§ 47-237. Purposes.

(a)

It is the purpose of the mayor and city council in enacting these regulations to provide standards to safeguard life, public health, property and welfare by regulating the location, size, illumination, erection, maintenance and quality of materials of all signs. More specifically, signs have a powerful impact on the aesthetic environment of the community, and it is the purpose of this article to encourage an aesthetically attractive environment, allowing sufficient opportunities for communications to serve business, interest groups and the public, while complying with the federal and state constitutions and laws. Signs create visual clutter and therefore should be regulated in their size, location, construction and illumination. Signs can detract from the beauty of the neighborhood and lower property values. In seeking to comply with federal and state law, the city has determined the following: large signs are, as the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized, an aesthetic harm; the state supreme court has upheld sign regulations on the basis of aesthetics and preserving the beauty of environment; and, the 11th Circuit has recognized portable signs are visual clutter and a potential traffic hazard. These holdings show that the city's ordinance is within the law and constitutional, which is a goal of the city. The goal of this article is to avoid being an impermissible content-based regulation, and instead to be a permissible time, place and manner restriction.

(b)

Many signs can also be a hazard and negatively impact traffic safety by distracting drivers and blocking views of other vehicles and dangers, by making intersections more treacherous, and by making it difficult to see oncoming traffic when entering a roadway. Therefore, it is also the purpose of this article to prevent those harms by regulating signs to safe locations, safe sizes, with proper and safe illumination and construction.

(Min. of 11-10-2016, § 11.1)