Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_14-cv-02513/USCOURTS-cand-3_14-cv-02513-6/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Citizens for Free Speech, LLC
Plaintiff
County of Alameda
Defendant
Michael Shaw
Plaintiff

Document Text:

United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

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1

 Plaintiffs assert four claims, for (1) violation of their rights to free speech under the First

Amendment; (2) violation of their rights to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment; (3)

violation of their rights to free speech under Art. I, § 2 of the California Constitution; and (4) violation

of their rights to equal protection under Art. I, § 7 of the California Constitution.

Compl. (dkt. 1) ¶¶ 34–39, 43–48. Because Plaintiffs’ fifth claim is merely a request for attorneys’ fees

pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988, id. ¶¶ 40–42, the Court does not consider it a separate claim for purposes

of the motion.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

CITIZENS FOR FREE SPEECH, LLC, 

ET AL.,

Plaintiffs,

 v.

 COUNTY OF ALAMEDA,

Defendant. /

No. C14-02513 CRB

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND

DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT’S

MOTION FOR SUMMARY

JUDGMENT

Plaintiffs Citizens for Free Speech, LLC (“Citizens”) and Michael Shaw (“Shaw”)

(collectively, “Plaintiffs”) brought suit against Defendant County of Alameda (the

“County”), alleging that the County’s regulation of billboards and advertising signs is

unconstitutional.1

 See generally Compl. Plaintiffs previously obtained a preliminary

injunction in this case to prevent the County from enforcing Title 17 of the Alameda County

General Ordinance Code (the “Zoning Ordinance”) against Plaintiffs. See Citizens for Free

Speech, LLC v. Cnty. of Alameda, 62 F. Supp. 3d 1129 (N.D. Cal. 2014).

 

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2

 The County does not identify the specific claims on which it is seeking summary judgment,

at it is required to do. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a) (party moving for summary judgment must “identify[ ]

each claim or defense . . . on which summary judgment is sought”). It appears to request summary

judgment on all of Plaintiffs’ claims. See Mot. (dkt. 55) at 1. Accordingly, the Court interprets the

motion as seeking summary judgment on all of Plaintiffs’ claims. 

3

 As discussed infra in Section III(A)(2)(a)(i), the version of Section 17.52.520(D) that Plaintiffs

challenge no longer exists.

4

 Plaintiffs also request partial summary judgment on their free speech claims pursuant to Fed.

R. Civ. P. 56(f)(1). Opp’n (dkt. 63) at 25. To the extent that those claims remain following this motion,

the Court does not grant this request. In addition to its being procedurally improper, Plaintiffs might

have created a genuine issue of material fact sufficient to defeat summary judgment on some of their

claims, but they have not shown an absence of a genuine issue of material fact in their favor on those

claims. 

2

The County now moves for summary judgment on several grounds, arguing that

Plaintiffs’ as-applied and facial challenges to the Zoning Ordinance both fail.2

 See Mot. at 2. 

For the reasons discussed below, the Court GRANTS summary judgment as to Plaintiffs’

free speech claims, to the extent that those claims are based on: (1) an as-applied challenge;

(2) a facial challenge as to the unfettered discretion granted by Zoning

Ordinance §§ 17.52.520(Q), 17.52.520(D),3

 and 17.54.130; and (3) a facial challenge as to

Section 17.52.515’s purported regulation of speech based on its content. The Court DENIES

the motion as to Plaintiffs’ facial challenge to Zoning Ordinance § 17.18.130 and as to

Plaintiffs’ equal protection claims.4

 

I. BACKGROUND

The Zoning Ordinance divides the County’s unincorporated territory into twenty-five

different types of district, within which only certain buildings, structures, or land uses are

permitted. Zoning Ordinance § 17.02.050. Shaw owns a parcel of land located at 8555

Dublin Canyon Road (the “Parcel”) in the County. Shaw Decl. (dkt. 65-1) ¶ 2. The Parcel is

located in an area zoned as a Planned Development (“PD”) district. Id. Since January 2012,

Shaw has maintained a single on-site sign that advertises for his company, Lockaway

Storage. Id. ¶¶ 3–4.

Shaw and Citizens entered into an agreement with each other that provides for the

construction and display of three additional signs (the “Signs”) on the Parcel. Herson Decl.

(dkt. 64-2) ¶¶ 2–3. They agreed to share in the proceeds earned from displaying the Signs. 

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Shaw Decl. ¶ 7; Herson Decl. ¶ 2. The Signs currently consist entirely of non-commercial

messages, but Plaintiffs claim that the Signs will contain commercial messages in the future. 

Herson Decl. ¶ 3, Ex. E; Compl ¶ 12. 

A County official visited the Parcel on June 9, 2014 to inform Shaw that the Signs

were prohibited. Shaw Decl. ¶ 4. On June 10, 2014, the County mailed Shaw a “Declaration

of Public Nuisance – Notice to Abate,” claiming that the Signs violated Zoning

Ordinance §§ 17.18.010 and 17.18.120. Id. ¶¶ 5–6, Ex. C. The Notice to Abate instructed

Shaw to remove the Signs or face an abatement proceeding and an escalating schedule of

fines. Id., Ex. C.

