You know all those signs you see on the side or the road, advertising everything from politicians to local moving companies? Well, Hillsborough Code Enforcement has some new ideas for these sometimes eyesores. An annual effort, known as Sign Off Day Tampa Bay, is organized by Hillsborough County Code Enforcement and gets rid of signs that have been placed illegally in public rights of way. The goal is for each jurisdiction to remove as many roadway or “snipe” signs as possible within their designated areas and bring them to a collection point by midday. The signs are then taken to a local private facility where they have a second life as a fossil fuel replacement.
What are snipe signs?
Ever noticed those pesky plastic or paper signs promoting everything from window washing to tax assistance? Known by Hillsborough County staff as “snipe” signs, these advertisements are found on utility poles, medians, parkways, and other locations within the right of way. Businesses, organizations, and individuals are not permitted to install these signs as they are both an eyesore and a driving hazard. Article VII, Section 7 of the Hillsborough County code prohibits snipe signs.
Code Enforcement officers routinely patrol their designated zones throughout the county to locate and remove these signs. You can report snipe signs online on Hillsborough County’s At Your Service portal. You can also volunteer to remove snipe signs through Code Enforcement’s Volunteers in Public Service (VIPS) program – learn more and submit an application.
From signs to fuel
The hundreds of signs collected during Sign Off Day are loaded into a dumpster and taken to NuCycle Energy’s commercial scale alternative fuel manufacturing facility in Plant City. There, the signs undergo a process that transforms them into Enviro Fuelcubes. These cubes are designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as “Legitimate Fuel” that can replace fossil fuels like coal as the primary fuel in energy-intensive industrial processes such as the production of cement and electricity.
The metal stakes are detached from the signs and recycled in the County’s scrap metal recycling program.
