A troubling sign

East Baton Rouge Parish has ordinances banning illegally placed signs in medians and another requiring abandoned business signs to be removed within 15 days. There's also a dedicated Blight Court. What's missing is anyone seriously enforcing any of it.

Why it matters: Streetscapes riddled with the visual pollution of illegally placed signs in rights-of-way and the decaying calling cards of shuttered businesses are not only an eyesore but also have economic consequences for a city.

Not just a we problem. Cities across the South face the same gap between law and enforcement.

• Jacksonville, Florida, earned the nickname "Trashville" from its own residents over the same failure.
• St. Petersburg, Florida, ran a self-funding program—fine revenue offset the inspector's cost—until a new administration killed it.
• The answer to all your questions is money. City-parish officials say there isn't enough funding to get tough on visual pollution.
• As Seinfeld histrionically told us, the holding is "really the most important part of the reservation. Anybody can just take them."

An obvious flaw: Baton Rouge's enforcement is complaint-driven and deadline-dependent.

• Businesses running a weekend sale know the math: put the signs out, run the promotion, ignore the notice, pull them on day 14. Free advertising, courtesy of municipal indifference.
• Since the city-parish revamped Blight Court, fine collections have been abysmal—the vast majority of property owners don't pay.
• Each unaddressed blight citation suppresses nearby property values by 0.4%.

💡 An idea: Inspired by A&E's Parking Wars, the city-parish contracts with a private company on strict commission—no budget outlay required.

• Agents fan out across EBR, issue violations on the spot and confiscate signs as evidence.
• The key legal fix: anyone advertised on a sign is presumed responsible for its placement. The phone number on the sign is the citation.
• Proceeds from a $100 fine split three ways: 55% to the contractor/ticket issuer, 30% to the city-parish general fund and 15% to the Blight Court.
• Cases go before an elected, at-large Blight Court judge—one parishwide position, one standard, one public docket.
• The political bonus: the moment a Metro Council member's campaign signs get ticketed, candidates learn fast they're responsible for what their workers and affiliated PACs plant in the ground.

The bottom line: The laws exist, the court exists and the violators are identifiable—their phone numbers are literally on the signs.