Despite complaints, Roselle officials loosen sign rules

Reacting to recent complaints about large election signs, Roselle officials on Monday preliminarily approved changes to the village’s sign ordinance.

Roselle’s current rules only permit one 4-by-4-foot sign on private property, but trustees said openly during a committee meeting Monday this rule has not been enforced for decades.

So they voted 4-1 to recommend changes that would allow an unlimited number of signs in any size, provided they do not cause a traffic hazard or impede driver vision.

Village President Gayle Smolinski added that Roselle has never received complaints about enforcing signage rules until this election.

“I don’t understand why it’s become an issue,” Smolinski said. “If we had people coming to us year after year to complain, then fine. But now you have longtime residents who have never said anything calling up. I don’t understand why that’s being done.”

More than a dozen residents attended the meeting to hear the debate on the issue. But only one spoke out and asking trustees to maintain size and number restrictions on signs, since state statute prevents Roselle from setting time limits on how long signs can remain displayed.

Therefore, trustees debated whether to recommend bringing the ordinance in line with Roselle’s longtime practice of allowing unlimited signs in any size, or to heed calls from some residents and enforce the current ordinance.

Trustee Barbara Rendall-Hochstadt said large signs are a nuisance and should be limited.

“We have commercial-size signs in residential areas,” she said. “One woman said she felt like her neighbors were yelling at her with their signs.”

Rendall-Hochstadt also argued current rules should be enforced immediately and proposed tabling an ordinance change until after the April 5 election.

Yet Trustees Andy Maglio and Terrence Wittman countered strongly in favor of continuing the village’s longtime practice of looking the other way.

“If you start enforcing the ordinance now, I’ll sue for free speech,” Wittman said. In some elections you have the president, a senate race, county board and how many other levels of government? We don’t allow you to have signs for all the races you support, and I think it’s an infringement.”

Maglio and Wittman, along with Trustees Richard Rhode and Kory Atkinson, ultimately voted to recommend changing the ordinance to allow an unlimited number of signs in any size. Rendall-Hochstadt was the sole opposing vote.

She was also the only dissenter against advising village staff to ignore current rules.

The village board will ultimately vote on the measure during it’s March 28 meeting.