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Resident urges stricter enforcement of yard‑sign rules, says planners report no fines on file
Summary
At the public‑comment portion of the Aug. 25 meeting, a Lawrence resident urged the planning department to enforce city rules on signs in public rights of way and said the planning director told him there are no enforcement records; the resident asked the city to impose fines to address repeated violations.
A Lawrence resident told the Metropolitan Planning Commission on Aug. 25 that city rules on signs in public rights of way are not being consistently enforced and urged staff to impose fines for repeat violations.
"My name is Eric Hyde, 66046," Hyde said during general public comment. He told the commission he had visited the Planning and Development office after observing numerous yard sign violations in rights of way and easements across the city. "There are a lot of signs in those areas for political candidates and businesses," Hyde said, and that many signs are placed in public rights of way and designated easements.
Hyde said he spoke with Planning and Development leadership and that, according to him, the department does not maintain records of enforcement and has not been issuing fines. "On top of that, there are 0 records according to Director Brian Jimenez," Hyde said, while adding he did not intend to get the director in trouble. He told commissioners he documented 19 signs in one observation and let a twentieth go unrecorded; he said one of the signs belonged to a well‑known local realtor.
Hyde framed the concern as both a safety and code‑compliance issue and urged the department to act: "There needs to be some fine enforcement so the city can fix some of its budget problems," he said. He also told the commission he had been told by a staff member that planners do not always need a public complaint to investigate sign placements.
Commissioners did not respond with immediate action at the meeting; the comment was taken during the general public‑comment portion and not associated with any agenda item. The transcript records Hyde’s assertions and his reference to a conversation with the planning director; the commission did not record any department reply during the public comment segment. If the issue is to move forward administratively it would be handled by the Planning and Development Department and, as Hyde noted, may require staff follow‑up to confirm records and enforcement procedures.
