Fairfield CC hears from public about possible sign ordinance

FAIRFIELD - An ordinance about installing street signs on public property raised concern during the public hearing portion of the Fairfield City Council meeting Monday night.

Rick Shaddock, of Fairfield, approached the council to explain he felt not being able to have street signs on his property was an abridgment of his first and fourth amendment rights. On his own property, he has a sign with his last name on it designating the alley behind his home with his last name.

The alley is where he puts his trash and was told by Waste Management they would only collect the trash from a street with a name, prompting him to put up a sign of his own.

'Iowa's motto is our liberty's we prize and our rights we shall maintain, so if there's any right we can't keep, it wouldn't be good,” he said.

Fairfield Mayor Ed Malloy asked Shaddock if he was aware the ordinance did not prevent him from having a sign, only from having a sign the same colors as the street signs put up by the city. The ordinance in question would have homeowners who wished to put up their own street signs have them installed in any color except with a green background and white lettering.

This was due to a safety concern brought up by local emergency personnel who said if there was an emergency and a person looked up and used that street sign as a reference, they were concerned help could not get to the address because these novelty signs are not registered in the GPS system. Fairfield Fire Chief Scott Vaughan attested to this, saying the safety aspect was the only concern and reason for the possible ordinance.

Shaddock said he was not aware the color was the concern with the ordinance, not the removal of signs, and then brought up that he felt adding regulations and ordinances was unnecessary. The council listened to his concerns and unanimously decided to move forward with hearing a third reading of the ordinance to be read at the next meeting.

Signs continued to be a hot topic for the Fairfield CC as council member Michael Halley introduced that the public safety committee has decided on two solutions for the safety of the Gear Avenue intersection. The committee decided to move the 25 mph sign to the south of the count's 45 mph sign and install a '25 mph ahead” sign before it. The hope is drivers will see the warning and begin to slow down, thus making the intersection safer.