Sign of the Times

Sorry, no April Fools joke this year! I was going to post a photo of the house covered in snow from one of our big winter storms and claim that we had a freak, late-season storm that froze all the cherry blossoms, but I just didn't have time -- it was a crazy day at work. And, as you can see from the photo below, which I took earlier today, the weather here is absolutely gorgeous.
You'll notice that in addition to our spring bulbs, a couple political signs have sprouted up in our front yard. I won't go into all the gory details, but ever since we moved into our house 6 years ago, we've been fighting the county over a huge construction project that's just a block away. Essentially, the county is giving our taxpayer dollars to the aging church at the end of our street so they can tear it down and rebuild it with an 8-story apartment building on top. There are a lot of issues that have upset the people who live in the surrounding residential neighborhood, including the height of the building -- which is nearly double what the original zoning allowed -- and the seeming lack of church/state separation. But because the church has agreed to make some of the apartments available at an "affordable housing" rate, the county has bent over backwards to make it happen.

If you want to see what the finished project is supposed to look like, they have some drawings and renderings on their web site. Construction has already begun, and they project it will take TWO YEARS to complete.

For more details about our neighborhood's lawsuit against the county, you can visit AskTheCounty.com

Anyway, when I got home from work yesterday, I found this letter in my mailbox:Note that while it was dated March 26, it was postmarked March 31, so rather than having 10 days to respond, I really only had 2 business days. Also, it was NOT sent by certified mail, despite the 'receipt number' under our address.

Now, as you may recall, we had half a dozen different yard signs from all our subcontractors in front of our house during our renovation, not to mention an Obama sign prior to the 2008 presidential election, but that didn't seem to raise any concerns with the zoning dept.
Since I couldn't call them back until the next morning, I looked up the county zoning ordinance online, and found this:

7. The following signs may be displayed with out a permit on private property in any district.
b. Unlighted temporary political signs are permitted on private property in residential zoning districts.

And here is their own definition:
Political sign. A temporary sign relating to the election of one or more persons to public office, or a political party, or a matter to be voted upon at an election called by a duly constituted public body, or an issue of public interest.

I'm pretty sure the county's questionable funding of the church project qualifies as "an issue of public interest." I showed the letter to Josh and discussed it with several neighbors -- some of whom had received the same letter. They were all in agreement that there was no basis for the county to be sending out this letter -- and that it seemed suspicious that that they were targeting people with anti-county yard signs.

I called the number on the letter this morning and got the voice mail of the person who sent it, Kenneth Wright, so I left a message asking him to call me back. Around 11 am, I just happened to notice a county Prius parked in front of my house, and saw a guy standing across the street taking a photo of our yard signs. I went outside, introduced myself, and had a nice, friendly chat with Kenneth Wright himself. He happened to have a copy of the county zoning ordinance in his car, so I pointed out the specific passages I cited above, and he agreed that my yard signs were NOT, in fact, in violation.

Mr. Wright said he would go back to the office to confirm this with the Zoning Administrator, but he personally didn't see any issue with the signs. He was also very apologetic when I pointed out that his 'courtesy' letter just arrived yesterday -- and was postmarked March 31. He claimed it must have been an issue with the mailroom, and that he'd look into it.

I asked him why the sudden interest in yard signs, and he claimed that the county has been doing battle against illegal yard signs for years. He made it sound like someone just happened to be canvassing our area recently and noted several potential violations. I couldn't get a sense of whether that was true or if someone had actually complained -- or if the county had specifically targeted our neighborhood. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Even if this WAS an orchestrated attempt by the county to get us to take down our signs, they had clearly lost that particular battle.

Shortly after noon, an email was sent out by the Zoning Administrator in which she stated:

"I am about to write in capital letters – not to shout but to emphasize –

NO ZONING ENFORCEMENT ACTION WITH REGARD TO THE SIGNS REFERENCED IN THE MARCH 26, 2010 LETTER FROM KENNETH WRIGHT WILL BE PURSUED."

And thus ended Yard-Sign-Gate 2010. (I hope!)