KSAMC nearly nets $4m as signage compliance climbs among city businesses

Nearly $4 million in signage fees have been taken in by the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) since its Signage Compliance Outreach Programme started earlier this year.

Deputy Mayor Lorraine Dobson gave that update at Tuesday’s monthly meeting, saying officers had reached 140 businesses in eight commercial areas. Among those premises, she reported, compliance had risen from nine per cent to 53 per cent.

“The positive response demonstrates the value of continuing to expand opportunities for direct engagement with the business community, making it easier for entities to access information, receive guidance and regularise their signage,” said the deputy mayor.

Dobson said the corporation’s compliance unit has kept up public education and outreach at plazas and commercial centres across the municipality under an integrated strategy.

“These engagements complement the corporation’s existing compliance services by bringing officers directly into the business community to provide guidance on the regularisation process, clarify obligations under the law, facilitate applications and assist businesses wishing to settle outstanding signage,” she said.

The initiative is intended to push adherence to signage rules. It opened with a regularisation drive before moving into enforcement. That drive ran from January to March 2026 and gave owners a chance to put advertising in order under the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisement) Regulation, 1978 and the Kingston and St Andrew Building Act, 2018. Owners were briefed on the rules and could clear arrears at a cut rate of 20 per cent.

Once the campaign window closed, enforcement began with the removal of unauthorised billboards and signs across the municipality. KSAMC has since said the effort has worked and been welcomed by business owners.

That reception prompted Dobson to praise those who have brought their signs into line, arguing that pairing public education, face-to-face outreach and enforcement has proven worthwhile.

“The corporation will continue this outstation engagement across Kingston and St Andrew as part of our ongoing commitment to making the compliance process more accessible, while continuing to encourage all entities with public or visible signs to regularise their signage and remain compliant,” added the deputy mayor.