Plaintiffs sued and moved for a temporary restraining order against the County to stop

the abatement proceedings and impending fines. Pls.’ Mot. for Temp. Restraining Order

(dkt. 11). The Court subsequently granted Plaintiffs a preliminary injunction, finding that

they were likely to succeed on the merits of their arguments that the Zoning Ordinance was

facially invalid because it (1) gave County officials unfettered discretion to make certain

determinations regarding signs and (2) failed to ensure that those decisions would be made in

a timely manner. See Citizens for Free Speech, 62 F. Supp. 2d at 1140–42. Following

discovery, the County now moves for summary judgment. 

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Summary judgment is proper when the pleadings, depositions, answers to

interrogatories, affidavits or declarations, or other materials show that there is no genuine

dispute as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter

of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a), (c)(1)(A). This occurs where either the materials cited do not

establish the absence or presence of a genuine dispute, or the nonmoving party cannot

produce admissible evidence to support a fact. Id. 56(c)(1)(B). An issue is “genuine” only if

there is a sufficient evidentiary basis on which a reasonable fact finder could find for the

nonmoving party, and a dispute is “material” only if it could affect the outcome of the suit

under governing law. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248–49 (1986). A

principal purpose of the summary judgment procedure “is to isolate and dispose of factually

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unsupported claims . . . .” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323–24 (1986). “Where

the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving

party, there is no genuine issue for trial.” Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp.,

475 U.S. 574, 587 (1986) (internal quotations omitted).

A party seeking summary judgment always bears the initial burden of establishing the

absence of a genuine issue of material fact. See Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323. If the moving

party satisfies its initial burden, the nonmoving party cannot defeat summary judgment

merely by demonstrating “that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” 

Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586; see also Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252 (“The mere existence of a

scintilla of evidence in support of the [nonmoving party]’s position will be

insufficient . . . .”). Rather, the nonmoving party must go “beyond the pleadings and by her

own affidavits, or by the depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file,

designate specific facts showing there is a genuine issue for trial.” Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324

(internal quotations omitted).

III. DISCUSSION

The County argues that summary judgment is warranted as to Plaintiffs’ free speech

claims for two reasons. First, the County contends that Plaintiffs’ as-applied challenge fails

because Plaintiffs cannot identify any Zoning Ordinance provision that was improperly

applied to them. See Memo. (dkt. 59) at 6–11. Second, the County asserts that Plaintiffs’

facial challenge fails because (1) the Zoning Ordinance does not give County officials

unfettered discretion to make permitting decisions, and (2) Section 17.52.515 is a contentneutral speech restriction that passes intermediate scrutiny. See id. at 12–21; Reply (dkt. 66)

at 10–12. The County also reasons that Plaintiffs’ equal protection claims fail because the

evidence does not indicate that Plaintiffs were treated differently than any similarly-situated

parties. See Reply at 12–13. The Court addresses these arguments in order below. 

A. Free Speech Claims

1. Plaintiffs’ As-Applied Challenge

The County makes two arguments in support of summary judgment on Plaintiffs’ asCase 3:14-cv-02513-CRB Document 71 Filed 07/16/15 Page 4 of 31
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 Even assuming arguendo that the Court should analyze this speculative as-applied challenge,

the County’s broad interpretation of Section 17.52.515 fails. The Zoning Ordinance defines billboard

as “a permanent structure or sign used for the display of offsite commercial messages . . . .” Zoning

Ordinance § 17.52.515(A) (emphasis added). The County argues that this provision prevents

construction of signs currently displaying commercial messages as well as “signs displaying

noncommercial messages when constructed, but which are intended by the owner to also display

commercial messages . . . .” Memo. at 8. But courts generally must look at the text of the statute to

“‘determine whether the language at issue has a plain and unambiguous meaning with regard to the

particular dispute in the case.’” Royal Foods Co. v. RJR Holdings, Inc., 252 F.3d 1102, 1106 (9th Cir.

2001) (quoting Robinson v. Shell Oil Co., 519 U.S. 337, 340 (1997)). Section 17.52.515 does not

include any reference to the future intentions of parties using the signs, and a logical understanding of

“used” would preclude speech that might be displayed at some indeterminate point in the future.

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applied challenge. First, it argues persuasively that the Zoning Ordinance provisions under

which the County required Plaintiffs to remove their Signs do not even implicate Plaintiffs’

constitutional rights to free speech, since those provisions only examine whether a particular

use of land in a PD district conforms with the specific land use and development plan for the

land on which the use occurs. See Memo. at 6–7. Second, the County argues unpersuasively

that Plaintiffs’ intention to display commercial messages on the Signs in the future would

have allowed the County to properly regulate that speech under Zoning

Ordinance § 17.52.515. Id. at 7–11.5

“An as-applied challenge contends that the law is unconstitutional as applied to the

litigant’s particular speech activity, even though the law may be capable of valid application

to others.” Foti v. City of Menlo Park, 146 F.3d 629, 635 (9th Cir. 1998). Such challenge

“does not implicate the enforcement of the law against third parties,” but instead “argue[s]

that discriminatory enforcement of a speech restriction amounts to viewpoint discrimination

in violation of the First Amendment.” Id. For that reason, a successful as-applied challenge

“does not render the law itself invalid but only the particular application of the law.” Id.

The County asserts that the Zoning Ordinance is constitutional as applied to Plaintiffs,

since the County sought to remove the Signs “without regard to any issue of content . . . .” 

