Hendry Getting Tough On Rogue Political Signs

Illegal Signs Being Picked Up Says Hendry B&Z Official

LABELLE, FL. -- Politicians and their campaign workers may be in for a surprise this election cycle. Hendry County Building and Zoning will be enforcing the zoning code sign ordinances strictly this year says Building Chief Bob Bott.

Bott says the Hendry commission approved an ordinance that bans political signs placed along county roadways. The existing code mandates that anyone wanting a sign placed must apply for a county temporary sign permit and have permission from the property owner as well.

Cutting down on visual clutter along the highways, Bott says county crews have already picked up signs illegally placed along roads from LaBelle to Clewiston. Bott says he has contacted one Glades county politician to remove a large wooden sign on State Road 80 and Birchwood in Port LaBelle.

The sign owner said they had permission from the property owner, a church, but apparently will need a permit allowing such a sign along the Hendry "Gateway Corridor'', a special section of the code with stiffer regulations of signs and buildings along State Road 80.

The Gateway portion of the building code attempts to create a pleasing atmosphere to visitors and residents along Hendry's main thoroughfare from Lee county to Palm Beach county, with special regulations pertaining to the look of buildings and limitations on signs allowed in this corridor.

The political campaign sign has since been moved a mile north to a Glades county location. Glades county's building and zoning office does no enforcement of sign regulations, even after public complaints, an earlier Sunday Morning News investigation revealed.

Update: The county commission, it has since been learned, quietly included in the new Hendry county sign ordinance June 8, an exemption for political signs of the requirement a permit and doubling the time they could be placed from 60 day before an election to 120 and doubling the time to take them down from 14 days to 30 days.