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i take care of my property from the house to the street, it is very neat, always mowed and much loved.
i feel great pride when i arrive home.
that has all changed with a 3 foot by 3 foot metal farm sign posted within 4 feet of my driveway!
i have been fighting this battle with the farmer (moving it to a more acceptable location) to finally just moving in to the end of my lot behind a fence that borders the road back there where i can't see it.
i had the police stop today to let me know i should not move it as the code enforcement officer said the farm applied for a permit for the sign and it was granted!!!
pray tell how can the give another private citizen permission to use my land without my consent!
what is my next step???
i now come home with a sick stomach it makes me so angry to see someone else advertising and enjoying my hard work in maintaining my property.
is this right?
Where are you located? In the US? If so, the farmer might have the sign in the public right-of-way. But usually a private individual could not put a sign there. Your first step is to look at your land survey and see what it is you actually own.
I'm also confused about how someone could be granted a permit to post a sign on your property. I would talk to an attorney - many will give a free initial consult so you'd know if you had legal rights that you could try to pursue against the farmer and/or the city.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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If they were granted a permit, either it's not on your property, but on a road or utility easement, or he didn't bother to tell them that it was not his property. I'd contact the sign code enforcement people that issued the permit to start. If it's on an easement, there's nothing you can do. Most people don't realize that 10-15' of their property back from the road is not really theirs.
I have a feeling the sign is not on the OP's lot just so very close to it. What kind of sign is it ? Does it just note the farm name or or is it of commercial purposes- advertising a farm stand, pick your own, etc.
Utility easements and public rights-of-way exist for specific purposes. In the case of utility easements (even big open powerline corridors, when running through private property) the underlying land is still owned by the landowner and the utility company has specific rights of use. The public and abutters can't just do what they please in that area.
Likewise, public rights-of-way exist for sidewalks, or are held out in the event the municipality wants to widen the road at some point, or for utilities, etc.. When it's a public right-of-way (rather than public property) yes, the land is owned by the owner of the land that runs up to it and the land is not for other members of the public to use in any way they please, such as installing big signs.
My guess is that the OP may be wrong about what is his land, and I agree - start by contacting code enforcement to see what's what. I am surprised that this sign would be allowed so close to the OP's driveway, even if it's not on his land, but I don't know what the lots in question are like or where they're located. Driveways themselves, in many areas, have to adhere to a setback (say, 10 feet) from the property line, but of course that's not the case everywhere, and many were installed before zoning existed.
As the city/county gave the farmer permission to place the sign at a particular point, it is apparently not the OP property it is placed on but land owned by the farmer, or land owned or controlled by the city/county.
Apparently the farmer, has placed the sign legally, but the OP hates having to look at the sign and thinks the sign is distracting from the appearance of his property. If the sign is placed where the farmer was legally allowed to put the sign, the OP may find that the farmer starts calling the police for trying to physically move the sign and end up with a nice sized fine for doing so.
I know this can happen, as I have seen it happen. The OP should just give up, and leave the sign alone. If the sign was on his legal property when the police investigated they would have gone and told the farmer to move it, instead of telling the OP it is placed legally under a permit from the local government.
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