Councillors want election signs banned from road right-of-ways
By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on March 21, 2023.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com
A motion to be put forward in front of Lethbridge city council today is calling for the prohibition of election sign installed on public road right-of-ways.
The motion will be put forward by councillors Belinda Crowson and Jeff Carlson and asks council to direct administration to amend the City’s Administrative Election Sign Guidelines effective immediately.
Council meets today at 1:30 in chambers at City Hall.
The motion says in part that the number of signs “creates visual clutter and unsafe distractions along the public road right-of-way” and notes in the last municipal election hundreds were illegally placed and confiscated which required an additional full-time employee during the election period to manage collection and distribution of them.
Crowson and Carlson state in their motion that council and the City both received community complaints about the signs. They add that because most are made from corrugated, single-use plastics that aren’t accepted for recycling, the signs are generating additional waste in the landfill.
The motion notes that the City land use bylaw allows for temporary use of signs on private property.
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