All (illegal) signs point to removal by this man

NORFOLK

Bill Elliott moves along side Little Creek Road on his royal-blue motorized scooter at 4 mph, scanning telephone poles and the grassy areas between the sidewalks and curbs.

After several blocks, he finds what he's looking for. It's stuck to a pole at the Halprin Drive intersection: a sign advertising a room for rent.

Elliott pulls onto the grass and drives the scooter into just the right position so he can stand up long enough to snatch the sign. He rips it off the pole, looks it over, then plunks it into the basket on the front of the scooter.

In a little more than two years, the 69-year-old has repeated the scene "hundreds, multi-hundreds" of times, he said.

The mostly homemade signs that spur him to action advertise yard sales, lawn services, concrete work and the like, he said.

"I don't like just sitting home 24-7 watching TV," said Elliott, who lives with his wife on 11th Bay Street, "so I go out when I don't have an errand just to go out and pick up trash, pick up aluminum cans, pull signs - just kind of help things look better," Elliott said.

He participated in Norfolk's 30-minute class, conducted by the Department of Public Works, in which volunteers learn how to spot and remove illegal signs.

Most signs that weren't put on public land by the city are illegal.

Signs close to the road pose a hazard to pedestrians and motorists, said Lonnie Tebow, Norfolk's superintendent of traffic operations Public works crews routinely remove signs around the city and will make a special trip if signs are too high, heavy or bulky for residents. City crews remove an average of about 600 signs a month, the city says.

These days, Elliott is avoiding political placards. "If it comes down to me not being 100 percent right, I won't touch it," he said.

He's had few conflicts, but people have gotten huffy at times, he said. Usually, he just shows them his city certification card and asks them to remove the sign.

"A lot of signs are put out on the weekends because city employees are not working on the weekends and people know that," Elliott said.

On his recent trip down Little Creek Road, Elliott found only one illegal sign, which he took to his home and threw in the trash.

He has problems walking and said he needs a double hip transplant, but he plans to continue his patrol.

"There's always something to do," Elliott said. "And I can do my share."

Cindy Clayton, (757) 446-2377, cindy.clayton@pilotonline.com