County code enforcement officers have asked at least two Midtown homeowners to remove large “Save the Greensward” banners hanging on their property.
Naomi Van Tol with Get Off Our Lawn (GOOL) said code enforcement officers visited a home at Lawrence and Evergreen and a home at the corner of Belleair and Poplar. The resident at Lawrence and Evergreen was asked to remove the sign because she didn’t have a permit to display it, but she refused.
“They gave her a citation that says she’s violating the sign ordinance. The citation says she has a week to remedy the problem, and then she’ll get fined $50 a day if she doesn’t take it down by the 11th,” Van Tol said.
A code inspector told her she could get a 30-day permit for the sign for $69, and Van Tol said GOOL is researching that before taking action.
The Belleair homeowner removed his Greensward banner after the visit from code enforcement, but it was later put back up. Van Tol said there are other “Save the Greensward” banners on display at Eclectic Eye and in the Morningside Circle neighborhood. She said those property owners have not been contacted by code enforcement yet.
“They’re all saying they’re not taking them down, and they’ll figure out how to get a permit,” Van Tol said. “We were not aware that this might be against code, so we are looking into how we can make sure that we are legally displaying them.”
The banners are large versions of the green “Save the Greensward” yard signs that can be found all over Midtown. GOOL has been battling the Memphis Zoo to conserve the Overton Park Greensward space for recreational use rather than zoo overflow parking. On March 1st, the Memphis City Council gave the zoo control of the Greensward. A lawsuit was filed today alleging that council decision violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act.
