Maumelle lifts banner ban

Team sponsorship signs OK at outdoor sports venues

Sponsorship banners will start showing up on Maumelle’s soccer fields and other outdoor sports venues next year after the Maumelle City Council unanimously approved lifting a ban on such advertisements last week.

The ordinance will allow nonprofit organizations, such as the Maumelle Soccer Association, to place banners on field fences to advertise team sponsors, which are usually local businesses. The new rule won’t be in effect until after 30 days from its passage, which will be after the fall sports season. The banners will be allowed only during a sports season.

Organizations will go through the city Parks and Recreation Department for written approval of any banners.

The new rule affects only the city-owned Rolling Oaks Athletic Complex, Dowell Naylor Aquatic Center, Elizabeth Rutledge Tennis Courts and the Diamond Center Baseball and Softball Parks.

The request for sponsorship banners came from the city’s youth soccer group, said Parks Director Phillip Raborn, after the group had a sign removed because of the city’s previous restriction on commercial advertisements in city parks.

“Maumelle Code Enforcement had gone through the park, and they [the soccer group] had a sponsorship banner up on a fence and it was taken down,” Raborn said. “They were wanting a legal way to promote their sponsor.

“It’s kind of been one of those deals where they were doing it and didn’t know it was wrong,” he added. “They wanted to do it the right way and that’s why this ordinance was passed.”

Maumelle still forbids advertising on outfield fences at its baseball and softball fields, though scoreboards have a listed sponsor, and the youth football, baseball and softball teams have a sponsor’s name shown on their uniforms.

“In soccer, the jerseys don’t have the actual sponsorship on there,” Raborn said. “They were wanting a way to get recognition for their sponsor.”

The legislation, which went through three council meetings before being approved, prompted some early debate about what could and couldn’t be allowed on such banners. Some aldermen were concerned about political ads during election years, but City Attorney JaNan Davis cautioned the council about trying to govern language protected by the First Amendment.

“My concern then, and it remains my concern, is that really any kind of content-based regulation is going to be handled under strict scrutiny by a court,” if challenged, Davis said. “I strongly suggested we avoid any content-based restriction in the legislation and that was left out of it. I’m satisfied with it as it was passed.”

Davis said the city still maintains control over the banners through the Parks Department already having operation agreements with the nonprofit sports organizations that would be requesting such banners. Parks staff will also carry discretion over how many signs can be placed in a park and where.

“Someone might be able to put 20 signs up at a ballpark and there not be a problem, but you can’t do that at the aquatic facility, so there is some variation depending on the park,” she said.

There also are restrictions on the condition of any banners and when they are allowed, according to the legislation.

Groups that get permission for placing a banner in the allowed city parks must “designate two individuals” to be responsible for the placement and maintenance of the banners. Also, banners must be removed once a sports season ends.

Banners can’t be more than 8 feet long or high, or more than 32 square feet in size. Banners that become torn or worn must be removed or will be taken down by the city.

“What we didn’t want was to create another enforcement issue for our code-enforcement people,” Davis said. “So the nonprofits almost have to self-police this pretty tightly.”

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 10/28/2013

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