Id. at 6. The parties do not dispute that the Notice to Abate stated that the County’s basis for

enforcing the Zoning Ordinance as to the Signs was Plaintiffs’ violation of Zoning

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 Section 17.18.010 states that the purpose of the PD districts is “to encourage the arrangement

of a compatible variety of uses . . . in such a manner that the resulting development will”:

A. Be in accord with the policies of the general plan of the [C]ounty;

B. Provide efficient use of the land that includes preservation of significant open areas and

natural and topographic landscape features with minimum alteration of natural land forms;

C. Provide an environment that will encourage the use of common open areas for neighborhood

or community activities and other amenities;

D. Be compatible with and enhance the development of the general area;

E. Create an attractive, efficient and safe environment.

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Ordinance §§ 17.18.0106 and 17.18.120. Id.; Shaw Decl., Ex. C. Section 17.18.120 provides

that “[a]ny use of land within the boundaries of a [PD] district adopted in accordance with

the provisions of this chapter shall conform to the approved land use and development plan.” 

Zoning Ordinance § 17.18.120. 

The Parcel was originally rezoned into a PD district in 1989, and an accompanying

land use and development plan (the “Plan”) was also adopted at that time. See Def.’s

Request for Judicial Notice (dkt. 60) (“Def.’s Second RJN”), Ex. A (dkt. 60-1) at 1. The

signage that could be built on the Parcel was limited to “one non-electrical unlighted sign

with maximum dimensions of two feet by twenty-four feet,” and was required to “be

approved through Zoning approval.” Id. The Parcel’s owner obtained a conditional use

permit (“CUP”) for uses of the Parcel in 1990, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2011, and 2012, but

none of those CUPs provided for the construction of additional signage on the Parcel. See

id., Exs. B–P (dkts. 60-2 to 60-14). Plaintiffs do not argue that the Signs are small enough to

be acceptable under the Plan, or that Plaintiffs sought approval prior to building the signs. 

See generally Opp’n; Herson Decl.; Shaw Decl. 

Plaintiffs do not contest any of the material facts regarding the substance of the Plan

discussed above, nor do they argue that the County improperly applied Sections 17.18.010

and 17.18.120 to them. They only state that the County’s arguments fail “because the

County expressly prohibited Citizens’ speech pursuant to the PD [d]istrict provisions of the

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[Zoning] Ordinance, which set forth an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech.” Opp’n at

2. Plaintiffs are arguing, in essence, that because the Zoning Ordinance is facially

unconstitutional as a prior restraint on speech, it is also unconstitutional as applied to them. 

But an “as-applied challenge goes to the nature of the application rather than the nature of the

law itself,” Desert Outdoor Adver., Inc. v. City of Oakland, 506 F.3d 798, 805 (9th Cir.

2007) (emphasis added), so whether the Zoning Ordinance is facially unconstitutional is not

relevant to the question of whether it is unconstitutional as applied to Plaintiffs. Here, the

County has presented substantial evidence that Zoning Ordinances §§ 17.18.010 and

17.18.120 did apply to Plaintiffs’ Signs, and that the Plan precluded Plaintiffs from building

the Signs on the Parcel. Plaintiffs have failed to rebut the County’s evidence or provide any

evidence indicating that those provisions were unconstitutionally applied to them. 

Accordingly, the Court grants summary judgment on both free speech claims to the extent

Plaintiffs bring an as-applied challenge to those provisions. 

2. Plaintiffs’ Facial Challenge 

The County next argues that Plaintiffs’ facial challenges to the Zoning Ordinance lack

merit. “Although facial challenges to legislation are generally disfavored, they have been

permitted in the First Amendment context where the licensing scheme vests unbridled

discretion in the decisionmaker and where the regulation is challenged as overbroad.” 

FW/PBS, Inc. v. City of Dallas, 493 U.S. 215, 223 (1990). This Court has previously

recognized that both of Plaintiffs’ arguments “are best characterized as ‘overbreadth’

challenges.” Citizens for Free Speech, 62 F. Supp. 3d at 1134; see also United States v.

Linick, 195 F.3d 538, 542 (9th Cir. 1999) (considering overbroad regulations that vested

officials with unbridled discretion to deny expressive activity); S.O.C., Inc. v. Cnty. of Clark,

152 F.3d 1136, 1144 (9th Cir. 1998) (finding overbroad an ordinance that improperly

restricted protected noncommercial speech). Under this type of challenge, Plaintiffs can

establish the unconstitutionality of provisions of the Zoning Ordinance not applied to

Plaintiffs by “showing that [those provisions] may inhibit the First Amendment rights of

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individuals who are not before the court.” See 4805 Convoy, Inc. v. City of San Diego, 183

F.3d 1108, 1112 (9th Cir. 1999). 

The County advances two arguments in support of summary judgment on the facial

challenge. First, the County asserts that County officials do not have unfettered discretion in

applying the Zoning Ordinance, because the criteria guiding those officials’ decisions are

limited and objective, subject to thorough review, and made within a reasonable period. 

