that updated section 1.5.277 of our sign ordinance, which created fees for illegally placed signs in the rights-of-way,” SoRelle said. “The issue that you get into is, ‘Well, we're going to regulate some certain signs in the TxDOT right-of-way, but not all’ ... In order to avoid someone filing a lawsuit based on that equal protection issue, the lack of content neutrality, the best way to treat this is to go back to that 2018 ordinance that added this line that says ‘Political campaign signs during appropriate seasons are exempt,’ (and remove it) to treat them the same as all other signs.”

Rodriguez then asked City Manager Chris Coffman why the city should enforce this ordinance. Coffman explained that allowing improperly placed signs can lead to serious issues, such as damaging underground infrastructure like fiber optic cables — which could result in costly repairs. He advised that anyone putting up temporary signs should always seek permission from the property owner first.

"We can’t have people putting political signs on public property. I think what happens in a lot of cases is overzealous political supporters,” he said. “They've got signs for their friend that's running for office, and they just go peppering the neighborhood with them, on the public property, wherever they think they can put it, and then we end up cleaning up the mess the next day, so it's unfortunate.”

“I just wanted to bring it to the public's attention on who gives the authority to the city and how,” Rodriquez added. “The reason that we pick up political signs is because they're in the right-of-way, and most of those rights-of-way carry a lot of our sewage, our internet services, and water services — basic services that you need in your own neighborhood. We deal with this on a yearly basis, on two different campaign seasons, so just be mindful on where you put those political signs.”

Coffman added that he recently received a letter from TxDOT instructing the city to uphold the maintenance agreement by removing the illegal signs. He explained that while doing this task, one of his employees sustained an ACL injury.

"There's a reason we don't want to have to do this,” he said. “It takes effort, and the guy had to have surgery over it, so it's important that we follow the rules. I would just encourage everybody that before you put a sign up, get permission from the property owner. Property owners know where their property is — for the most part.”

Place 3 Councilman Bruce Wadley made the motion to adopt Ordinance No. 24-59, which amends Section 1.50.277 (c) of the City of Granbury Code of Ordinances – Master Fee Schedule to establish fees for the retrieval of illegally placed political signs. Following a second from Mayor Pro Tem Steven Vale, the motion passed unanimously, 6:0.