Palatine resigned to leaving signs alone

Hundreds of illegal signs - oversized campaign placards, ads for affordable health insurance, pet cleanup services, you name it - lined council chambers at Palatine's village hall Monday.

The collection, which dates back just a few weeks, set the scene for an animated and lengthy discussion over the village's ordinance regulating signs. In the end, nothing will change.

Though the council appeared on its way to narrowly passing a total ban on signs from public property, a motion was suddenly removed after Councilman Jack Wagner, who cited the cost of removing the signs, flip-flopped in favor of keeping the status quo. A binding referendum question also was well on its way to the ballot in April's election, but it too was discarded.

The focus, the council agreed, should be to come up with a more effective enforcement strategy. But because so many of the signs, such as dating service advertisements, aren't local, it's nearly impossible to ticket the violators unless they're caught in the act.

Village Manager Reid Ottesen seemed resigned that sign sweeps and the cost involved will become part of Public Works' regular duties and budget.

"Frankly our time is best used just taking down the signs ourselves," said Ottesen. "The cost of enforcement is an expense we'll never recoup."

Only two people spoke before Monday's meeting at a public hearing on potential amendments to the ordinance, and only seven responded to a village Web site asking residents for input. All were in favor of allowing signs.

"This is a chance for everyone to voice their opinion," Councilman Scott Lamerand said about political signs. "And even towns that don't allow signs still have issues."

The council also opted to leave the ordinance alone because Palatine's village attorney said legal issues such as freedom of speech would arise should they try to regulate some signs and not others.

Palatine is the only area community to allow political, open house and garage sale signs on public parkways. But many don't adhere to the restrictions, such as campaign volunteers who put up signs more than three days before the election.

Still, this election was much better than in February, when the village easily collected more than 1,000 illegally placed political signs.

Councilman Mike Jezierski argued for a total ban. Despite repeat letters to candidates explaining the ordinance, he removed campaign signs from flower beds at the train station.

"I'm ashamed of some people who ran for political office," he said. "Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. I'd like to ban every sign and be done with it."