Memo. at 12–21. Second, the County contends that Zoning Ordinance § 17.52.515 passes

intermediate scrutiny. Reply at 10–11. For the reasons discussed below, the Court grants in

part and denies in part summary judgment on Plaintiffs’ unfettered discretion claim, and

grants summary judgment on Plaintiffs’ Section 17.52.515 claim.

a. County Officials’ Discretion in Permitting Decisions

The County’s first argument with respect to the facial challenge is that the provisions

of the Zoning Ordinance challenged by Plaintiffs do not give County officials unfettered

discretion to make decisions. “[A] law cannot condition the free exercise of First

Amendment rights on the ‘unbridled discretion’ of government officials.” Gaudiya

Vaishnava Soc’y v. City and Cnty. of S.F., 952 F.2d 1059, 1065 (9th Cir. 1990) (quoting

City of Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publ’g Co., 486 U.S. 750, 755 (1988)); Young v. City of

Simi Valley, 216 F.3d 807, 819 (9th Cir. 2000) (“When an approval process lacks procedural

safeguards or is completely discretionary, there is a danger that protected speech will be

suppressed impermissibly because of the government official’s . . . distaste for the content of

the speech.”). 

To determine if an ordinance confers “unbridled discretion” on an official with respect

to a permitting process, a court must examine whether such ordinance “‘contain[s] adequate

standards to guide the official’s decision and render it subject to effective judicial review.’” 

Seattle Affiliate of Oct. 22nd Coal. to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and Criminalization

of a Generation v. City of Seattle, 550 F.3d 788, 798 (9th Cir. 2008) (quoting Thomas v. Chi.

Park Dist., 534 U.S. 316, 323 (2002)). The Ninth Circuit has articulated three factors courts

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 The same provision existed as Section 17.52.520(R) at the time the Court decided Plaintiffs’

preliminary injunction motion. See Citizens for Free Speech, 62 F. Supp. 3d at 1140. The County

amended the Zoning Ordinance in November 2014, and this change affected the sections’ numbering.

See Def.’s Second RJN, Ex. S (dkt. 60-19). 

8

 The amendment to the Zoning Ordinance in November 2014 deleted this section. See id.

9

 The Court also found that Plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their unfettered

discretion argument as to another provision, Section 17.54.080, regarding permissible variances from

the Zoning Ordinance. Citizens for Free Speech, 62 F. Supp. 3d at 1141. Given this holding, Plaintiffs

concede that the provision is not at issue here, see Opp’n at 6 n.2, and the Court does not address it

further.

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must consider in analyzing the facial validity of a permitting process: (1) whether limited and

objective criteria sufficiently confine the permitting officials’ discretion to grant or deny a

permit; (2) whether officials are required to state the reasons for a permitting decision, so as

to facilitate effective judicial review; and (3) whether such decision must be made within a

reasonable time frame. See City of Oakland, 506 F.3d at 806–07 (citing G.K. Ltd. Travel v.

City of Lake Oswego, 436 F.3d 1064, 1082–83 (9th Cir. 2006)). “None of these factors is

itself necessarily determinative of whether a statute confers excess discretion.” Seattle

Affiliate, 550 F.3d at 799. Instead, courts must “look to the totality of the factors . . . .” Id. 

The County argues that the provisions Plaintiffs challenge all contain sufficient

“standards or guidelines to limit County zoning officials’ discretion in making decisions

regarding certain uses of property.” Memo. at 12. The Court previously held that Plaintiffs

were likely to succeed on the merits of their argument that certain sections of the Zoning

Ordinance granted County officials unfettered discretion: (1) Section 17.52.520(Q),7

 which

concerns signs to be placed on bus stop benches or transit shelters, and Section

17.52.520(D),8

 which allowed for display of signs with historical merit; and (2) Section

17.18.130, which allows the planning commission to grant a CUP for any non-conforming

use in a PD district if a CUP does not “materially change” the provisions of the approved

land use and development plan. See Citizens for Free Speech, 62 F. Supp. 3d at 1140–42.9

Plaintiffs also elaborate on a fourth challenge raised in their preliminary injunction motion,

regarding Sections 17.54.130 and 17.54.135, which concern the process used to grant CUPs. 

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See Opp’n at 8–9. This order addresses all four challenges below. 

i. Sections 17.52.520(Q) and 17.52.520(D)

The County argues that Plaintiffs’ challenges to Sections 17.52.520 (Q) and (D) are

moot, since an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance has removed the discretionary elements. 

Memo. at 15. Section 17.52.520(D), which previously permitted the display of signs

determined by the historical landmarks committee to have historical merit, was deleted as

part of the amendment. Id.; Def.’s Second RJN, Ex. S. The language of Section

17.52.520(Q) was amended to, among other things, remove the discretionary phrase “when

approved by the director of the public works agency.” Memo. at 15; Def.’s Second RJN, Ex.

S. Plaintiffs apparently contend that the deletion of Section 17.52.520(D) does not moot

their claim that unfettered discretion is available to the Historical Landmarks Commission,

citing Outdoor Media Grp., Inc. v. City of Beaumont, 506 F.3d 895 (9th Cir. 2007) in support

of this assertion. Opp’n at 7. Likewise, Plaintiffs argue without elaboration that “the

amended [Zoning] Ordinance fails to resolve the ‘bus stop’ discretion wielded by County

officials . . . .” Id.

