Dear Auntie Mac,

Why are there still large political signs in town asking neighbors to vote for a certain presidential candidate? I tolerate pumpkins that collapse on steps weeks after Halloween, and Christmas lights that are still blinking on Valentines Day, but the political season has been over for more than two months. Enough! I thought there were ordinances that limit the size of signs and maybe make exceptions for the political ones? If so, is there a limit on the amount of time political signs can be posted? If not, perhaps there should be.

Signed,

A Republican

My Dear Neighbor:

Auntie Mac’s sainted mother (who, while not royalty, was called “The Baroness” by everyone including her children) decreed that Christmas decorations must come down on or before Three Kings’ Day, lest the family suffer an attack by evil elves. Those same elves would do well to be deployed in the case of political signage that has overstayed its welcome. Barring their absence, however (the elves, not the signs), Hampton possesses a comprehensive set of zoning regulations, which can be found on the Town website. Pages 46-47 of those regulations deal with both “temporary signs” and “political signs associated with public elections and referenda.” The latter are exempted from size limit, distance from the street, and the need for PZC approval in order to post them. Their “temporary” nature, however, necessitates that they “be removed when the activity has terminated.”

Auntie Mac suggests that if you would like, as they say in Dodge City, to take the matter into your own hands, you may alert the Zoning Enforcement Officer, Jay Gigliotti, who can be reached at 860-455-8251, cell 860-235-3570, or at zeo@hamptonct.org, and since as his title suggests, it is he who enforces zoning, you can make known to him the particular signage situations that are currently vexing. As these signs no longer serve as persuasion for a future event’s outcome, they stray into the realm of signage that is prohibited without PZC approval.

What Auntie Mac would hope, however, is that all citizens follow town regulations of their own volition, and courteously take down political signs soon after the respective event or election. This eliminates the need for municipal intervention, or more seriously, at least to the children of the Baroness, elf control.

Your Auntie Mac