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My city is getting very greedy
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Terrance the Deuce
New Member
licences and permits is the government taking away your rights and selling them back to you.
Gino
Premium Subscriber
Color me dumb, but can you explain this ??
Terrance the Deuce
New Member
Sure I can try. Think about all the things in your life you have to get a permit or license for and ask yourself why a separate entity needs to come between you and your freedom to do what you want with your own life and property (so long as you're not infringing on someone else's". And also, why is it ok for them to charge you for allowing you to do something you should be free to do when you already pay exorbitant taxes.
JBurton
Signtologist
Black Star
Not A New Member
Sometimes but not all the time. In my experience, if it is a simple sign on the small side, (less than 32 sq ft.) with no electrical components, the sign and code is barely looked at. They read through the paperwork and sign off on that without doing an actual inspection. This doesn't apply to every city, but I've seen this in multiple cities.
PatWhatley
New Member
Yes ma'am....the decals are $18 and the installation is $12.
Gino
Premium Subscriber
Okay. If you were making a sign for your house and you put it up..... you are responsible for anything that can possibly go wrong with your homeowner's. Only you and your family can be hurt. However, if you did a sh!tty job and the wind blew it off and it sailed across your front lawn and totalled a vehicle or worse yet, hit someone in the head and practically decapitated them......... don't ya think your insurance is gonna wonder why you didn't have a professional do it, who is licensed and insured ?? Now, if you don't have ample insurance, guess who gets called in next ?? Right, the city, township, wherever you're located will be on the hook for it.
Try this on. If you are putting a sign up for some else on their property, you need to have all your ducks lined up properly. Should something go wrong, you will be on the hook for all kindsa reasons. Hence, the reason for permits..... to make sure the municipality won't be on the hook for anything , especially if they weren't notified.
Just because you THINK you can do something, does not give you the PERMISSION to do it. All these laws are on the books today and they keep updating them as new idiots find loopholes and skirt around the law. When I start making signs, there were hardly any codes to worry about, except things be wired correctly and UL approved. Now, with all these nitwits pushing buttons and saying they know how to get around these things, we have laws and codes on the books that are plain stupid.
I agree with bob. I will make the elevation drawings, give whoever wants my certificates of insurance and anything else, but they do all the legwork. I'm through with that nonsense.
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
There is no such thing as absolute freedom and never has been, not real sure why people think there is. The USA is a nation of laws. This whole current notion of I should be able to do whatever I want wherever I want is entitled selfish nonsense at best. People around you have rights as well which is why we have laws in the first place.
Sometimes the process and restrictions are asinine but the principal itself is solid.
JBurton
Signtologist
Sovereign citizens are even more willfully ignorant than flat earthers.
chester215
Just call me Chester.
Look up the meaning of 'tofu-dreg project' and you will see what happens when builders ignore building standards.
DL Signs
Never go against the family
If the permit process stuck to a reasonable cost and procedure to ensure things are done safe, to code, and that you were properly insured, few would have an issue. It insures safety, and also protects you from unqualified, uninsured, fly by night people taking jobs away from you. But yes, many places see it as a revenue source that actually hurts them in the end.
A city near us where I was born, under 40,000 population, amassed over a quarter billion in debt over the last 5-ish years. The usual story, wasteful spending, failed grand development projects, etc. Desperate communities like this do desperate things, like jack up the cost for anything and everything, including building permits, and sign permits. It gets them chump change, like checking under the couch cushions, or under the seats in the car for loose change to pay the bills, it doesn't don't put a dent in that kind of debt. But they foolishly think it will, and drives their own business tax base out. We do very little in that city anymore, more decommissioning signs than installing them, which you need a permit for too. Luckily it's spawned a massive amount of business growth in the outlying communities, keeping us very busy.
A city near us where I was born, under 40,000 population, amassed over a quarter billion in debt over the last 5-ish years. The usual story, wasteful spending, failed grand development projects, etc. Desperate communities like this do desperate things, like jack up the cost for anything and everything, including building permits, and sign permits. It gets them chump change, like checking under the couch cushions, or under the seats in the car for loose change to pay the bills, it doesn't don't put a dent in that kind of debt. But they foolishly think it will, and drives their own business tax base out. We do very little in that city anymore, more decommissioning signs than installing them, which you need a permit for too. Luckily it's spawned a massive amount of business growth in the outlying communities, keeping us very busy.
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
I'm still trying to figure out how all this growth and "job creation" actually helps the native residents. Where I'm at the traffic is exponentially worse than it was 10 years ago, crime way up, everything is crowded and the taxes go up and up. Thought the growth was gonna pay for all this and then some? Seems like we are the ones stuck financing these politicians egos and pet projects. They will gladly fleece everyone if it means they get their name on a project.
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
I see no upside to the growth other than your property values will go up. I'm keeping that house in Dallas while the area explodes and will cash out later.
bijutoha
New Member
I understand your point, and the lack of inspections in some cases can indeed fuel the perception of permits as a purely financial burden. While revenue generation is a factor for municipalities, it's not the sole purpose of permits.
bijutoha
New Member
I understand your point, and the lack of inspections in some cases can indeed fuel the perception of permits as a purely financial burden. While revenue generation is a factor for municipalities, it's not the sole purpose of permits.