Supreme Court rulings on signage and content regulations are prompting updates in City of Harbor Springs zoning policies, and local officials are inviting public input Tuesday and Wednesday as part of the process.
Harbor Springs Zoning Administrator and Assessor Jeff Grimm will host open houses this week for the public to review proposed signage ordinance changes. They will be from 9-10:30 a.m. on Tuesday and from 3-4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Harbor Springs City Hall. The sessions will be used to gather feedback from residents, business owners and other community stakeholders.
The open houses will also provide an overview of a unanimous 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert. According to the Michigan Municipal League, the Supreme Court held the town’s sign ordinance unconstitutional because it regulated a church’s temporary directional signs differently than other noncommercial signs. This has raised questions regarding a municipality’s authority to regulate signs based on commercialcontent or off-premises content.
Community input collected during this week’s open houses will be compiled and presented to the Harbor Springs Planning Commission, where it will help inform future discussions and potential revisions to the city’s signage regulations. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling established that if a law regulates speech based on its subject matter, purpose or message, it is “content based.” It also confirmed that all content-based regulations are subject to “strict scrutiny,” which is considered the highest level of constitutional review.
Reed v. Town of Gilbert has not been overturned, but it has been challenged, clarified and narrowed in numerous ways since 2015, which is why it is being addressed by Harbor Springs now, Grimm said.
“We have to know how to approach the regulation of signage while still adhering to content neutrality,” Grimm said.
The timing of this signage ordinance review follows an update of Harbor Springs’ strategic plan and zoning codes, he added.
The court ruling allows local municipalities to regulate certain elements for signs, such as where they can be placed, their size, how many are allowed in a given neighborhood and the materials they can be made from, Grimm said. These and other considerations may be discussed as part of the city’s ordinance. The actual content, whether political, religious or commercial in nature, may not be regulated under the ruling.
“We want to make sure that any rules are enforceable if challenged,” Grimm said. “These open houses will start that conversation and allow us to get feedback from residents and business owners.”
Grimm anticipates that the city’s planning commission will address the ordinance in multiple meetings over the coming months and will host a public forum on the topic later. The planning commission may then choose to recommend ordinance language to the Harbor Springs City Council. Approval by the council would confirm any ordinance updates. Grimm believes this process could take between three to six months or longer.
“There will be other opportunities for residents to provide feedback during this process,” Grimm said.
He also welcomed feedback from residents to his office by emailing assessor@cityofhraborsprings.com or by calling city hall.
“We don’t want to rush this process,” Grimm said. “We will move as quickly as appropriate given the nature of the conversation.”
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Harbor Springs plans open houses to gather feedback on sign ordinance
Reporting by M. Alan Scott, The Petoskey News-Review / The Petoskey News-Review
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