The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, April 13, 1996               TAG: 9604130322
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                         LENGTH: Short :   44 lines

CANDIDATES NAILED FOR POSTING SIGNS MANY BROKE ELECTION RULES - AND THUS HAD SIGNS PULLED.

It happens just about every campaign, officials say.

Candidates running for office post colorful election signs in fields, yards, on median strips and highway shoulders - anywhere there's a little stand of grass.

And just about every campaign, zoning inspectors go around pulling the signs out of the ground and slapping bright, orange violation tags on them.

Several candidates in the Chesapeake City Council and School Board elections on May 7 had their signs tagged and pulled on Friday, in a field along North Battlefield Boulevard.

There are strict zoning rules for how signs can be posted in the city. Along streets, they must be 15 feet from the curb or five feet from the edge of the sidewalk farthest from the street.

If a sign's on commercial property, it can't be more than eight feet high; if it's on private property, the height limit is four feet.

Ten days after the election, the signs must be history.

Violating the rules is considered a minor infraction with no fine, said Carl E. Hall, the city's director of inspections.

But the city does all it can to discourage the practice, Hall said. All candidates are notified of the rules when the campaign starts.

``But of course the candidates don't place the signs,'' Hall said. ``They have volunteers or workers who place them, and they might not be sure.''

Michael J. Woods, a School Board candidate whose sign was among those tagged Friday, said he tried to explain the rules to campaign workers who post his signs, but the rules were confusing.

``It's bad enough as a citizen trying to run for public office, without having to fight the bureaucracy,'' said Woods, an attorney and former police officer. ``But I respect the law, and I try to comply with it as best as I can.''

KEYWORDS: SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION CANDIDATE by CNB