Bentonville eyes changes to sign ordinance

BENTONVILLE -- The city is looking at revising its sign code so it will align with a U.S. Supreme Court case regarding content regulations.

Randal Morrison, a constitutional attorney from San Diego, Calif., and expert on sign law and related First Amendment issues, gave a presentation of legal concepts and laws of signs to the City Council at its meeting Tuesday.

Other action

Bentonville City Council met Tuesday and approved the following:

• Rezoning at Southwest Regional Airport Road and Southwest Cornerstone Road from single family residential to general commercial.

• Rezoning at Southwest Fourth and Southwest A streets from single family residential to downtown core.

• Rezoning on Northeast J Street to residential office.

• A public hearing for June 28 regarding the condemnation of structures at 1405, 1407 and 1409 Cresent St.

• Extend the $30,000 contract with Pyro Shows for the Fourth of July fireworks show.

• A $26,600 contract with Osmose to provide pole testing to the Electric Department.

• A revised utility agreement with the Arkansas Highway Commission for additional engineering for Interstate 49 improvements.

• A $47,000 bid award to Challenger Teamwear for uniforms for the 2016-2017 youth soccer season.

Source: Staff report

Troy Galloway, community and economic development director, said he, planning services manager Shelli Kerr and city attorney Camille Thompson have been working with Morrison on updating the city's sign code.

"The main effort behind this was to make sure that the city's sign code is consistent with the Reed v. Town of Gilbert, Ariz., Supreme Court case," Galloway said after the meeting. "That's the bottom line, to make sure that none of our code is content based in its regulatory framework."

In the Arizona case, a religious group didn't have a regular meeting place and used signs to let people know where they would be meeting each week, Morrison said. The town said the group violated its sign laws.

The Supreme Court held the town's code made regulatory categories based on content. Since each category had its own set of rules based on messages, they couldn't be justified based on strict scrutiny, the most stringent standard used by courts, Morrison explained.

The case was in litigation for seven years and was decided on last summer, he said.

The judges also included in their ruling several sign regulations that aren't content-based and permissible to regulate by ordinance. They include size, location, lighting, density and structural factors, Morrison said.

Galloway said officials are satisfied with those aspects of the city's sign code, and the biggest element needing attention is temporary signs. For example, political signs are treated different than real estate signs, which are treated differently than other temporary signs, he said.

"We're going back trying to finesse it in a way where we still have the spirit of our existing code but meet the intent of the Supreme Court case," he said.

There haven't been any legal issues regarding signs, their content and city regulations, Mayor Bob McCaslin said Tuesday afternoon. The changes to the city's ordinance is an effort to prevent any issues.

"I believe we're out in front of this," he said.

There was no item needing action Tuesday night, but Morrison was asked to present so council members would have background knowledge when the updated ordinance came before them, Galloway said. It will be four to six weeks before the draft is finished. It will go to the Planning Commission for approval before going to City Council for approval.

Morrison gave the same presentation to the Planning Commission at its Technical Review meeting, which was held just before the City Council meeting.

NW News on 04/27/2016

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