Palatine and Inverness implement new sign rules

Political season is upon us. and that means candidate signs are starting to pop up everywhere.

In Palatine and Inverness, new regulations are now in place that limit all signs -- including political ones -- in public places and on private yards.

Last week, Inverness trustees voted 6-0 to tighten the town's sign ordinance.

That means putting any political sign in an Inverness public right-of-way is now illegal.

And there are restrictions for putting them up on private property: Signs must be at least 30 feet from the edge of pavement, and signs can't be larger than 6 square feet in surface area or illuminated.

Political signs in Inverness also should be removed within three days after the election. The Illinois primary is Feb. 5.

"We assume that many candidates are not aware of the regulations and therefore violating the code by accident," said Village Manager Curt Carver.

Inverness officials say they'll attempt to contact local campaigns soon to explain the new rules.

That's the case in Palatine, as well. Last year, the village passed an ordinance tightening the code on signs.

When it comes to political signs in Palatine, they aren't banned in public right-of-ways like Inverness.

But putting up signs in public places is only permitted 72 hours prior to Election Day and must be removed 24 hours after the election.

Political signs on private property are only allowed 30 days prior to an election and must be removed within 48 hours.

All political signs in Palatine can't exceed 8 square feet or taller than 4 feet.

Palatine officials will also send letters out to candidates this week, reminding them of the village's policy on signs.

If people are found violating the ordinances in both municipalities, the signs could be taken down and fines could be imposed.

In Wheeling, officials recently agreed to review their sign ordinance after a local man complained about being ticketed $25 for having two signs in his yard supporting presidential candidate Ron Paul. Wheeling's ordinance also prohibits signs more than 30 days before an election and limits residences to one sign per candidate.