- September 7, 2024
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Dear Editor:
Recently, a concerned citizen, obviously paying for it himself or herself, planted a sign on the road shoulder near the gas station at Pine Lakes Parkway and Wynnfield Drive. In bold letters it said simply, "NO LITTERING $500 FINE."
That's the maximum fine for littering in our city, though one that, judging on the wanton littering at hotspots such as the gas station, is rarely if ever enforced. The sign had an amazing effect: for the month or so it was up, litter in that area decreased by at least 95 percent! I took a photo of it. It was far more effective than the meager small-print signs the city has up, meekly asking folks to keep Palm Coast beautiful.
The verb "was" is used in past tense because someone, apparently from the city, took it and a replacement down. A sign is no longer there. Litter is back. The city will once again allow trash to be strewn and then only very occasionally come by to pick it up — but not before hundreds and hundreds of citizens get a distressing and depressing eyeful every time they pass by. Thanks, City Hall.
Why is it Palm Coast has a problem with a sign that's legally correct and no more blatant than litter signs in other parts of Florida? More to the point, why can't the city put up effective signs (and the sheriff try to enforce litter laws more tenaciously)?
Why would it remove a very effective sign, allowing litter to accumulate and then not bothering to pick it up? Perhaps it's against some city ordinance to plant signs on public property (despite all the political ones that are likewise on public land, and those advertising open houses or garage sales). But whoever put the sign up proved that it can be effective.
Those who campaign on promises to "Preserve Flagler" are growing in appeal, as far as many of us are concerned.
Michael Brown
Palm Coast
