Commissioners table vote on political signs
The Flathead County Commissioners have put off a decision on whether to allow political signs to stay up on private property for any length of time. They tabled the proposal indefinitely on April 25.
In the meantime, county zoning regulations will continue to allow political signs of up to 32 square feet to be set up 30 days prior to an election. The signs must be taken down within a week of the election. The regulations apply only to zoned land outside the three cities in Flathead County.
The issue arose in 2012 after the Flathead County Planning Office sent out letters clarifying regulations for political signs. Planning director BJ Grieve said there had been confusion over where signs could and could not be posted, .
But when he began getting “quite a bit of feedback” from residents claiming it was illegal to regulate how long signs could be posted, the matter was put on a list of potential text amendments for the Flathead County Planning Board to consider.
That same year, state administrative rules governing political signs were changed to remove language limiting signs to be set up not more than 90 days before an election and to shorten the deadline to take down political signs from 30 to 14 days following an election.
The state rules apply only to private property adjacent to Interstate and primary state highways. The regulations don’t apply along secondary highways or designated scenic corridors. Only billboards and cellular towers are regulated along scenic corridors, Grieve said.
Following a hearing, the county planning board recommended a change that would allow political signs to stay up for any amount of time as a matter of free speech. Court cases in other states have determined that limiting the time period for political signs is unconstitutional.
Deputy county attorney Tara Fugina advised the commissioners that over the past few decades there has been a trend for local governments throughout the country to gradually erase the time limits for posting political signs.
At a public hearing on April 21, the commissioners heard testimony both for and against the county proposal. Many of the comments sent by e-mail to the county planning office opposed the change.
“Amending the sign code to allow unregulated display of political signs would be a huge mistake, especially in a county that depends so much on its scenic quality for its livelihood,” wrote Robert Horne of Whitefish, the former city planning director there. “I encourage you to enforce the regulations we have and not allow political signs to be posted for a longer amount of time than they already are.”
Allowing political signs to stay up for unlimited amounts of time would create an “eyesore” for the Flathead, Michelle Saurey said .
Sheryl Getman, representing cherry and grape growers on Flathead Lake, said allowing signs for any duration would be a “total setback” to the group’s efforts to promote agri-tourism.
“Our efforts over the past years have been to increase the attractiveness of our area,” she wrote. “We are working to attract more visitors to our orchards. Please do not clutter our beautiful county with political signs.”
Conservative columnist Dave Skinner told the planning office that he supported the political sign text amendment.
“If people want to clutter their property with political signage, it’s their right. I don’t have to like it,” he e-mailed.
At the April 25 meeting, commissioner Gary Krueger said he was “inclined to remove the duration limits,” but he moved to table the proposal. Commissioners Pam Holmquist and Cal Scott agreed, saying they’d like more time to study the text amendment.