The New Canaan Board of Realtors has voted to ban real estate signs on a trial basis from July to January.

For years, zoning rules in New Canaan have allowed only modest signs that say for sale by broker or owner, without pictures of realtors.

Now they'll be gone as well.

The board says buyers shop for real estate online and don't need to see lawn signs. And the signs, blocking out the scenery, detract from New Canaan's quintessential New England charm. 

"We have at least four or five signs on many of the streets, and it's taking away from the beauty, as far as the landscaping," says Jeanne Howell, of Berkshire Hathaway. "And also with the traffic -- with people stopping on the side of the road."

Greenwich has already been operating without real estate signs for a long time, and other towns are expected to follow suit.