Scalable Snipe Sign Enforcement and First Amendment Rights

For code enforcement directors, few violations are as persistent as snipe signs. These temporary signs appear overnight on utility poles, right-of-way fences, and street corners, advertising everything from home-buying services to lawn care. By morning, they've cluttered corridors, obscured sightlines, and created new compliance headaches.

The challenge isn't just removal; it's doing snipe sign enforcement right. Regulating and removing snipe signs can feel like a legal minefield. Regulating and removing snipe signs can feel like a legal minefield as you balance protecting free speech while protecting vulnerable residents, without consuming your entire budget.

The Enforcement Challenge: Navigating Legal Complexity

Snipe sign enforcement exists in a complex legal landscape. The 2015 Supreme Court decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert significantly impacted how municipalities regulate signage, requiring that ordinances focus on objective, content-neutral factors—like location, size, and duration—rather than the message displayed.

For code enforcement directors, this means balancing competing priorities: protecting residents from predatory advertising while respecting constitutional protections. Many snipe signs target vulnerable populations with scams or exploitative offers. Yet enforcement mostly focuses on where and how signs are placed, because often, what they say is protected speech.

This is why documentation matters. Content-neutral enforcement at scale—identifying violations based on location in rights-of-way, attachment to public infrastructure, or safety hazards—provides the foundation for legally defensible code enforcement.

Public Safety Concerns: More Than Visual Clutter

Snipe signs aren't just an aesthetic problem; they're a safety hazard. Signs attached to poles near intersections obstruct driver sightlines. Those mounted at eye level distract motorists (see studies by Bendak & Al-Saleh and Oviedo-Trespalacios, Truelove, Watson & Hinton). Loose signs become windborne debris during storms and block drains. And when placed on traffic control devices or right-of-way infrastructure, they create liability exposure for your jurisdiction.

These safety concerns provide the foundation for content-neutral enforcement: protecting traffic flow, maintaining visibility, and preventing infrastructure damage are legitimate government interests that courts consistently uphold.

Snipe Sign Enforcement: A Resource Drain Cities Can Solve

Code enforcement teams know the pattern: remove signs on Friday, and by Monday morning, new ones appear. In Bartow, Florida, code compliance officers removed nearly 2,300 snipe signs in 2024 alone, many advertising scam services. Worcester County, Maryland, now imposes a $25 civil penalty for each snipe sign removed from public rights-of-way. Asheville, North Carolina, has ordinances that specifically define snipe signs and restrict their posting. And Bartow has implemented escalating fines starting at $250, increasing to $350 for second offenses, with mandatory hearings for three or more violations.

Yet even with these enforcement mechanisms, the fundamental challenge remains: identifying violators, documenting infractions, and keeping pace with the volume of new signs, all while managing limited staff and competing priorities.

The Detection Gap: Legitimate vs. Illegitimate Signs

Not every temporary sign is a violation. Neighborhood garage sales, open houses, and political advertisements may be protected or permitted under your code. But distinguishing between a legitimate community announcement and an illegal snipe sign requires inspection, judgment, and documentation. And once a garage sale ends, that now-outdated sign should come down. But who's tracking compliance?

Between August 2024 and October 2025, City Detect has identified 319,707 snipe signs across our municipal deployments. Complaint-driven and manual inspections cannot match the speed and scale of violations, but City Detect’s PASS AI™ can. 

From Reactive to Proactive: AI-Powered Detection

City Detect transforms snipe sign enforcement from a resource drain into a manageable, data-driven process. By mounting data collection units on existing fleet vehicles, municipalities automatically capture photographic evidence of snipe sign violations and map every sign in their jurisdiction in days, not months. Our AI detects and flags potential violations. Each detection is geotagged, timestamped, and mapped, creating an audit trail. The results are displayed in an easy-to-navigate web application that lets your code enforcement officers review detections and determine next steps, such as opening a case, processing a fine, or sending an educational notice. These reviews can be done quickly from the office without requiring manual patrols or relying on 311 complaints. 

“The challenge with snipe signs isn't just volume—it's consistency. Our municipal partners needed a way to enforce ordinances equitably across every neighborhood, not just high-complaint areas. By training our AI to detect these signs automatically, we're helping cities protect traffic safety and serve vulnerable residents at a scale that manual enforcement simply can't match.” - Jonathan Richardson, Head of Data & AI at City Detect

This AI-driven approach delivers three critical advantages:

Content-neutral enforcement at scale: Document violations based on objective criteria such as location in right-of-way, attachment to public infrastructure, or size instead of message content.

Efficient resource allocation: Identify hotspots, track repeat offenders, and prioritize removal based on safety risk rather than complaint volume.

Defensible documentation: Timestamped, geolocated visual records support citation processes and demonstrate consistent, equitable enforcement.

Moving Forward: Smarter Enforcement, Safer Streets

Snipe signs will continue appearing. But your enforcement approach doesn't have to remain reactive, resource-intensive, and legally uncertain. With content-neutral detection, automated documentation, and citywide visibility, code enforcement directors can protect public safety and serve vulnerable residents—while respecting constitutional rights.

Schedule a demo to learn how City Detect helps municipalities enforce sign ordinances efficiently, equitably, and at scale.