Inverness stakes out new position on temporary signage

Planning to stake a political sign into the ground in Inverness?

Think again.

Under a proposal that would tweak one of the town's ordinances, putting up temporary signs in any public right-of-way would be outlawed.

The village is looking to consolidate all of its sign rules into one ordinance, which would allow such signs only on private property.

"This started as a result of a failure of candidates in the last election to take down their signs in a timely manner," Village Administrator Curt Carver said.

Since there aren't now any rules on where political signs can be put up, they usually end up in public right-of-ways, he said.

Trustees will discuss the measure at a Dec. 18 plan commission meeting. It then goes to the village board.

The only exceptions to the ban on temporary signs would be for real estate open houses. Such signs would be allowed on the day of the event.

The new ordinance also would limit the size of all signs on private property to 6 square feet.

If someone is caught putting out a sign in the public way, he or she would be subject to a citation, Carver said.

In 2006, Palatine voted to change its sign ordinance. There was debate about whether signs should be completely banned on public land, but it didn't happen.

Instead, political signs in Palatine can't be put up more than 72 hours before an election and they must be removed within 24 hours.