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STAFF REPORT To: Mayor and City Council Report No.: Michael Mornson, City Manager From: Kim Moore-Sykes, Assistant City Manager Date: January 29, 2008 Subject: Proposed Revised Sign Ordinance Background: Staff attended an LMC workshop on sign ordinances presented by the League's attorney, Paul Merwin. Mr. Merwin reported that the courts have held that several municipal sign ordinances have provoked freedom of speech objections, with the City of Hopkins being the latest example from Minnesota. By regulating signs in their community, the Courts found that the City of Hopkins inadvertently limited speech without demonstrating a substantial governmental interest in doing so. The Courts have long held that traffic safety and aesthetics are usually the only two governmental interests that cities may assert with sign ordinances. The League attorneys stated that cities may regulate signs and enforce a sign ordinance as long as that enforcement has a neutral effect on speech and is based on other factors rather than the message content of a sign. A sign ordinance that governs activities to protect governmental interests should be objectively based on time,place and manner and unrelated to the speech content of a sign. The attorney stated that if the sign has to be read to determine how it is regulated, then it is being regulated based on speech and that regulation is likely unconstitutional. They also stated commercial and non-commercial speech enjoy different levels of protection under the Constitution. As such, they cautioned that cities should not favor commercial speech over non-commercial speech in the development or enforcement of their sign ordinance. As a result of this workshop and the Hopkins example,Staff was asked to review and revise the City's sign ordinance to make it compliant with State and Federal law. Attached is a revised draft of Chapter 14,based on the City of Hopkins' model sign ordinance. This draft has also been sent to American Legal Publishing for their review per their editor, Mr. Nathan Clark's request. Requested Action: Council review. Attachments: • Draft of revised Chapter 14 • LMC Sign Ordinances and the First Amendment White Paper F:\Staff Reports\2008\012908 Sign Ordinance STAFF REPORT doc