HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - Letter from City Attorney on constitutionality of temporary sign regulations 3
WNW
aMEi, CITY OF AMES
_ II
CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
515 CLARK AVENUE P.O. BOX 811 AMES IOWA 50010
Community-University-Opportunity PHONE 515-239-5146 ♦ FAX 515-239-5142
March 4, 1997
The Honorable Larry R. Curtis, Mayor
And Members of the City Council
Of The City of Ames, Iowa
Re: Regulation of Temporary Signs
Dear Mayor Curtis and Council Members:
On February 18, the Iowa Attorney General issued an opinion that Section 56.14(2) Code of Iowa,
which puts a time limit on when political campaign signs can be displayed, is unconstitutional
because it discriminates on the basis of the sign's "content". The A.G. Opinion is based on the case
of Whitton v. City of Gladstone,Mo.,54 F.3d 1400, 1403-1404, 1409,in which the 8th Circuit Court
of Appeals ruled that:
a) limitations applicable only to political signs are an unconstitutional "content-
based" regulation,
b) regulations that make a distinction between commercial and non-commercial
messages are unconstitutional as "content based",
but indicated that a regulation limiting the length of time that any sign could be displayed without
removal or replacement,would be constitutional.
Attached is an ordinance to revise Section 5.226 of the Ames Municipal Code to meet the
constitutional guidelines of the 8th Circuit decision by removing the differentiations with respect to
commercial and non-conunercial signs;and,with respect to political campaign signs. The proposed
ninety-day duration for temporary signs is taken from the "Gladstone" example of a permissible
regulation. Any shortening of the duration to less than ninety days should be done with caution in
view of the U.S.Supreme Court's earlier ruling that a sign regulation,even when"content-neutral",
can be unconstitutional if it limits speech "too much". City of Ladue,Mo. v. Gilleo, 512 U.S._129
L.3d.2d, 114 S.Ct. 2038 (1994).
Yours truly,
Av
John R. Klaus
City Attorney
Encl.