Taking matters (and signs) into his own hands, West Windsor Councilman George Borek patrolled parts of the township on Saturday, March 3, and pulled 68 signs out of the ground. Little did he know that those signs actually are permissible on weekends.
“For open houses or rental apartments we allow signs. They’re only permitted at intersections, and the signs should basically say the name of the development with an arrow for direction, plus a phone number. Signs should also say ‘homes for sale’ or the word leasing,” said West Windsor Municipal Land Use Manager Sam Surtees.
While Councilman Borek’s intention was to temporarily solve West Windsor’s ongoing struggles with signage aimed at passing motorists, ultimately he found himself hearing “do not disturb” from township officials. Days after Borek removed the 68 signs, he met with Surtees and Director of Community Development Pat Ward to review the township’s enforcement of the temporary sign ordinance in effect on weekends.
Starting at 5 p.m. on Fridays and lasting until Sunday evenings, the township allows for “temporary real estate directional signs,” according to Surtees. Such signs can guide potential customers to the location of real estate in West Windsor.
On weekends during the winter, Borek noticed how on Saturdays an impression of “dueling banjos or dueling signs” was created by real estate companies advertising homes at the Elements, Windsor Woods and other developments. Borek attributed this to reckless guerrilla marketing.
“The average person, if they follow the rules, there would be no issue. But certain people that do what they want to do, and that’s the problem that we have,” Borek said.
Throughout February Borek expressed frustration over the abundance of business signs popping up along township roadways, creating an all-too-familiar eyesore. Councilman Bryan Maher also focused on signage as a township issue during his successful bid for Council last November. At that time of year political signs have traditionally been the main culprit. In response, last fall the planning board and Council discussed an ordinance restricting the weeks that candidates
could place political signs around town (WW-P News, October 7, 2011).
Surtees identified the recent problem as real estate companies setting up signs “every 20 feet in a straight line,” which is not permitted by township ordinance. Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh says real estate companies have generally not considered township regulations.
“They don’t care. Signs are minor expenditures for them. As long as some people read it that’s good enough for them. Psychologically, business people always feel that it’s better to have an advantage over competitors,” Hsueh said.
Mayor Hsueh says the real estate companies are content with using signs on weekends, even if it is just for a couple of hours. “On weekdays we have Public Works on patrol for illegal signs. That’s why weekdays are quiet and all of a sudden on Saturday morning there’s too many signs,” Hsueh said.
However, the tide may have changed lately. Surtees says an enforcement person from the division of land use is sent out on weekends to check for infractions. That person inspects for two hours at a time on both Saturdays and Sundays.
“If he notices there are illegal signs he will go and speak with the manager of the apartment complex or whatever houses the signs are for. I also send letters to the various apartment complex managers in the community just to remind them of West Windsor’s ordinance and spell out the specifics,” Surtees said.
Surtees said that over the weekends of March 10 to 11 and March 17 to 18 “things were cleaned up real good.” These results came after township officials met with some apartment complex managers and sent letters out to a few of them.
Since March 18 Councilman Borek also contacted Surtees’ office to indicate that he has noticed a change for the better. Surtees is comfortable with the progress that’s been made. “Most people are law-abiding citizens. They’ve policed themselves since, and now folks know that we have enforcement people out on weekends,” he said.
However the degree of enforcement is likely to stop there. Mayor Hsueh says it makes better financial sense for the township not to have an employee dedicated to managing signage. He recalls that such a position was part of cuts to the budget made a few years ago.
Raising the fine fees is not an option for West Windsor either.
“Right now we don’t go that far because in order to do that you have to give them a warning and then take them to court. You need manpower to do that also, and that’s something we don’t have enough of,” Hsueh says.
According to Surtees, after an initial warning sign offenders are given a summons to appear before the municipal court judge. However in that scenario the township’s municipal court costs also rise. Hsueh says, as current budget discussions continue, the question to revert to is “are we willing to pay for it?”
“If the answer is no then just have to let go,” Hsueh said.
