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Windsor’s Town Council voted unanimously on Dec. 8 to approve an agreement with the Virginia Department of Transportation that will allow town officials to remove illegally placed signs from VDOT rights-of-way under the authority of its local zoning ordinance.

Currently, in towns such as Windsor with populations under 3,500, public street right-of-ways are under state jurisdiction and maintained by VDOT. Per the terms of the agreement, VDOT won’t be absolved of its responsibilities to police state rights-of-way within town limits, but town staff, namely its planning and zoning administrator once a new full-time person is hired, will be authorized to act as an agent of VDOT. Should the town choose to impose fines on those who illegally place signs in VDOT rights-of-way, the resulting revenue would go to the town, not VDOT.

“Today, we cannot enforce our zoning ordinances, our sign ordinances, in the VDOT right-of-way,” Mayor Glyn Willis said. “This agreement on the table is allowing us to do the same thing in the VDOT right-of-way that we can do everywhere else in town.”

Illegal signs consist of any placed within VDOT rights-of-way without permitting by VDOT, Town Manager William Saunders explained.

The agreement will take effect once VDOT has signed off on it.