Neither of Plaintiffs’ arguments is compelling. As an initial matter, Outdoor Media

recognized that the repeal of an ordinance can moot a claim for relief where “there is no

longer any risk that [a party] will be subject to the challenged ordinance,” such that there is

no “live issue” for relief. Outdoor Media, 506 F.3d at 901. There is no live issue regarding

the potential application of Section 17.52.520(D); because that provision no longer exists, it

cannot be applied to the detriment of any party. Furthermore, in Outdoor Media, the

billboard company’s claim for damages based on the facial invalidity of the ordinance prior

to repeal was only sustained because the company might have suffered damages from

application of the ordinance. See id. at 906–07. Plaintiffs have not presented any evidence

that Section 17.52.520(D) was ever applied to them, so damages under Section 1983 are

unavailable. See Hunt v. City of L.A., 638 F.3d 703, 710 (9th Cir. 2011) (citing Outdoor

Media, 506 F.3d at 907). Accordingly, the deletion of Section 17.52.520(D) effectively

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10 At the hearing, Plaintiffs’ counsel claimed for the first time that despite the deletion of Section

17.52.520(D), Section 17.52.520(C) still confers unfettered discretion on County officials to determine

what constitutes “a location of historic interest . . . .” Zoning Ordinance § 17.52.520(C). But Plaintiffs

have not provided any evidence beyond those cursory remarks to show that that determination involves

the exercise of unfettered discretion. 

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moots any facial challenge Plaintiffs assert regarding the discretion that provision granted

County officials.10 

The same is true of Section 17.52.520(Q), which has no discretionary elements as

currently written. That provision now permits “[s]igns placed on or attached to bus stop

benches or transit shelters in the public-right-of-way either sponsored by, or placed pursuant

to a contract with, AC Transit or another common carrier.” Zoning

Ordinance § 17.52.520(Q). The existence of a sponsorship or contract is an objective matter

and does not involve any discretion on the part of County officials. Consequently, the

guideline effectively eliminates County officials’ discretion. 

Because Plaintiffs cannot sustain their challenges to Sections 17.52.520(Q) or the

now-deleted 17.52.520(D), the Court grants summary judgment as to Plaintiffs’ claim that

these provisions confer unfettered discretion. 

ii. Section 17.18.130

The County next argues that Section 17.18.130 does not vest unfettered discretion in

County officials to decide whether a proposed structure or use constitutes a material change

to a land use and development plan. Memo. at 17–18. The County further asserts that

Section 17.18.130 does not vest officials with the power to grant or deny a permit at their

discretion, but only to determine whether a property owner must seek to implement the

proposed use through a CUP or an application for rezoning. Id. at 17. Plaintiffs argue that

nothing in the Zoning Ordinance limits County officials’ discretion in deciding what

constitutes a material change under Section 17.18.130, but do not respond at all to the

County’s second point. See Opp’n at 8.

The Court does not accept either of the County’s arguments. In order to determine

whether a proposed use requires pursuit of a CUP or a change to the land use and

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11 This practice would need to rise to the level of a “well-established practice” for the purposes

of an unbridled discretion analysis. See Seattle Affiliate, 553 F.3d at 799 (declining “to elevate any of

the various decisional principles offered by [city] officials to the realm of ‘well-established practice,’

when no consistent set of factors was ever articulated”) (quoting Plain Dealer, 486 U.S. at 770). 

12

development plan, County officials must first decide whether that proposed use “materially

change[s] the provisions of the approved land use and development plan” for the property in

question. Zoning Ordinance § 17.18.130. “[M]aterially change” is not defined anywhere in

Section 17.18.130, or in the definitions section of the Zoning Ordinance. See Zoning

Ordinance § 17.04.010. The County argues that County officials can look at the definitions

of “principal use,” “use,” “accessory use,” and “accessory structure” for “[s]ignificant

guidance as to what would or would not constitute a ‘material change . . . .’” Memo. at 18.

The County further asserts that “subsections B and C of §17.52.515 and §15.52.226 provide

substantial guidance” as to the definition of material change if the proposed use involves a

sign. Id. But the Zoning Ordinance does not direct County officials to consult these other

terms or sections in order to determine if the proposed use constitutes a material change, and

the County has not presented any evidence indicating that County officials actually do

consult these suggested terms for guidance.11 Thus, there are no “narrow, objective, and

definite standards” to guide officials here, because there are no standards whatsoever. See

Desert Outdoor Adver., Inc. v. City of Moreno Valley, 103 F.3d 814, 818 (9th Cir. 1996)

(internal quotations omitted). 

The County’s contention that the discretion granted to its officials by Section

17.18.130 is essentially meaningless is also mistaken. Even though County officials’

decisions about whether there is a material change do not allow those officials to grant or

deny permits, “the complete and explicit denial of any right to speak is not . . . the sine qua

non of the right to bring a facial challenge.” See Seattle Affiliate, 550 F.3d at 796 n.4; see

also Forsyth Cnty., Ga. v. Nationalist Movement, 505 U.S. 123, 133 (1992) (striking down a

statute on a facial challenge where “[n]othing in the law or its application prevents the

official from encouraging some views and discouraging others through arbitrary application

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12 Plaintiffs object to this portion of the Lopez Declaration as opinion. Opp’n at 4. The Court

denies this objection. The statements in lines 3:23–4:4 about the substance of the CUP process are

admissible. Lopez has worked as the Planning Director for the County for seven years, so he appears

to have firsthand knowledge of the CUP process, to which his statements in lines 3:23–4:4 pertain.

Lopez Decl. at 1:23–24; see also Boyd v. City of Oakland, 458 F. Supp. 2d 1015, 1024 (N.D. Cal. 2006)

(distinguishing matters “known to the declarant personally” from opinion).

13 Plaintiffs object to this portion of the Lopez Declaration as opinion. Opp’n at 4. The Court

denies this objection for the reasons stated in footnote 12.

13

of fees”). 

