Does this Centre County township’s sign ordinance violate First Amendment rights?
Ferguson Township is reviewing its signs and billboards ordinance after Centre County Republicans called restrictions on the number and size of political signs “patently unconstitutional.”
The township received a letter in October from attorney Thomas W. King on behalf of the Republican Committee of Centre County, stating that the township’s signs and billboard ordinance is in violation of the First Amendment.
The township’s ordinance states that no more than three portable signs can be placed on residential properties and also puts restrictions on the size of the signs.
“I wish to notify or remind you that the posting of a political sign is pure political speech, which has been consistently adjudicated by the United States Federal Courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States, as protected under the First Amendment,” King wrote.
While a city or municipality may view the general regulation of signs as necessary because of safety concerns, the letter states, other ordinances limiting the placement of political signs have been struck down in court.
“If you persist this attack on free speech will immediately be brought to the attention of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in the form of a lawsuit against the township,” King wrote.
While the ordinance doesn’t specifically mention the usage and limitation of political signage, commercial portable signs are limited to two per property and residential signs are limited to three. If a property owner is in violation of this, the sign could potentially be removed from the premises.
The ordinance also states that temporary signs cannot interfere with pedestrian traffic, curb ramps or access to buildings, etc.
Samuel Chen, a political strategist and founder of The Liddell Group in Lehigh Valley, said the answer to whether Ferguson Township’s ordinance is unconstitutional is not so simple.
“While political speech is is considered a given right of the First Amendment, and political campaign signs are most certainly included in that right, it seems as if Ferguson is attempting to put a limit on that — which would definitely be a First Amendment violation,” Chen said. “However, the gray area lies within the exemptions also listed in the ordinance, and whether or not any signs could possibly be considered a distraction to drivers, or a potential safety hazard for any other reason.”
The Ferguson Township board of supervisors met last week and decided to turn the ordinance over to the planning commission, which met on Monday to discuss it.
A motion was passed to turn the matter over to the township solicitor, but there were talks about potentially adding a section to the ordinance that specifically addresses political signs.
“For now, I think we should turn this over to the solicitor to see if our ordinance really is unconstitutional, but just in case it is, maybe we should look at adding a section to the ordinance that specifically addresses political signs,” commission member Lewis Steinberg said.
While that idea was thoroughly discussed among the other commission members, no other action was taken.
