4A - Ordinance Amendment Regarding Digital Signs

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RELEVANT LINKS: `.. A. First amendment strict scrutiny LMC information memo, Because sign regulations implicate free speech rights which are protected by Sign Ordinances and the First amendment. the First Amendment, they are subjected to higher levels of scrutiny. The highest level of scrutiny, called "strict scrutiny,"applies when government tries to regulate based on the content of speech. The only content-based sign .Weiromedia.Inc.v.City of regulation that courts have upheld is treating off-premise signs(billboards) San Diego,453 U.S.490,101 S.Ct.2882(1981). differently than on-premise signs that advertise the business on the same property. La Tour v.City of One distinction that may seem like it is content based, but our federal court Fayetteville,442 F.3d 1094 (stn Cir.2006). of appeals has said is not, is a ban on dynamic signs with an exception for time and temperature displays. The court held that because of their unique nature, allowing only time and temp displays is not a prohibited content- based regulation. It is important not to overstate this, however. Regulations that go further and carve out a broader exception for"public information" are likely to be struck down as impermissibly content-based. B. First amendment intermediate scrutiny Sign regulations that are not content based are subject to "intermediate scrutiny", which tests whether the regulation is substantially related to a significant government interest. This roughly translates to "regulate for a good reason."Cities should take care that the scope of the regulation is not excessive when viewed in light of all of the regulatory objectives, and that they do not create exceptions to the regulations that cannot be justified by reference to one or more of the city's articulated objectives. III. Regulatory tools A. Safety, values, preferences, aesthetics The available research on traffic impacts supports significant content-neutral limits or even bans on dynamic signs for safety reasons. The studies confirm that billboards can tend to distract drivers, dynamic features contribute to the distraction, and even short distractions can increase the risk of accidents. This is not surprising as promotional materials put out by sign companies themselves boast the signs' ability to hold viewer attention as a benefit of dynamic signs. Safety is only one concern. Cities may also regulate signs based on values, preferences, and aesthetics. Not every sign is appropriate in every community or every neighborhood.Not every community wishes to become Las Vegas or even downtown Minneapolis. Cities can take a number of different macro-level approaches to regulation. Some examples include: League of Minnesota Cities Information Memo: 7/27/2007 Regulating Dynamic Signage Page 2