The rezoning process appears to be significantly more intensive and time-consuming

than the CUP process, and County officials can affect which process property owners must

undergo by deciding, at their discretion, what constitutes a material change. If officials

determine that a proposed use does not constitute a material change, then that use will be

permitted “subject to securing a [CUP] . . . .” Zoning Ordinance § 17.18.130. The CUP

application process requires submitting a written application with information about the

proposed use to a municipal advisory council, which, after conducting a hearing and making

an advisory recommendation, then submits it to a zoning board, which either adopts or denies

the CUP. See Lopez Decl. (dkt. 57) at 3:23–4:4.12 If, however, officials determine that a

proposed use does constitute a “material change,” then that use will only be permitted “if so

indicated on a land use and development plan . . . .” Zoning Ordinance § 17.18.130. This

process requires submission of a land use and development plan and application for rezoning. 

Memo. at 17. These documents are then submitted to a municipal advisory council, then to

the planning commission, then to the board of supervisors, all of which hold public hearings

and make advisory recommendations. Lopez Decl. at 2:16–3:5.13 Planning staff must also

create and release a public report prior to the Planning Commission’s and Board of

Supervisors’ review of the submitted documents. Id. at 2:26–3:2. The discretion granted to

County officials by Zoning Ordinance § 17.18.130 therefore potentially “allow[s]

officials . . . to burden a group’s speech differently depending on its message.” See Seattle

Affiliate, 550 F.3d at 796 n.4. The absence of any definite standards as to the meaning of

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14 Although Plaintiffs’ discussion of the CUP process centers on Section 17.54.135, see Opp’n

at 9, the CUP process is normally governed by Section 17.54.140, which gives the relevant zoning board

the authority to rule on the CUP. The presiding zoning board will only delegate authority to the

planning commission pursuant to Section 17.54.135 in the event that the zoning board is unable to take

action on a CUP application. Zoning Ordinance § 17.54.140. For purposes of this motion, it does not

appear that there is any difference between the deliberative processes of the planning commission and

zoning board under Sections 17.54.135 and 17.54.140, respectively, so the Court considers the two

provisions in the same manner.

14

material change therefore presents serious constitutional concerns. 

Unlike with Section 17.54.130, these concerns are not relieved by the availability of

thorough and timely review procedures. The County has not identified any provision in the

Zoning Ordinance requiring the planning commission to state the basis upon which it

determines that a proposed use is a material change. See generally Memo., Reply; Zoning

Ordinance § 17.18.130. Consequently, even though an affected party can apparently appeal

that determination, see Zoning Ordinance § 17.54.670, it is unclear what the board of

supervisors could even review. As a result, the Court denies summary judgment as to

Plaintiffs’ facial challenge to Section 17.18.130, because the “totality of the factors”

indicates that County officials have unfettered discretion under that provision. Seattle

Affiliate, 550 F.3d at 799.

iii. Section 17.54.130 

The County finally argues that Section 17.54.130 provides adequate guidelines to

decide whether to grant or deny a CUP. The planning commission must consider whether a

proposed CUP complies with Section 17.54.130, see Zoning Ordinance § 17.54.135,14 which

requires determinations of whether the proposed use:

A. Is required by the public need;

B. Will be properly related to other land uses and transportation and service

facilities in the vicinity;

C. If permitted, will under all the circumstances and conditions of the

particular case, materially affect adversely the health or safety of persons

residing or working in the vicinity, or be materially detrimental to the

public welfare or injurious to property or improvements in the

neighborhood; and

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D. Will be contrary to the specific intent clauses or performance standards

established for the district, in which it is to be located.

Id. § 17.54.130(A)–(D). The County contends that these standards are sufficiently specific to

limit County officials’ discretion. Reply at 2–3. Plaintiffs respond that these guidelines

create “no limitation on what the commission may consider . . . .” Opp’n at 9. Plaintiffs

further argue that the standards under Section 17.54.130 are “indistinguishable” from those

held to confer unfettered discretion. Id. at 10; see also Moreno Valley, 103 F.3d at 819.

The Court finds that standards in Section 17.54.130(A)–(D) lie somewhere in between

those that other courts have deemed permissible and impermissible on the basis of discretion

conferred. On the one hand, Section 17.54.130’s standards contain many of the same general

terms that the Ninth Circuit held in Moreno Valley granted too much discretion. Compare

Moreno Valley, 103 F.3d at 818–19 (holding that ordinance conferred unbridled discretion

where issuance of permit was subject to broad findings that proposed use “will not have a

harmful effect upon the health or welfare of the general public and will not be detrimental to

the welfare of the general public and will not be detrimental to the aesthetic quality of the

community or the surrounding land uses”) (emphasis added) with Zoning

Ordinance § 17.54.130(C) (requiring consideration of whether proposed use will “materially

affect adversely the health or safety of persons residing or working in the vicinity, or be

materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to property or improvements in the

neighborhood”) (emphasis added). Section 17.54.130’s insertion of the modifier

“materially” does not substantially change the generality of the phrases “affect adversely”

and “detrimental to,” which are practically identical to the discretionary terms in Moreno

Valley. Likewise, “injurious” is merely a synonym of “detrimental.” The County also fails

to identify any other provisions in the Zoning Ordinance that provide guidance as to what

“affect adversely,” “detrimental to,” or “injurious to” mean in the context of CUP review. In

addition to these flaws, the phrase “required by the public need” is equally vague and

discretionary. Section 17.54.130(A). Thus, these standards might not be sufficiently

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“‘narrow, objective, and definite . . . to guide the licensing authority . . . .’” See Moreno

Valley, 103 F.3d at 818 (quoting Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham, 394 U.S. 147,

150–51 (1969)). 

