Put up a sign, pay the fine?

Homebuilders, political candidates, garage sale organizers and others who erect signs along the roadway would face fines of $100 per sign for every day the sign is up under a proposal reviewed by a county board panel Monday.

The board's transportation committee recommended amending county code to include the fine. The full board is expected to vote on the change next month.

For more than a year county officials have discussed how to combat the proliferation of homebuilder signs that crop up every weekend along busy roads, calling them an eyesore and a safety hazard. Existing laws prohibit the erection of signs on the public right of way of county roads, but there isn't much teeth to the law without the $100 fine now proposed.

In October maintenance crews from the Kane County Division of Transportation began removing some of the illegal signs, holding them hostage in a county garage while officials decided what to do. Transportation division workers will continue removing signs on a random basis and, if the fine is approved, send tickets to offenders.

County engineer Carl Schoedel said workers likely would work with Kane County sheriff's deputies on enforcement efforts. The number of illegal signs has decreased since transportation workers began removing signs 10 months ago, Schoedel said, but the problem hasn't vanished entirely.

"It's obviously still occurring, though, and part of the reason for this ordinance is basically to have the county board take a more formal position on this and actually establish the fine," he said.

Public right of way is defined as land alongside a road that is devoted to a highway and can vary from 33 to 100 feet in width, depending on whether the road is in an urban or rural area, Schoedel said.

Earlier this year representatives of the Home Builders Association of Greater Fox Valley suggested erecting permanent developer-funded directional signs that would point the way not only to housing developments but also forest preserves and other public sites. That proposal is still on the table.

"In the soft real estate market we're in, these guys need all the help they can get to get people to their models," said Ray Budde, executive vice president of the association.