A city alderman is pushing to regulate political signs in the city.
You know the kind. They pop up every fall, a sea of red and blue squares on lawns and corners, advertising various candidates for political offices.
John “Jack” Finn says those signs can also block sight lines while driving and can clog up city open space with political messages.
Finn has proposed a political sign ordinance that would outline how and where the signs can be posted.
The proposal has been reviewed by the Board of Aldermen’s streets committee and is now before the Board of Aldermen.
That board was expected to schedule a public hearing on the proposal at its meeting Thursday. The hearing will take place Oct. 26.
Proposal
Finn, who is also the city’s democratic registrar of voters, said he proposed the ordinance after he found out the town didn’t have one.
He said the registrar’s office always believed there were rules regarding the signs — specifically indicating the timing when they were required to be taken down after an election.
So when Finn found out there wasn’t an ordinance on the books, he researched what other towns were doing through the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. and came up with his own proposal for Shelton.
The proposal suggests:
- prohibiting political signs on city land, including open space.
- restricting placement of the signs to 30 days before an election and no more than five days after it.
- limited political sign size to four feet wide and four feet tall.
- prohibiting placement of signs in traffic sight lines, or anywhere where it might cause a public hazard.
“
During the past election, there was a sign at a three-way intersection,” Finn said, giving one example. “It was put so high up off the ground that people coming off the side street could not see the traffic coming up the street.”
Civil Rights Violation?
Board of Aldermen President John Anglace said he doesn’t agree with the proposal — saying it could violate citizens’ right to freedom of speech.
“You’ve got to be extremely careful that you don’t violate freedom of speech,” Anglace said.
Anglace said he’s concerned that regulating only political signs is not fair.
“How do you regulate political signs, but not tag sale signs?” Anglace asked.
Because of the timing of the proposal, if it’s approved in any form, the rules wouldn’t take affect until next election cycle.
