‘Mind your signs,’ city says
Since summer is sign season, the city is reminding posters of the rules regarding sign placement.
“Especially during the summer, signs tend to crop up at main intersections and along key thoroughfares on the island,” Code Enforcement Officer Meghan McKnight said in a city release. “Inappropriately placed signs cause visual distractions and can present safety hazards for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.”
Bainbridge Island’s municipal code regulates the placement of signs to protect public safety and help preserve the character of the island roads.
Key elements of the regulations include the following:
No signs are allowed in medians or roundabouts due to their potential impact on sight lines and traffic safety.
Political signs must support a candidate for public elective office, a political party, or a position on a ballot measure. These signs may be posted within the public right-of-way only if they do not interfere with sight distances; create a vehicular or pedestrian traffic obstruction or hazard; and only if permission to place the sign is obtained from the abutting property owner.
Sign permits are required for signs advertising businesses as well as special events and tours.
Businesses may place one sandwich board on site after receiving a permit.
Special events require city staff review of proposed sign locations before a permit can be issued, to ensure that signs will not block sight lines or otherwise impede motor or foot traffic.
Real estate signage is limited to one sign per site.
Banners displayed by a nonprofit or civic organization on fences or blank walls do not require a permit, but they do require approval of the property owner.
They may be displayed for a maximum of two periods not exceeding 14 days total within any calendar year.
For more information on the city’s sign regulations, or to obtain a sign permit, call Katie Jones at 780-3770 or visit the city’s Web site.
Everyone on the same page
Come October, Kitsap County readers will be on the same page – or at least on the same book.
Kitsap Regional Library is participating in the “One Book One Communit” program, a reading initiative designed to bring county residents together by reading and discussing the same book.
Participating Kitsap County residents will be reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee.
The Pulitzer Prize winning novel explores civil rights and racism in the segregated southern United States of the 1930s.
The program is supported by a grant from the Washington State Library with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and by the Kitsap Regional Library Foundation.
The grant will cover the purchase of almost 900 copies of the book.
Book group kits and school packets will also be developed. In addition, the library will sponsor an essay contest throughout the five county school districts asking students to write about a book that changed their lives.
Other related activities will include play readings at library branches, film showings and discussions, and other activities.
For more information call (360) 405-9133 or visit www.krl.org.
Volunteer for the Fourth
With the big day just a few weeks away, organizers of the Grand Old Fourth of July are looking for some help.
For starters, volunteers are needed for street fair vendor support and script/ticket/game management for inflatable games at Waterfront Park.
Also needed to ensure that the day’s activities go smoothly are assistance with raffic control for street closures; the Chamber of Commerce information booth; water boys and/or girls for parade participants; and Teen Takeover supervisors.
To participate, call event coordinator Elizabeth Gadbois at 842-3700.
Wrapping up at Rockaway
Road work at Rockaway Beach Road will be completed this week, according to a city release.
Workers are expected to finish installing barriers as part of a shift of the road bed away from the waterfront bluff, which is rapidly eroding.
The project is a short-term fix for erosion, which has undermined the shoulder near the guardrail. A funding strategy for long-term repairs is being discussed as part of the city’s ongoing capital planning work.
The shoulder on the west side of the road was widened two weeks ago. The barriers were the final step in the project, which moved traffic lanes about five feet to the west; they serve as a second impediment in front of the existing guard rail.
A reduced speed limit of 20 miles per hour will take effect later this week.
For more information on the project, call Chris Munter at 780-3720, or visit the city’s Web site.
