Contempt order sought in sign suit
Jun. 25—GOSHEN — The city of Goshen is pushing for a contempt ruling against a woman for allegedly defying a court order to take down or cut the size of signs she's had in her yard as part of an ongoing year-long protest.
In a motion filed Wednesday, a city attorney asked the Elkhart County Circuit Court to issue a citation and find Lori Arnold and her husband in contempt of court as part of an ongoing lawsuit. The filing alleges Arnold has ignored the ruling on her signs for about the past month.
Judge Michael Christofeno sided with the city in the civil case against the Arnolds on May 26, deciding signs in the front yard of their home, 615 S. Main St., violate city zoning ordinances that regulate sign sizes, heights and placements. With an order, Christofeno then gave Arnold three days to remove the signs or significantly reduce the number of them in her yard, and their sizes, so that they would comply with city rules. The lawsuit has also warned the Arnolds could face potential fines of up to $2,500 per day for each violation.
Arnold has refused to budge.
On May 29, despite the order, Arnold kept her signs up. She told The Goshen News she's made concessions on keeping the right-of-way clear while keeping her protest going on her private property. Arnold started her demonstration, which included putting up signs bearing a variety of messages, in June 2020 as a response to the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that grew out of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The city inspected Arnold's property on June 3 and found signs still up, allegedly still violating the zoning ordinances. A letter was sent to the couple, giving them until June 16 to comply. By the next day, the signs were still there, according to the new filing and attached documents.
The evidence, "demonstrate the continued presence of signs in violation of the Goshen city zoning ordinance and thus in violation of this court's order," the filing states.
The motion also asks the court to order the Arnolds to appear and argue why they shouldn't be held in contempt, and then leave any potential sanctions up to the judge.
Court information indicates no action has yet been taken since the motion was filed.
A hearing is still scheduled in the case for Aug. 10 to discuss damages related to the fines the city has sought.
Aimee Ambrose can be reached at aimee.ambrose@goshennews.com or 574-533-2151, ext. 240316. Follow her on Twitter at @aambrose_TGN.
