By Leslie Collins
Northeast News

With a unanimous vote April 12, the Kansas City City Council passed an ordinance to combat illegal signs in public rights-of-way and on public property.

Co-sponsored by City Council members Scott Taylor and Scott Wagner, the ordinance declares the illegal signs as a nuisance, which allows the city’s Department of Neighborhood and Community Services to investigate the signs’ owner and turn the case over to Municipal Court.

“The beauty of our neighborhoods is critical to their vitality,” Wagner said. “The removal of these illegal signs is an important part of any strategy to remove blight from our community.”

Some signs are exempt and include those posted by government entities, public utility signs, transit company signs and safety signs.

Unauthorized signs can be removed by citizens or the city, and citizens may also report illegal signs to the Neighborhood and Community Services Department for further prosecution.

Owners of illegal sign(s) will be notified and given 24 hours to remove the sign. If a sign isn’t removed within 24 hours, a fine of $20 may be issued. Subsequent violations will result in fines of $20 to $1,000 per sign.

“I’m delighted to see this ordinance. I’ve waited for this for years,” said Maria King, chairman of the Scarritt Renaissance Neighborhood Codes Committee. “It (illegal signs) certainly detracts from our city.”

Taylor added that the new ordinance provides another tool for neighborhood leaders to keep neighborhoods clean.