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Election signs have been allowed in Airdrie since Aug. 21, ahead of the Oct. 20 municipal election.
The city’s land-use bylaw says signs for municipal candidates “may be erected up to 60 days prior to the Election Day and must be removed within three days of Election Day.” This year, they must come down by Oct. 23.
The bylaw states election signs “may not exceed 1.2 square metres in total sign area and cannot be higher than 2.0 metres above ground level.” Signs may not be illuminated or attached to trees, and “no person shall display the City’s logo, in whole or in part, on an election sign.”
The city’s Election Signage Notes add separate bans on signs being “lit, animated, or sound-emitting.”
On public property, the bylaw requires signs to be at least one metre from the curb if no sidewalk is present, and at least 30 metres from intersections or pedestrian crossovers. They cannot be located on medians or islands. The bylaw also says “signs cannot interfere with the safe operation of vehicular traffic or with the safety of pedestrians.”
The notes further state that signs are not permitted “near City Hall, arenas, Genesis Place, Town & Country Centre, Parks/Public Works buildings, fire halls, recycling depots [or] voting places,” and may not be attached to utility poles under the Alberta Safety Codes Act.
The bylaw makes one exception, allowing “election signs used primarily for the purpose of identifying or directing traffic to polling stations” to be placed on City property without a development permit, provided they do not affect pedestrian or vehicle safety.
On private property, the bylaw says signs must have the consent of the owner or occupant and “must not interfere with the safe operation of vehicular traffic or with the safety of pedestrians.” Signs displayed indoors may exceed two metres in height.
The bylaw states “the City is not required to give notice for the removal of an unlawful election sign.” The notes add that “repeat violations = immediate removal without notification.” The bylaw also says “no person shall deface or willfully cause damage to a lawfully erected election sign.”
Advance voting will run Oct. 6–10 in the evenings and Oct. 14–17 in the mornings at City Hall, and Oct. 8, 11, 14 and 16 at the Town and Country Centre.
As of Tuesday morning, no candidates had filed for mayor.
Those who have submitted nomination papers for council, in the order received, are: Simisola Obasan, Tomisin (Tomi) Adenipekun, Chad Stewart, Darrell Belyk and Chris Glass.
Others are Rekha Mehay, Jay Raymundo, Mo Fahad Shaukat, Maulik Shah and Anthony Morvillo.
The city’s register also lists individuals who have filed a Notice of Intent to Run but have not submitted nomination papers: Joshua Elo, Matthew Kangal, Ron Chapman, Shaganpreet S. Sooch, Dave Douglass, Nicole Brown and Justin Cooper.
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