As election season approaches, Cookeville officials are reminding residents and candidates about the city’s rules for political signs.
Election signs are popping up across Cookeville, even though the primary election is still months away. Community Development Director Jon Ward said this is normal because the city does not have rules limiting when election signs can be put up.
“We do have standards for when they must be removed after the completion of an election, and that’s a 14-day time limit after the election is over, but we don’t have a standard for when they go up prior to that,” Ward said.
Ward said one of the city’s main challenges is people knowing where election signs can and cannot be placed. He explained that the city’s ordinance allows signs on private property only with the owner’s permission and prohibits them in the public right-of-way.
“That’s one of the biggest complaints we receive, is someone that is putting signs up at intersections where it blocks visibility, you know, it can cause hazardous conditions,” Ward said. “So signs are prohibited in the public right-of-way.”
Ward said election signs in Cookeville can be up to 32 square feet in size. Ward said typically, months before an election is when the city gets the most calls about election signs.
“We don’t require a permit for those,” Ward said. “You know, they just need to be placed in compliance with our codes. If we have signs that are violating those, our codes inspector will be in touch with that candidate to get those in places thatdo meet the standards of the code.”
Ward said most violations of election signs are due to people simply being unaware of the city’s rules for election signs. Ward said people should call the city’s Codes Department if an election sign is believed to be installed illegally.