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| LEGISLATIVE & LEGAL : CITY ORDINANCES |
Visit the following web site to check if your city has specific sign requirements:
Municiple Code Corporation (www.municode.com) |
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In purchasing a sign for your business, you will probably need a permit. Many communities are concerned with the visual environment of their city, and surveys have shown that many people believe that signs have contributed to "visual pollution." The reaction for many cities has been to enact restrictive sign ordinances to control the size and type of signs, and sign placement, allowed in their business districts. Such restrictions are usually enacted without the city being fully informed of the effects of severe sign restrictions upon the local businesses and the harshest of these restrictions may actually have the unintended effect of harming small businesses.
Zoning laws and other regulations vary from city to city and from state to state. Many cities now allow you to download the city sign ordinance off of the Internet, or you can inquire and obtain a copy at the building department in your city.
A city may pass ordinances that regulate the time, place and manner of commercial speech. Time is simply defined as when a message may be displayed; place is where the message may be displayed, and how the message is presented is the manner of the conveyance.
The United States Supreme Court has ruled that content-neutral time, place and manner restrictions on commercial speech are permissible if they:
- are justified without reference to the content of the speech;
- if the restrictions serve a significant government interest; and
- leave open ample alternative channels for communication of the information.
A city cannot regulate the content of your sign, or the messages you are trying to deliver. |
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