Gale Katchur, the mayor of Fort Saskatchewan, has spoken out about a rise in illegally placed election signs as we approach election day.
In a post made to her Facebook page, Katchur illustrated examples of where election signs are prohibited, as part of the Election Sign Bylaw.
The bylaw states that election signs must be placed at least three metres away from sidewalks and curbs and can't be placed on the back of a fence without permission from the property owner.
"What the bylaw is trying to do is encourage people to door knock and put their signs on private property," said Katchur. "Under the federal legislations, municipalities are required to allow for election signs on public property, but we do have the ability to limit it through bylaws where they're going to be placed."
Another reason to prohibit election signs includes underground irrigation, such as the boulevards on 99 Avenue and 98 Avenue.
"During one campaign, one of the candidates used wooden stakes and punctured the irrigation lines, and this comes at a cost to the municipality."
Bylaw officers are making the rounds throughout Fort Saskatchewan, removing illegally placed election signs when they're spotted or reported by residents.
"They're popping up faster than bylaw can even deal with them, which is unfortunate."
Katchur says her post was to help educate people about property owners' rights and to notify those who are unaware of the bylaw.
"It's a reminder to all candidates that they really need to check the municipal bylaws because they are put in for a reason," stated Katchur. "Some people may feel my comments are insignificant, there are reasons that these bylaws are put into effect."
You can read the full Election Sign Bylaw here.