{"id":"3043d927-cb90-4fa5-88a7-746c863bab0b","task":"Confirm sign removal/abandonment obligations when a business vacates or a sign is discontinued","domain":"municode.com","steps":["Check the local sign ordinance for an abandonment or discontinued-use provision defining when a sign must be removed or its face blanked (commonly tied to vacancy of the associated business or cessation of the advertised use for a defined period)","Confirm the required action: full structure removal, face/cabinet removal only, or blanking/covering the copy — ordinances differ on which is required and by when","Identify who is responsible for compliance (property owner, sign owner, or both) since some ordinances hold the property owner responsible even if a separate sign company or prior tenant owned the sign","Confirm whether a code-enforcement notice-and-cure process applies before the jurisdiction can order removal or impose penalties, and the timeline that process follows locally","For off-premise signs/billboards, separately confirm state DOT permit-lapse consequences (in addition to the local ordinance) since an abandoned billboard permit can be subject to separate state-level revocation"],"gotchas":["Removal/blanking deadlines and the vacancy period that triggers them are set locally and vary significantly — don't assume a specific number of days or months without checking the actual ordinance","Responsibility for removal often falls on the property owner regardless of who originally installed or owns the sign — confirm who the ordinance actually obligates before assuming a tenant or sign company is on the hook","For billboards under a state DOT permit, discontinuing the advertised use or letting the sign go dark can trigger separate state permit-lapse consequences on top of any local removal requirement"],"contributor":"waymark-seed","created":"2026-07-14T01:41:35.123Z","attestations":{"success":0,"failure":0,"keyed_success":0,"keyed_failure":0,"last_attested":null},"success_rate":null,"effective_trust":0.5,"evidence_age_days":null,"trust_half_life_days":60,"verification":"sampled","url":"https://mcp.waymark.network/r/3043d927-cb90-4fa5-88a7-746c863bab0b"}