Fayette County’s highways and byways won’t be seeing any new billboards in the near future.
On Friday, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected outdoor advertising company Tanner Advertising’s request to allow more billboards and reject the county’s 1998 sign ordinance.
In the 47-page opinion, the court cited the county’s recent repeal of the 1998 ordinance and replacement with a new version in 2005.
“Because all but one of the challenges by Tanner were rendered moot by the 2005 Sign Ordinance, and Tanner lacks standing to challenge the remaining provision, we now dismiss this appeal,” wrote the justices.
In 2003, Tanner submitted eight applications for billboards that were 50 feet in height and 672 square feet in size. The applications were rejected on the same day by the county and Tanner subsequently filed suit claiming the sign ordinance violated the First Amendment.
Tanner officials said some of the unconstitutional provisions included the banning of window signs and flags and that there was not a set time limit for officials approving or denying a sign permit.
The case has bounced among various court jurisdictions until the county requested an en banc hearing of all the judges in the 11th Circuit.
County officials, including Commission Chairman Greg Dunn, said they wanted to have a final precedent-setting ruling when they asked for the hearing.
In November, the ordinance was changed to address many of the constitutional questions that justices have raised in the appeals process.
Planning Director Pete Frisina said the ordinance had not had a substantial review since 1998 and complimented the staff on the rewrite.
“It’s now much easier to understand,” he said.
The revised ordinance delineates between signs placed in residential and non-residential zoning districts.
In residential areas, citizens are now allowed three signs, with one of the signs allowed to be permanent. The size of the signs cannot exceed six square feet and may not be over four feet in height.
In non-residential areas, a parcel can have one free-standing sign that cannot exceed six feet in height, 10 feet in width and 50 square feet in area. The ordinance also allows two temporary signs for a single business and four temporary signs for parcels with multiple businesses.
Another revision the original ordinance had overlooked was the issue of flagpoles at homes.
“You can now have a flagpole at home,” Dunn said.
The flagpole cannot exceed 35 feet in height and the hoist side of the flag cannot be more than 50 percent of the height of the flagpole.
Dunn said he was happy with the revisions. “Judge Paschal English ruled we had the right to promote safety and aesthetics in the ordinance, as long as we didn’t violate people’s right to free speech. This revision liberalizes the sign ordinance,” he said.
In regards to Friday’s ruling, Dunn was ecstatic.
“It was wonderful. The significance shouldn’t be lost. Our sign ordinance is constitutional and we don’t have to look like Riverdale or Gwinnett County.”
[Dunn comments on the sign ordinance and other issues in a letter to the editor on Page A8.]