Another Sign Code Goes Down in Flames

A court challenge to a code enforcement action by the city of North Redington Beach, Florida against a local café has resulted in the court finding the city's sign code in violation of the First Amendment. Brian J. Connolly of the Rocky Mountain Sign Law blog writes that the late January decision from the U.S. District Court in Tampa found that the sign code was "content based," which as we learned in the Reed v. Town of Gilbert ruling, is unconstitutional. The ruling came in a case brought by the Sweet Sage Café against the city after it was cited for having a number of signs in violation of the city's code, including flip flop decals, a "Paws for Water" sign above a dog bowl, and numerous other decorative signs.

The town’s sign code had several features of sign codes that are commonly understood to be unconstitutional post-Reed:

The town’s definition of “sign” had several arguably content based elements, including “Drawings of articles for sale on the premises that is related to the business and/or is intended to advertise or inform, rather than being merely aesthetic, shall be classified as a sign under this Chapter. The term does not include an official traffic control sign, official marker, national or state flags permitted by this Chapter, athletic scoreboards, or the official announcements or signs of government.”

Connolly writes that the court also found that the code was not severable, so it was struck down in its entirety.