Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › RANT: Yard Sale signs = vandalism
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August 3, 2013 at 4:21 pm #608520
anonymeParticipantAbout half an hour ago I was enjoying a relaxing, weekend coffee when I heard a loud pounding that sounded like it was right on my property. When I went out the gate, I found 3 people, one of whom was NAILING his giant, pink yard sale sign to MY wood fence. I let them know that this was private property and demanded they remove it immediately, along with the nails and staples. I just went out to check, and the staples, with pink cardboard torn out underneath, are still there, deeply imbedded. The staples will have to be dug out.
They put up these huge, pink signs all over the Arbor Heights neighborhood, accompanied by mylar balloons. It would not surprise me if these are left to drift and disintegrate once the sale is over, as is often the case. This practice of posting and abandoning yard sale advertising is irresponsible, leaving the mess for other neighbors to clean up. Clean up your OWN mess, and be respectful of neighbors!!! Your yard sale is your own responsibility.
August 3, 2013 at 6:31 pm #795397
brittlestarMemberThis yard-sale litter is bad for non-human neighbors as well as human ones. Abandoned balloons kill wildlife. Mylar ones are especially bad because they degrade more slowly than regular ones.
August 3, 2013 at 7:03 pm #795398
anonymeParticipantExactly right, brittlestar. I’m angry about my property being damaged, but the environment is of greater concern. Mylar must take forever to degrade, and what then? “Degrade” doesn’t mean gone. It’s there forever as a permanent, foreign, non-organic part of the soil – much as most beaches are now filled with tiny degraded pieces of plastic from trash filled oceans.
My blood pressure dictates I stop there…!
August 3, 2013 at 8:50 pm #795399
happywalkerParticipantLeft over/outdated yard sale signs that litter our neighborhoods are a pet peeve of mine. I’m not sure if is unlawful to leave them up after the sale to wither away on their own or not, but for Pete’s sake people, if we let you use our telephone poles at least take them down when the sale is over. It’s not like we don’t know where you live…,laziness and/or apathy would be the only reason.
August 6, 2013 at 10:38 pm #795400
anonymeParticipantThe official rules, from Seattle.gov:
“The “Do’s” of Postering
Posters can be hung without a permit – no permit fees are required.
Posters can be placed on utility poles, street light poles, and on traffic sign posts except that:
No posters are allowed on stop or yield sign posts or on the backs of those signs;
Posters that share poles or posts with traffic signs cannot face the same direction as the traffic signs.
Include a printed posting date in the lower left corner of each poster;
Make your posters out of thin and flexible paper, cardboard, or plastic.
Poster size can be up to 24 inches vertical and 18 inches horizontal and, if hung on sign posts, limit the overhang to 6 inches on each side of the post;
Use tape, string, or staples not larger than 3/8 inch and 0.050 gauge to attach posters.
Posters can be hung up to 7 feet from the ground on poles and posts.
Posters may be displayed for 30 days or until the date of any event advertised, whichever time comes first. The person or organization hanging the posters has a 10-day grace period to remove the posters before the City can charge costs for removal.
The removal process:
The person or organization placing the signs is responsible for removing the signs;
City forces may remove expired signs at any time, but can collect costs only for those signs the City removes after the 10 day grace period;
The City may remove signs that violate the rules at any time and charge for the costs of removal. There is no grace period for signs in violation of the rules;
The City encourages self-policing and removal of expired posters so that City forces can be used on other priorities.”
Hardly ANY of the signs I see abide by these rules, especially the part about dating the poster. Therefore, they can and should be torn down immediately. From now on, that’s exactly what I’ll do; I encourage anyone else weary of this abusive practice to do the same. It’s unfortunate that the concept of personal responsibility seems so completely out of fashion these days.
August 7, 2013 at 3:18 pm #795401
JoBParticipantif a yard sale sign is posted on your property.. take it down
if you see a properly posted yard sale sign that has been there long enough to weather .. take it down
picking up after people who litter has always been the bane of an orderly person’s existence
August 7, 2013 at 7:06 pm #795402
JanSParticipantand, while we’re at it…could the candidates who put their campaign signs in public places PLEASE go take them down when the election is over? Signs of all kinds, left to just sit and rot in the weather are bad, no matter who does it.
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