Depending on your perspective, the United States is in a soft economy, a critical downturn, or an outright recession. The by-product in almost all communities is a rash of business closings. When there no longer is a business, there no longer is a need for its on-premise sign.
Unfortunately, when a business (or more precisely, the property where the business was conducted) is abandoned, what to do with its sign usually triggers the regulatory power of the municipality where the business was located.

In some municipalities, by law this abandoned sign structure would have to be removed.

Baton Rouge Considers Its Business Graveyard
At issue for the community is its perception of blight, acutely symbolized by the remaining yet now abandoned sign. Consider Baton Rouge, where a city council member wants to “crackdown on abandoned signs, poles and billboards.” But local merchants are of two minds about what to do. One merchant realizes, “It’s confusing to customers. They’ll come walking around looking for a business that’s been gone for 10 years.”
Yet if the city commands the property owner to remove not just the sign but its structure, any new owner or tenant must absorb a higher cost. “If I was a person who was considering renting a property, having a pole already there and being able to reduce the cost of my sign, that’s a win for me.” A citizen noted that one Baton Rouge street looked like a “business graveyard.” See www.batonrougetoday.com for information on the proposed abandoned sign ordinance.
Code language can consider several variations and definitions of abandonment. For this column, I am not including language that would consider billboards subject to Federal Highway Administration regulations, nor the parallel issue of “sign spam,” which certainly warrants a separate column.

Can anyone suggest that this building fascia is helping improve its neighborhood?

The USSC Model Code Definition
The United States Sign Council, in its guideline sign code, uses a straightforward definition: “A sign that no longer identifies or advertises a location, product or activity conducted on the premises on which the sign is located.” Various municipalities add language, as the accompanying chart of sample codes indicates, but the USSC definition provides a strong benchmark.
For a broader approach to abandoned signs, consider what Sparks, Nev., uses:

Criteria for establishing abandonment.
A sign or sign structure shall be considered abandoned when any of the following occurs:
Any business advertised thereon is no longer in business and has not been in business anywhere for more than 90 days;
Any product or service advertised thereon is no longer offered and has not been offered for the past 90 days;
The structure no longer supports a sign for a period of 90 days;
The sign, structure or advertising display is visibly damaged or partially missing;
Internal or halo illumination is partially or wholly burned out or inoperative.

When in Sparks, Keep Those Illuminated Signs Repaired
Conclusion: if in Sparks, a sign owner better have a sign maintenance company ready to respond on short notice. Wouldn’t we be better off as an industry if municipalities mandated and enforced that signs be kept in repair? Isn’t this an example of where reasonable regulation could lead to increased industry revenue? Just asking.
Abandoned signs become a flashpoint in a community, as certainly with the Baton Rouge example. A zoning commission report from a city in southwest Ohio noted, “Abandoned signs confuse drivers and can leave the business district looking cluttered and unkempt.” This appears to be a common—and mostly reasonable—outlook.
A sign code task force in Springfield, Mo., had what I consider a refreshing viewpoint when it noted in a published report last October that “in large part the ‘number (of signs) and visual clutter’ is due to the large number of non-conforming signs and abandoned signs in the community. The problem of ‘visual clutter’ typically does not result only from newer signs being erected.” Indeed. Here is our opportunity: every new sign, properly designed, manufactured and installed can lead to less, not more, visual clutter.
Which brings me to my final questions. The property rights viewpoint, much in vogue in our industry over the past decade, would object to much municipal regulation at all, and certainly could fight the Sparks code language as an unwarranted and unreasonable burden on the property owner.
But doesn’t a community have a right to appropriately fight blight where constitutionally permitted? Are there not overlapping interests between what is good for the community and what is important for the revenue interests of the on-premise sign industry? I think there is a clear overlap, one which would allow us to be the Good Guys, helping improve our communities.

Action Item for the on-premise sign industry: Take a higher profile in assisting communities in the regulation of abandoned signs. Become pro-active in identifying abandoned signs as not only blight on the community, but as blight on the sign industry.

Please let me hear from you. I’m at .

Sample Municipal Code Language: Abandoned Signs

Ohio: Any sign now or hereafter existing that no longer advertises a commercial message for a bona fide business conducted on the premises or a product sold on the premises for a period of three months shall be deemed abandoned.

Missouri: A sign is abandoned after six months when it no longer advertises a legal business, service or product, or it advertises a discontinued legal business, service or product or for when no legal owner can be found.

New Jersey: Obsolete signs: Any sign that no longer advertises a bona fide business conducted, a product sold or is not used for a permitted use. The failure to keep a non-conforming sign painted or in good repair for a period of six months shall constitute abandonment.

Illinois: Any sign that is located on property that becomes vacant and unoccupied for a period of three months or more, or any sign that pertains to a time, event, or purpose that no longer applies, shall be deemed to have been abandoned.

California: Any sign related to a former business located on property that remains unoccupied for a period of 60 days or more, or any sign that was placed or erected for an occupant or business unrelated to the present occupant or business, or any sign that pertains to a time, event, or purpose that no longer exists shall presume to be abandoned.

Virginia: A sign, including its supporting structure or brackets, shall be removed by the owner or lessee of the premises upon which the sign is located when the business that it advertises is no longer on the premises.

Utah: Any on-premise sign located on property that is vacated by an occupant shall be deemed to have been abandoned. The structure of all detached on-premise signs shall be removed within six months.

Arkansas: Any sign that continues in a state of structural, mechanical or cosmetic disrepair for 30 calendar days after written notice or is a visual blight or eyesore clearly visible from any public right-of-way; or for 30 calendar days advertises or gives notice of a business, service, commodity, accommodation, attraction or other enterprise or activity that is no longer operating or being offered or conducted or is otherwise obsolete, shall be deemed abandoned.

The Fine Print: This column is meant to explore issues of importance to the sign industry, and your business. I am not offering legal advice. Consult with your attorney or other business advisor before considering any of the ideas discussed in this column.