Does That Sign Violate Free Speech? Oak Forest Hopes Not

OAK FOREST, IL — Oak Forest planning officials are holding a public hearing next week about signs within city limits.

The move comes in light of the 2015 Supreme Court decision of Reed v. Town of Gilbert, AZ, that held that the size, number, location or other regulations cannot be based upon what the sign itself says, or from whom the sign content originates.

In that decision, the Good News Community Church and its pastor, Clyde Reed, whose Sunday , posted signs early each Saturday bearing the name of the church and its service times and locations. They did not remove the signs until midday Sunday. The city of Gilbert cited the church for exceeding the time limits for displaying temporary directional signs and for failing to include an event date on the signs. The church sued, saying its free speech rights had been violated. Gilbert officials maintained they were within their rights because their codes regulated aesthetic standards. The Supreme Court sided with the church, but wrote: "And the Town may be able to forbid postings on public property, so long as it does so in an evenhanded, content-neutral manner."

What Oak Forest is considering are proposed amendments that address the numerous content-based regulation in the current regulations. They include: changes to size, placement, construction materials, application process, hearing process, appeal process, variations, time limit, and number limitations on exempt, temporary, and permanent signs in residential and nonresidential zoning districts.

Related amendments include variations and design standards, and are also proposed to Article 11, Zoning Administration and Enforcement to ensure that conflicts within the Zoning Ordinance are minimized and that its entirety is consistent with those proposed to Section 9-106. A copy of the proposed text amendments to Section 9-106, Sign Regulations, are available in the city's Agenda Center for review.

Here is an example: Officials permit a fast food restaurant sign to be larger than a church one. Allowing the fast-food restaurant a larger sign is considered allowing the business more free speech that what the church is allowed. Therefore, the regulation is in violation of the freedom of speech, as guaranteed by the First Amendment, officials said.

The standards municipalities such as Oak Forest must follow include:

• Size of signs, based on any of the following qualifying criteria in this list
• Different rules between residential and non-residential property
• Different rules for time limits of different one-time events
• Different rules based on structural sign types, such as monument signs or wall signs
• Illuminated or non-illuminated signs
• Signs with fixed messages or electronic message boards
• Different rules between public and private property
• Different rules between on-premises and off-premises signs
• Basing the number of signs allowed per linear feet of street frontage

The public hearing will be held at 7 p.m., Wed., March 20, in Council Chambers at the city hall.

All businesses and residents desiring to appear and be heard for or against certain provisions of the proposed amendments are invited to attend.