Tag Archives: Daybreak development

Westport Signs: A Classic “Tragedy Of The Commons”

It’s come to this:

We’re putting up signs to remind each other not to put up signs.

Alert — and sign-sated — “06880” reader Chris Woods spotted that bizarre scene recently, at South Morningside Drive and Clapboard Hill Road.

(Photo/Chris Woods)

Chris notes that despite the Planning & Zoning Commission’s July pledge to crack down on illegal signs, they persist.

“The floodgates have opened,” Chris says. “It’s a free-for-all, making our community look as tacky as possible.

“The rainy August sprouted a bumper crop of signs on every public green space in town. There’s even an ad on the huge construction mural on the Daybreak development.”

Chris calls yard signs “a classic ‘tragedy of the commons’ situation. No matter how much it ‘costs’ the community overall to be littered with unregulated billboards, the cost to the polluter is currently less than his potential gain.”

Chris would love the P&Z to levy a fine on transgressors — and pull any permits until it’s paid, and the sign removed.

So who is the worst sign polluter in town? Click “Comments” below.

The “winner” gets his or her photo posted on “06880.”