Atlanta Street Spam Eradication Campaign

Introduction / Take Action!

Take Action!

Signs are not allowed in the public right-of-way except in extremely limited instances. As an ordinary citizen you have every right to pick up litter and dispose of it lawfully.

Sec. 16-28A.012. Signs in the public right-of-way. [From the Atlanta Code of Ordinances]

(a) No sign shall be allowed in the public right-of-way except as follows or as otherwise permitted by the code of ordinances, and all other prohibitions and regulations governing signs in public rights-of-way and upon public property in the code of ordinances, including but not limited to sections 138-8 and 138-9, also shall apply:

(1) Signs erected by or on behalf of a governmental body to post legal notices, identify public property, convey public information, and direct or regulate pedestrian or vehicular traffic.

(2) Bus stop signs erected by a public transit authority.

(3) Informational signs of a public utility identifying its poles, lines, pipes or other facilities.

(4) Awning, projecting and suspended signs projecting over a public right-of-way when in conformity with all other requirements of the code of ordinances and this chapter, including section 16-28A.007(e).

(5) Banners within the public right-of-way that are authorized by and approved under section 138-8 of the code of ordinances of the City of Atlanta.

(6) Temporary emergency warning signs erected by a governmental agency, a public utility company, or a contractor doing authorized or permitted work within the public right-of-way.

(7) General advertising signs that are attached to bus shelters subject to the provisions of section 138-42 of the code of ordinances.

(8) Newspaper vending devices that are authorized by and approved under section 138-156 through 138-166 of the code of ordinances of the City of Atlanta.

(9) Building identification signs pursuant to section 16-02.019(7) and section 16-02.019(8).

(10) Neighborhood identification signs, limited to two (2) such signs per street entrance, shall be permitted.

(b) Any sign installed or placed on public property or right-of-way except in conformance with the requirements of or references in this section shall be deemed to be an illegal sign and shall be immediately removed by the owner or be subject to immediate removal by the city. In addition to other remedies hereunder, the city shall have the right to recover from the owner or person placing such a sign the full costs of removal and disposal of such sign. This code section 16-28A.012, and all code sections referenced in this section, shall be enforced by the commissioner of public works or that commissioner's designee.

You may find the full version of the Atlanta Code of Ordinances, as well as the ordinance of many other municipalities and counties, at www.municode.com.

If you are harrassed by culprits putting the signs up please simply leave the area and come back later. If necessary, contact the police. Please also let us know if you are confronted or contacted by sign placement people. Chances are, we have been contacted by some of these people. 

Send them an E-mail, call them, or write them a letter explaining:

• -that the litter they sponsor is an eyesore in your neighborhood
• -that volunteers routinely remove and dispose of these signs
• -that they are illegal
• -that they are distracting for drivers

NOTE: This is likely to work well only with sponsors of litter from condo and housing developments. 

The best place to do that right now is on the Forum of the CAUSS website. Look for the conference for your state. If you are in an intown Atlanta neighborhood, please write to us so we can join forces.

Also make your neighborhood or homeowner association aware that these efforts are underway. They often have a neighborhood clean-up day every once in a while and street spam removal can easily be streamlined with those efforts.