On Tuesday, the county council adopted "interim regulations authorizing the placement of temporary portable signs in the county right-of-way under certain limited conditions" -- I'm not sure the county could have crammed more qualifiers in there -- calling it a compromise.

Agents and owners will be allowed to place two signs in rights of way to direct buyers to open houses. Signs will be allowed only when open houses are occurring and can't be up more than 20 hours a week (not that open houses last that long). These temporary rules are effective Oct. 2 to April 1.

Pierce County is not alone in trying to regulate signs.

In King County, real-estate agents in Federal Way have complained that the city's strict sign code was cramping their marketing style. In a tough real-estate market, they said, they need all the marketing help they can get -- and having city crews confiscate "open house" and "for sale" signs is not a way to help.

This is an interesting issue, no matter which side you take. First of all, I must point out that the real-estate industry that is blaming the media for the slow market is telling government officials that they need the signs because the market is slow. Of course, if the media hadn't reported the slowdown, it probably wouldn't have occurred, but what do I know?

Anyway, here's my take: Hoards of signs are ugly. And there's always a lot of jockeying for the best position, which creates a mess. If you post a sign, you have to time it just right: Get to a corner too early, and those who come later will block your sign. Get there too late, and you may not have room.

But "Open House" and "For Sale" signs are iconic. They symbolize weekends in America.

Part of the fun of weekends is checking out random open houses and cruising by listed home wherever you might be. How do you do that without signs to direct you there?

Of course, you won't be buying any of the houses because you, like most people who attend open houses, are nosy neighbors and curious tire kickers, not serious buyers. One might think that would make the controversy over "Open House" signs moot, but no. Too many people still believe in the practically useless things.

So what do you think of the signs? Should they be allowed?