MOHAVE COUNTY – Mohave County officials have been steadfast in refuting allegations that its employees have engaged in excessive, if not illegal, enforcement of COVID-19 rules, regulations, and restrictions, but there’s a concession that staff made dozens of errors in another arena. The matter was brought to light by District 5 Supervisor Ron Gould at the Sept. 7 Board of Supervisors meeting.
“Recently over 100 of my constituents were cited for having illegal signs in the Ft. Mohave area in front of their business,” Gould said. “These were A-frame signs and I guess you would call some of them sails, or feathers, the vertical signs that get staked into the ground.”
Development Services Director Tim Walsh explained that much of the enforcement was by mistake.
“I do have to apologize for the 100 citations or so that were issued in that area,” Walsh told Supervisors. “For the most part, those were in error. So, first off, I want to apologize. We are going through them one-by-one and actually correcting those.”
Walsh assured Supervisors that the citation fouls are being reviewed and corrected where necessary.
“We’re going through it and actually writing letters of apology to those business owners that received them erroneously. I want you all to know that we are addressing that and taking care of that.”
Walsh explained that the county requires permits for permanent signs and that A-frames are prohibited by ordinance. He said the county allows various types of temporary signs to be placed on premises of businesses, provided they don’t impact right-of-way.
Board Chairman Buster Johnson, District 3, said smaller signs in various communities stay up so long they take on a more permanent status or presence.
“The thing I have a problem with is that all these things that are supposedly temporary,” Johnson said. “They never are temporary. They put the flags up, they put the A-frame up, and it just stays there forever.”
The Board approved Gould’s motion to direct staff to review how temporary signs are regulated by other counties and cities and how Mohave County might tweak and improve its ordinance. The Board concurred with Walsh’s suggestion that the staff work would be routed through the Planning and Zoning Commission for review and recommendation to be brought back to the Board.
Dave Hawkins
