Council members disagree over fines for illegal signs

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville City Council members met Monday to discuss snipe sign legislation.

Snipe signs are small signs seen posted around town by people advertising their business or garage sale, promoting a special, or looking for a lost pet.

The signs are illegal and the city has been robocalling people to remove them. Violators are also slapped with hefty fines.

Monday's meeting got heated at one point.

"I just want to see us clean up the city, and I just don't want to see us working in a divided way, if I could say that," Councilwoman Denise Lee said.

Things got testy quickly when Lee started talking about the best ways to help clean up the city, when a woman in the audience started in on her.

"Now when we sent pieces of legislation, I think your discussion is within the council members. ... Who is this? Who is this? Excuse me, ma'am, ma'am," Lee said.

The goal of the meeting was to come to an agreement on the amount people should be fined if they post snipe signs on city property.

Over the past couple months, Code Enforcement has been cracking down on fining violators who clutter the sides of city streets with the signs.

But there are still plenty all around. For example, one advertises for teenagers needing work, one for a moving company, another for a move-in special, and one for an upcoming race.

The only signs that are allowed are called real estate directional signs, pointing people to an open house or model home.

"I think, probably, that most don't realize that snipe signs are illegal because you see them all over the place, so you don't know," said Nancy Garcia, of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors.

As it stands, violators are issued a warning for the first offense, cited $50 for the second offense, and it increases from there. But changes are in the works. Proposed legislation would hike first-time offenses to a $150 fine.

At the conclusion of Monday's meeting, Councilwoman Lori Boyer said she plans to introduce an amendment to the bill that would cite violators a total of $50 for the first five snipe signs, then $150 for each sign after that.

Fines would increase to $300 a sign for the second offense and $500 per sign after that.

"We obviously want to clean up litter in the city. That's the big objective with not allowing signs all over the right of way and telephone pole and everywhere," Boyer said. "On the other hand, you really don't want to be unduly restrictive on our citizens who are trying to advertise some necessary service."