Nonetheless, the County is correct that Section 17.54.130 differs in key respects from

the Moreno Valley ordinance. Whereas the Moreno Valley ordinance focused on the effects

of proposed uses on the “general public,” 103 F.3d at 818, Section 17.54.130 looks instead to

the specific consequences of a proposed use “in the vicinity” or “in the neighborhood” of

where the use will occur, Zoning Ordinance § 17.54.130(B), (C). These localizing phrases

are not as explicit and definite as those upheld in G.K. Ltd. or City of Oakland. See G.K.

Ltd., 436 F.3d at 1083 (permitting decisions were subject to “reasonably specific size and

type criteria” and considerations of compatibility “with the surrounding environment,” both

of which phrases were “explicitly defined” in the city’s code); City of Oakland, 506 F.3d at

807 (variance decisions were based on “objective inquir[ies]” and specific criteria were

defined in city ordinance). But they are more narrowly tailored than those phrases upheld as

providing adequate guidance in other prior restraint cases. See, e.g., Thomas, 534 U.S. at

319 n.1 (officials’ discretion adequately confined where city could deny permit to use park if

proposed use “would present an unreasonable danger to the health or safety” of the public or

park employees). That the criteria in Section 17.54.130 are “somewhat elastic and require

reasonable discretion to be exercised” by the planning commission in granting a CUP does

not necessarily mean that the provision grants unfettered discretion. See G.K. Ltd., 436 F.3d

at 1084. 

Even were the Court to find that Section 17.54.130 contains indefinite standards, this

conclusion would not be “determinative of whether the provision confers excess discretion.” 

Seattle Affiliate, 550 F.3d at 798. Plaintiff contends that, under Moreno Valley, the presence

of subjective criteria by itself makes Section 17.54.130 an unconstitutional prior restraint. 

See Opp’n at 10 (arguing that Moreno Valley “was clearly focused on the lack of objective

criteria for decisions allowing or disallowing speech, not on ancillary procedural matters”)

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15 At the hearing, Plaintiffs’ counsel asserted that the standards in the Moreno Valley ordinance

are more appropriate guidelines to judge the breadth of the discretion granted by Section 17.54.130 than

the criteria in other cases cited by the County because those cases were not concerned with permit

applications involving billboards. See, e.g., Seattle Affiliate, 550 F.3d at 800–01; Thomas, 534 U.S.

at 319 n.1. But the Court may still rely on the permitting criteria discussed in those cases for guidance

as to Section 17.54.130’s standards, just as other cases have considered different types of permit

processes to determine the amount of discretion conferred. See, e.g., Long Beach Area Peace Network

v. City of Long Beach, 574 F.3d 1011, 1028 (9th Cir. 2008) (comparing standards for “special event”

permit process to standards in cases regarding permits to (1) place newsracks on public property and

(2) gather in national forests) (citing Plain Dealer, 486 U.S. at 753–54 & Linick, 195 F.3d at 538).

16 Plaintiffs object to this portion of the Lopez Declaration as opinion. Opp’n at 4. The Court

denies this objection for the reasons stated in footnote 12.

17

(emphasis added). But numerous cases contradict this assertion. Courts must consider both

the criteria themselves and whether the permitting process effectively enables judicial

review. See, e.g., Seattle Affiliate, 550 F.3d at 799 (requiring consideration of “totality of

the factors” to determine if ordinance confers unfettered discretion, including whether

officials must provide explanation for decision and whether decision is reviewable); Thomas,

534 U.S. at 323 (court must examine whether permitting process “contain[s] adequate

standards to guide the official’s decision and render it subject to effective judicial review”)

(emphasis added); G.K. Ltd., 436 F.3d at 1083 (considering time frame for officials’

decisions and requirement that officials justify their findings in discussing discretion granted

to officials).15

The Court finds that the review procedures for the CUP process appropriately limit the

discretion exercised by County officials pursuant to Zoning Ordinance § 17.54.130, for three

reasons. First, CUP applications are subject to a thoroughly documented process. Parties

seeking CUPs must submit a written application with information about the proposed use to a

municipal advisory council, which, after conducting a hearing and making an advisory

recommendation, then submits it to a zoning board, which either adopts or denies the CUP. 

See Lopez Decl. at 3:23–4:4. The relevant zoning board must state its findings in writing as

to the CUP’s compliance with the standards in Section 17.54.130. Id. at 4:5–12.16 That

County officials “must clearly explain [their] reasons” for their decisions regarding CUP

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applications substantially limits those officials’ discretion. See Thomas, 534 U.S. at 324.

