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Sidewalk signs and sandwich boards like the one pictured above are technically illegal in the District, but hundreds of local businesses have long ignored the law. Take a stroll along M Street in Georgetown, 18th Street in Adams Morgan, or U Street between 15th and 16th and you're likely to find dozens of signs enticing customers with specials and sales dotting the sidewalk along the way. They do it because sidewalk signs are effective, and because the city has rarely bothered to enforce the law. But it looks like that's about to change.
The District Department of Transportation announced today that it will implement a new sidewalk sign sting beginning at the end of this month. Starting March 23, a 7-day warning and public education period on the illegality of sidewalk signs will begin. DDOT will then begin issuing citations starting April 1, which come with a fine of $150 for the first violation, and $300 for each subsequent violation.
"The goal of this initiative is to ensure safe pedestrian walkways and compliance," Acting DDOT Director Gabe Klein said in a statement.
Many local business operators we talked to today had yet to hear about DDOT's plans, and some weren't too pleased with the news.
"The signs are important, because some people don't know we're here, and they see the sign," said Love Cafe manager Nelys Coronado. The U Street coffee and cupcake shop has long placed a sandwich board outside its door to advertise its lunch specials and wireless internet.
Across the street at Parlour, a relatively new hair salon on U Street which also has a sandwich board on the sidewalk, receptionist Roberto Crudup said he's talked to customers who have come in off the street to try the salon just because they noticed their sign.
"Obviously, we don't think it's fair," Crudup said of DDOT's plans to fine businesses for their sidewalk signs. "But we'll deal with it."
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Has there been a sudden wave of sign related injuries and/or fatalities that the media is keeping from the public? That's the only thing I could imagine that would prompt this complete waste of time.
This sure sounds like the work of the legendary Winzilla! The White Business Killah™. Looks like he's still out to foil the Euro-style business practices of the hipster set, perhaps via a tenacious, Andy Dufresne-style letter-writing campaign...
really, this is fantastic news. it just says that DC finally has professional people in its agencies. there are so many laws and regulations in DC that are never enforced, and everyone has known for years that you could ignore whatever regulation you wanted without repercussion.
i hope, for the business owners, that they are able to reach a deal with DDOT. if it means getting a new regulation written, so be it, but at least it'll be aboveboard and we'll have something on the books.
the most transformative thing about the williams and fenty administrations is good governance. keeping that going is the most important thing we can do for the city going forward. we don't need to lapse back into the incompetence of the barry era.
As the saying goes, the fastest way to get a bad law changed is to enforce it. Of course in DC the fastest way still probably involves committees, oversight, Grahamstanding, and a bunch of snarky comments on blogs.
snarky comments, natch. but there are also the crazy nimby's you have to factor in as well.
and the ANCs. oh LORD don't forget the ANCs...
how the hell did a couple people (wizzyliz and big moose) manage to mess with their time stamps? it's 5:45 pm and their comments say they were posted at almost 9:00 pm.
did dcist invent a time machine?
holy shit....i'm living in the future...
Mmmmm... steel cut oatmeal
Fucking FINALLY. I'm so sick of those sidewalk signs creating ridiculous pedestrian traffic, kidnapping our children, selling drugs on the corner, and harassing our women. I've been waiting for DDOT to finally step up and take action. The sidewalks of DC will be a safer place to be because of it.
Yes, let's make things harder for retailers. Things are going too well for them right now.
My thoughts exactly... let's go after something that actually causes dangerous situations first.
At long last I will traverse city sidewalks on my bicycle, free to mow down people and dogs without those blasted signs in my way.
What they really need to crack down on are the places that encroach upon public space with their outdoor seating, especially the ones with those giant cafe unbrellas. Those of us taller than 6 feet are tired of having to duck every time we walk down a sidewalk. I'm half tempted to deliberately impale my forehead on an umbrella, just to see what sort of settlement I could get.
What they really need to crack down on are the places that encroach upon public space with their outdoor seating, especially the ones with those giant cafe unbrellas. Those of us taller than 6 feet are tired of having to duck every time we walk down a sidewalk. I'm half tempted to deliberately impale my forehead on an umbrella, just to see what sort of settlement I could get.
But if we don't let the signs sit out in front of stores, chances are that end up in a gang.
Damn mistyping.
Chances are that they'll end up in a gang.
so much for that joke.
Forget the sidewalk signs, what about construction sites that digg up and orange cone-off blocks for months and months??? The new office building at 11th and K st. NW has dug up the sidewalk since fall, but my main gripe is that they knocked over a circulator bus stop sign, so sometimes bus drivers don't stop and the cones the construction crew set up make it impossible to stand near the sign. How can private companies knock down public property and disrupt public transportation without any government official caring?
No doubt. Everywhere in the 18th and K area seems to always be under construction, especially near the Borders. I'd like to be able to use the sidewalk one day. Sign boards have NEVER gotten in my way. I like them.
But what about the children?!?!
Could they also crack down on all the soviet-era, propaganda images of Hussein all over town? I practically can't walk outside without wanting to vomit.
Give DDOT some slack. These sidewalk signs are one of the few things the agency actually has authority over. Sidewalks, streets and curb cuts--that's pretty much all it does (excluding parking enforcement, no less). At least the DDOT folks are trying to do their jobs, which is more than I can say for some DC agencies. It's not like focusing on these signs is going to distract DDOT from discovering life on another planet or saving the economy if it doesn't do this. They're DDOT.
At least DDOT gave fair warning. It's not like the state troopers on the NJ Turnkpike announce that they will be ticketing all drivers going over 65 for the next 7 days.
Besides, you know this is going to get enforced DC-style, which means enforcement will be spotty or not at all.
Why is my city's government so retarded?
My thoughts exactly.
Cue the Grahamstanding in 5...4...3...2...1... The Grahamstander has oversight of DDOT and we all know that he hasn't met a business that he doesn't like (unless of course they are a night spot catering to young black folks) so I've no doubt that good ole Jimbo will get this enforcement curtailed before it even begins.
Clearly these signs are loitering. Get Graham on it.
Why is my city's government so retarded?
Why is my city's government so retarded?
I like the signs in general, but there are sidewalks that are already too narrow to accomodate them. So my solution is to restrict signs based on the width of the pedestrian clearance. So for my 'hood, no go on the south side of the 1300 block of U street, but just fine on 14th below U. Why have a blanket rule when the dimensions vary by so much?
Is this "sting" taking place before or after the Sunday church double parking sting?
apparently I don't know how to use reply.
My thoughts exactly... let's go after something that actually causes dangerous situations first.
coming around the corner at 16/H is a crapshoot.
Thank you DDOT!! Yep. I've seen way too many idiots on the Segways mowing down these sidewalk signs.
Now if we could only get rid of the hotdog stands, the vendors who sell those honkin CD's, purses, perfumes, etc., as well as the homeless beggars, children in strollers and cellphone yakkers THEN we'll have safe sidewalks. Thank you, DDOT!!
How much does an ad cost in, say, the Express?
Maybe $300 is worth it to catch people when they're walking by.
What I'm worried about is that they are going to start cracking down on scooters that park on the sidewalks because DC doesn't seem to care about creating two-wheeled vehicle parking. Parking them on the sidewalk is technically illegal, but never enforced, which is good, because I've never seen them in the way, and there are no better options in DC (like there are in many other cities). If DDOT wants to do something useful, they should make the city more scooter friendly.
I agree with jaylin4dc. Construction zones which do not provide adequate space for pedestrians to pass are a much bigger nuisance in downtown DC than sandwichboards.