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Judge: Multi-sign limit is OK

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@thecitizennews.com

A request for a court order to keep Fayette County officials from enforcing its sign ordinance on political and commercial signs has been denied.

Superior Court Judge Paschal A. English denied the request for the temporary restraining order after a hearing Monday. The request was brought in a lawsuit filed by county residents Curtis “Bubba” Coffey and Wayne Charles along with Tanner Advertising Group, LLC of Sugar Hill.

English said Tuesday afternoon that federal courts have upheld sign ordinances of local governments for aesthetic and traffic safety purposes, two of the reasons sign regulation is important, as cited in the ordinance itself.

The suit requested that the county’s entire sign ordinance be declared invalid because it is unconstitutional.

In the complaint, Atlanta attorney E. Adam Webb wrote that Coffey, who lives at 281 Rivers Rd., was issued citations by county marshals for two signs he displayed on his property.

The suit also claims that Charles, who lives at 115 Emerald Lake Dr., has declined to erect any political signs because he is afraid of being cited and fined.

“Mr. Charles’ free speech rights have been chilled by the county’s enforcement of its unconstitutional sign regulations,” the suit stated.

The county also denied eight sign permits that Tanner Advertising had requested, the suit noted. The company wanted those permits to be granted upon court order.

Tanner filed a similar suit in February in federal court, but the court ultimately ruled in the county’s favor.

The company has secured leases or permission to file sign requests for certain properties in the county, the suit said. All of those parcels it wants to build signs on are “in commercial or industrial areas adjacent to major roads,” according to the suit.