The town sent out a press release Thursday requesting residents be aware of the regulations regarding the display of temporary signs. The regulations are contained in zoning bylaw 210-179, and the enforcement of the regulations falls under the purview of the Building Department.

The regulations state: No more than two temporary signs may be displayed on a lot, neither of which shall exceed 8 square feet in area. A temporary sign shall not be displayed for more than 30 days. For 30 days before and up to two days after a municipal, state or federal election, there is no maximum number of temporary signs permitted. All temporary signage must be on the homeowner’s property and not in the public right of way, nor on town-owned property. Flags and insignias of governmental jurisdictions are exempt from the bylaw.

“The Building Department recognizes the rights of our citizens to voice their opinions and offer their heartfelt feelings through the use of signs on their front lawns, but at the same time we are also receiving numerous complaints that the signage has had a negative effect upon Hopkinton’s image as a bucolic community,” reads the release, which came from zoning enforcement officer Charles Kadlik.