WARSAW — Real estate directional signs have again become a problem in Kosciusko County. For a few months now, the Kosciusko County Area Planning Commission has been considering possible changes to the ordinance governing the signs.

A few months ago, the Kosciusko County Board of Realtors requested enforcement of the current ordinance, saying the signs have been cluttering many intersections and also causing safety issues by hindering the sight of motorists.

During the regular monthly meeting of the APC Wednesday, Jan. 6, in Warsaw, discussion continued. Bob Conley of the APC said he had spoken to several realtors and the consensus seems to be to require some sort of a setback, such as 35 feet from the edge of the road, to allow for sale signs only on the property being sold. Also, all real estate directional signs would be eliminated.

It was noted probably more than 90 percent of the people interested in buying a home go online now and directional signs are really no longer needed. GPS, Google maps, smartphone apps or something digital is used to find the property.

Lee Harman, chairman of the APC, said some sort of a penalty needs to be established for violators and then strictly enforced. “The grace must end at some point in time,” he said. He added he wants to avoid putting too much pressure on the planning department staff to have to physically remove signs in violation.

No consensus was reached on what the penalty should be, but it was suggested taking photos of signs in violation and then calling violators is an option. Violators could be notified by letter to have the sign removed and if it isn’t, the sign would be removed and destroyed.

Dan Richard, area planning director, said he and his staff will work on putting together a proposal to possibly be presented at the February APC meeting, though no vote would be taken that soon. It was also noted other signs in road right of ways having nothing to do with real estate have also become a problem and that should be taken into account too.