A candidate for Butler County commissioner is accusing the state Department of Transportation of exceeding its authority in campaign sign removal.

Republican candidate Jim Keffalas, a Butler School Board member seeking the county office in the May 19 primary, said PennDOT has gone too far in sign extraction.

“I think they’ve overstepped their bounds,” Keffalas said.

He said PennDOT should not remove signs on private property in some cases.

“They’re on a rampage,” Keffalas said.

Jeff Hartzell, assistant county maintenance manager, disagreed. He said if any sign is in the state’s right of way, it will be taken down.

“We do it every year, twice a year,” Hartzell said.

He said rights of way vary between 30 and 70 feet from a state road, depending on the location.

According to Hartzell, most signs posted along roads are in the wrong locations due to the desire for them to be seen.

“Ninety percent of the time, they’re in the right of way,” he said.

Hartzell said the barometer for a safe distance from a state road is beyond a utility pole on that stretch of road.

Although PennDOT policy states signs cannot be posted in the right of way even on private property, Keffalas, a Realtor, said there are two issues with enforcement.

He said the constantly shifting distance for rights of way along roads make a determination difficult.

“They vary and vary widely,” Keffalas said.

He said PennDOT has misjudged the distance before in various situations.

According to Keffalas, the only sure way is checking the original plans to see how the property is laid out.

Secondly, he questions PennDOT’s authority to confiscate signs on private property if there is no safety issue.

“I would challenge that,” Keffalas said.

He said if PennDOT is not exercising its right of way for road widening or other purpose, it cannot dictate what the property owner does with his section of yard.

Keffalas pointed out agreements the state has with landowners do not specify that PennDOT has the authority to pull signs from private property in the right of way.

Hartzell said road islands are another area where signs are a problem, too.

He emphasized safety is the main reason signs are taken, citing the need for adequate sight distance for motorists.

He said clutter becomes an issue.

“It’s distracting to drivers,” Hartzell said.

He stressed campaign signs are prohibited in some areas, including highways such as Interstate 79, ramps and interchanges.

“They’re absolutely prohibited there,” Hartzell said.

Keffalas doesn’t dispute the need to maintain a safe line of sight for motorists.

“I would be the first one to say it should be taken down,” he said.

But Keffalas does refute there are any aesthetic needs to eliminate signs along a road, stressing the signs are temporary.

Hartzell said of the several candidates he spoke to this year about sign restrictions, only Keffalas complained.

Six of the remaining 13 commissioner candidates interviewed about the issue said they had no problems with PennDOT.

Keffalas also protested PennDOT throwing a number of his campaign signs in a Dumpster.

“That’s contrary to what’s happened in the past decade,” he said.

Keffalas said that between PennDOT and random disappearances, he’s lost more than 200 signs.

“They’re not cheap,” he said.

Hartzell said typically PennDOT notifies candidates that their signs were taken so they can be retrieved.

“The signs are their property,” he said.

However, Hartzell said the yard at the PennDOT site was recently cleaned for an environmental inspection which is why the signs ended up in the Dumpster.

Keffalas said PennDOT should be focused on road work, not campaign signs.

“We have potholes that need fixed,” he said.