Apr. 22—Officials with the city of Dalton and Whitfield County are reminding political candidates and their supporters, business owners and others that they should not place signs in the public right-of-way.
Dalton City Administrator Andrew Parker said city employees removed 39 signs from city right-of-way Wednesday morning.
"A lot them were political signs," he said during a meeting of the city's Finance Committee, which is made up of City Council members. "That is why we gave notice that if they were in the city right-of-way under city code they can be removed by any city official that sees them. We put that notice up (on the city website) about a week before we started actually enforcing it."
Parker said people can get a rough idea of where the right-of-way is by looking at utility poles.
Those are in the right-of-way, so a sign should never be placed between the poles and the street.
They should be placed behind the poles, he said.
Whitfield County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jevin Jensen said signs should be placed at least 10 feet away from the edge of any county road.
"We have a crew that picks up any type of signs year-round such as a political, realtor, pest control, etc.," he said. "They are taken to the Public Works building where owners can claim them."
Parker also reminded the City Council members that under the design standards they approved for the Gateway Corridor Overlay District in March, temporary signs are banned even on private property.
The Gateway Corridor Overlay District includes Market Street and West Walnut Avenue from I-75 to Dug Gap Road, and Parker said city officials have been working to make sure business and property owners in the area are aware of the new rules before they start to enforce them.
"Part of the regulations are that signs are only allowed to be monument-based signs," he said.
A monument-based sign is made from durable materials such as brick or stone.
Current signs that are permanent but not monument-based have been grandfathered in.
Parker said the goal is that "over time all signs come into compliance with the regulations."
The design ordinance said some of the goals of the design standards are "to protect property against blight and depreciation; to encourage the most appropriate development of land; and to provide an attractive gateway to the community."
The design ordinance also bans exterior walls of sheet metal or exposed concrete block and requires that roof-top mechanical equipment be placed at the rear of a building and screened from view.