Here come the political signs

You’d never know it, but there are laws governing their display

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If you’ve driven down just about any street in the Town of Hempstead in the past three weeks or so, you’ve no doubt noticed the election signs springing up on public, private and abandoned property — virtually everywhere. Meacham Avenue in Elmont, which drivers use to get from Hempstead Turnpike to the Southern State Parkway, has more than a dozen signs measuring more than three feet across, turning this popular roadway into a makeshift Times Square for election campaigning.

With all the unavoidable distraction they force on drivers and passers-by, you have to wonder: What are the laws governing political signs that are planted in the ground, stapled to utility poles, hung on fences and buildings — and invariably linger months after Election Day, like a banner for Rob Astorino, which still hangs on a vacant West Hempstead building over a year after his campaign concluded?

“There is no town legislation that addresses political signs on public property,” Susan Trenkle-Pokalsky, press secretary for the Town of Hempstead, explained in an email. No permits, no size limitations, no time restrictions prevent anyone with a political message from creating and displaying a sign indefinitely on public property in the town.

Hempstead does, however, have legislation on political signs on private property:

* A sign may not be installed, erected or otherwise placed more than 90 days prior to the date of the election to which it relates.

* It must be removed within 10 days after the election.

* The face of the sign must not exceed 32 square feet.

The codes in other Nassau County towns vary in stringency. In the Town of North Hempstead, freestanding political signs are prohibited in any unincorporated sections of town. They are, however, permitted on private property when they meet seven different requirements, one of which is the posting of a $1,000 bond, or $50 cash, with the town’s Building Department to ensure that they are removed no longer than 10 days after the election.

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