Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 14, 1995 TAG: 9507140042
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
But Christiansburg police want the weekend entrepreneurs to know that those harmless looking yard-sale signs designed to attract business can cause a lot of trouble.
The signs, when posted on town property or utility poles, can block drivers' vision. Nails left behind can cause trouble for utility workers months from now as they climb poles to repair lines damaged during winter storms.
The town has an ordinance prohibiting any advertisements being posted on town property and on utility poles without permission, and will likely begin stepping up enforcement on that law. A conviction of the misdemeanor could cut into yard-sale profits by costing violators as much as $100.
"I've started out here on Saturday morning and ended up with a carload of them in the trunk and back seat both," Officer Howard Gardner said. "It's just something that I wish [residents] would help us with. They do look terrible after a while."
Signs can be placed on sticks and put in the ground on private property.
"They can put them up if they'll get people's permission and put them off the town
(did not appear in paper from this point on.
property," Gardner said.
Glenda Wohlford, administrative assistant for the Pulaski Apco headquarters, said the nails cause problems for workers who, when wearing spiked climbing equipment, hit a nail instead of wood.
When that happens, the climber loses traction and the worker may fall some distance before a safety belt stops him.
"I know that from time to time this is a problem," Wohlford said.
Also, Gardner said, signs that are left hanging for days after a yard sale ends are unsightly.
"Leaving yard sale signs up looks bad and leaves a mess," he said.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***