Enforcement Experience

This is included here as an interesting approach to solving the illegal snipe sign problem as it has been tackled by some other jurisdictions. They buy a robocoller, and program it to repeatedly call any and every number that they find on illegal signs, often with some a message like "These calls will continue, day and night, until someone comes into our office, pays a fine, and signs an affidavit that placing of these signs will cease." Jurisdictions report it only cost them $200, they can call each number 20 a day, and it has reduced the number of signs by as much as 80%.

Some examples: Newport News | Hollywood, FL |, Hollywood, FL | Philadelphia | Jacksonville, FL .

These signs are appearing all over the County in large numbers. While they are made to look like they are hand-written (like some local signs) they are printed all the same. On the left, are a bunch for "Jim" picked up by a "Sharkey" in the Arbutus area - now where they belong - in the dumpster! On the right are a bunch of "Bob's" picked up in the White Marsh/Perry hall area. Since the signs have phone numbers on them, County CE or Police should be able to find them. If the phone number is actually assigned through a telcom company (Sprint, Verizon, etc.), even if "unlisted", law enforcement can easily get the identity from them. ("Jim's" number, at one time, was served by Cavalier Mid-Atlantic out of Fork, MD, so that is likely where he started, but seems to have moved to Skype or Google Voice VoIP. Bob's was originally out of Sykesville.) If not able to be identified from telco records, then CE/Police needs to set up a "sting" operation, as one inspector did years ago (see "Cash for Cars" below.) Meanwhile, citizens have no other alternative but to remove and dispose of these. I have removed hundreds.

During the publicity surrounding my court case, a police spokesperson being interviewed on TV stated that citizens should call the Police (instead of removing the signs themselves). So, since then, I have been calling the Police (and Code Enforcement) a lot. When this large sign appeared, I called the Police. Nothing was done. It was only after 4 more calls, and speaking directly with the Precinct, that the sign was finally moved - and then illegally put on another sign pole on the restaurant's property. I had already warned someone from the business when I saw him putting up a sign at a nearby intersection, and had removed another which was seriously blocking drivers' views.

A complaint was filed by phone on April 21 for illegal signs at the intersection of Martin Blvd and Middle River Rd. It is shown online as Case #CC1703452 clearly as being that intersection. A week later, the inspector went to the intersection of Ballard Rd and Middle River Rd, about 400 ft away, and took 3 photos of that intersection, and closed the case as no signs were at that intersection. One of the inspector's own photos (shown on the left) included the street sign clearly showing where he was. (The photo was fairly low resolution, but it is still possible to see some of the illegal signs at Martin Blvd that the complaint was about - click on image.) I filed a new complaint, and on May 29, it was observed that someone had cleaned up all the signs, but there were 3 new ones, which I removed.

Years ago, someone was putting up "Cash for Cars" signs (at left) all over the place, nearly every weekend. After I got tired of picking up hundreds of these, I finally got CE to take action. An inspector called the number on the sign and caught them when they came to pick up the car. A citation was issued with a $5,000 fine and a hearing scheduled for a Tuesday. On the previous Saturday, a hundred of the signs appeared along Joppa Rd through Carney, Parkville, and Towson. I picked them all up and testified at the Tuesday hearing. Although the actual culprit was present in the hearing room, the fine was levied against the owner of the property in Essex which the culprit rented for his auto service garage and, when he didn't pay it, a lien was placed on the property. Mind you, there was never any evidence that any of these illegal "snipe" signs were ever placed on that property. At least the signs stopped. There are some new ones (at right) that may or may not be the same person again. If so, he will be caught!

During 2010-2012 there were repeated signs for an "Aeration and Seeding" company. Because a real phone number was listed, I was able to track down the owner, business location, etc. I provided a detailed complaint letter to CE, giving them all the information, including the culprit's home address (in Perry Hall) and the business address (in Linthicum). Code Enforcement opened two cases, one for each address, and a different inspector went to each, of course found no signs, and closed the cases. This was obviously another example in which the inspector(s) did not even read my detailed letter. This has happened in numerous cases and I once spoke to the CE boss about this problem. I was not well received, nor was the problem corrected. While these signs seemed to stop for several years, they're back!

I've spent the past 3 years battling a massage parlor, with stores at Perring Plaza and on the corner of Philadelphia Rd and Rossville Blvd, that has been putting up signs for both, every weekend, all over the place from White Marsh to Towson. They were doing it so regularly that I was able to stake out one of the locations by Towsontown Mall and only had to wait 5 minutes for him to come along a put up signs. I got some lovely photos. (They have another store in Annapolis which is just as bad.) In spite of multiple complaints to CE, their usual action, when they took any, was to go to the location of the stores and either close the case because they found no signs, or issue a correction notice against the owner of the shopping center for signs located elsewhere. After multiple go-arounds, they finally issued a citation, based on my observation and promise to testify. The problem was that they issued it against the property owner and listed the violation as being against BCZR §450. I contacted the Director of PAI and insisted that the citation be reissued against the business owner and for violation of County Code 23-1-102 or I could not testify. A new citation was issued and I was then able to testify, resulting in the culprit being fined and told, in no uncertain terms, to not put up signs without a permit.

The signs for these two stores stopped for a while, but recently more signs have been put up near 3 of the stores. Two new complaints have been filed (Cases CC1706345 and CC1706349) but no action has been taken by CE to bring the culprits back before the judge.