Second, affected parties can pursue multiple appeal procedures for any decision on a

CUP application. “[A]ny property owner or other person aggrieved” by a decision under

Section 17.54.140 can appeal that decision to the board of supervisors. Zoning

Ordinance § 17.54.670. If a party is dissatisfied with the administrative appeal, the County

further asserts, that party can file a writ of mandate to have a court review the administrative

decision. Memo. at 14; see also Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1094.5(a). Plaintiffs argue that this

type of judicial review is in fact unavailable given the legislative nature of the CUP

application decision. Opp’n at 12. Although Plaintiffs concede that a party can still pursue

traditional mandamus review under Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 1085, they contend that this

review is insufficient because the reviewing court cannot compel the County to issue a

previously denied CUP. Id. But even assuming that the denial of a CUP is a legislative act

subject to traditional mandamus review, Plaintiffs do not cite—and the Court cannot

find—any authority holding that the inability of a reviewing court to reverse the denial of a

permit requires a finding of unfettered discretion. In fact, any concern as to that limited

reviewing power is mitigated by the alternate availability of administrative appeal under

Section 17.54.670, which Plaintiffs do not address.

Third, challenged CUP application decisions are reviewed within a reasonable time

frame. The Permit Streamlining Act, Cal. Gov’t Code § 65920, et seq. (“PSA”), provides the

requisite timeline for decisions on “development projects,” mandating that the agency

reviewing the development permit notify the applicant within thirty days if the development

application is incomplete. Cal. Gov’t Code § 65493. Once the application is complete, the

reviewing agency must reach a decision within a specific amount of time, depending on

whether an environmental impact report is required. Id. § 65950. Plaintiffs contend that the

PSA does not apply to CUP applications, because CUPs seek certain “uses” of land, and the

PSA only governs the “issuance of . . . permit[s] for construction or reconstruction.” Opp’n

at 13–14; see also Cal. Gov’t Code § 65928. Plaintiffs further argue that an entirely different

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17 Even assuming that the PSA does not apply to some or even any CUP applications, the

absence of a definite time period to grant or deny the CUP does not necessitate a finding of unfettered

discretion. “That the [Zoning Ordinance] lack[s] a time limit for the processing of applications is not

fatal.” Outdoor Sys., Inc. v. City of Mesa, 997 F.2d 604, 613 (9th Cir. 1993). The cases to the contrary

cited by Plaintiffs all concern content-based speech restrictions. See City of Littleton, Colo. v. Z.J. Gifts

D-4, LLC, 541 U.S. 774 (2004); FW/PBS, 493 U.S. at 215; Teitel Film Corp. v. Cusack, 390 U.S. 139

(1968); Freedman v. Maryland, 380 U.S. 51 (1965); Gospel Missions of Am. v. Bennett, 951 F. Supp.

1429 (C.D. Cal. 1997). But as discussed infra in Section III(A)(2)(b)(i), the Zoning Ordinance is

content-neutral, and the same procedural requirements do not apply to content-neutral permit schemes.

See Thomas, 534 U.S. at 322.

19

title of the Zoning Ordinance, unrelated to Section 17.54.130, deals with approval to build,

and so the PSA only applies to decisions under those sections. Opp’n at 14. But the plain

language of the Zoning Ordinance indicates that Section 17.54.130 does not govern uses

alone. Section 17.18.130 gives the planning commission authority to consider granting a

CUP, pursuant to Section 17.54.135, for any “proposed structure, facility, or land use”

related to an existing land use and development plan. Zoning Ordinance § 17.18.130

(emphasis added). The proposal of a “structure” or “facility” necessarily involves

“construction,” which would subject those CUPs involving structures or facilities to the time

limits of the PSA.

Plaintiffs assert that even if the PSA applies to CUP applications, the minimum time

limit for completing the application process under the PSA—120 days—is too long. See

Opp’n at 15–16. At the hearing, the County’s counsel responded that a longer time period

was necessary in light of the nature of the permitting process, which involves seeking

approval from various groups prior to making a final decision on a permit application. The

Court finds this argument compelling, and accordingly, considers the 120-day time period

under the PSA a reasonable time frame to confine the discretion granted by Section

17.54.130.17

Based on a review of the “totality of the factors” with respect to Section 17.54.130, 

see Seattle Affiliate, 550 F.3d at 799, the Court grants summary judgment on Plaintiffs’

facial challenge as to that provision. Although the criteria used to grant or deny CUPs are

not as definite as in some other cases, any deficiencies are mitigated by the availability of

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18 “Billboard” is defined as “a permanent structure or sign used for the display of offsite

commercial messages and shall include and be synonymous with ‘advertising sign . . . .’” Zoning

Ordinance § 17.52.515(A). 

19 “Advertising sign” is defined as “any lettered or pictorial matter or device which advertises

or informs about a business organization or event, goods, products, services or uses, not available on

the property upon which the sign is located and does not include directional tract sign or community

identification sign.” Id. § 17.04.010. 

20

thorough documentation and review procedures.

b. Regulation of Speech Based on Content

The County’s second argument as to the facial challenge is that Section 17.52.515 is

not a content-based speech restriction, and that the provision passes intermediate scrutiny. 

Reply at 10–12. Section 17.52.515 provides that “[n]otwithstanding any other provision in

[the Zoning Ordinance], no person shall install, move, alter, expand, modify, replace or

otherwise maintain or operate any billboard18 or advertising sign19 in an unincorporated area

of Alameda County.” Zoning Ordinance § 17.52.515(A). Plaintiffs contend that this

restriction qualifies as content-based under both the First Amendment and the California

Constitution. Opp’n at 17–25. The Court addresses those arguments separately below.

i. Federal Claim 

Plaintiffs argue that Section 17.52.515 improperly restricts speakers’ First

Amendment free speech rights by regulating speech based on its content. “[A]n ordinance is

invalid if it . . . regulates noncommercial billboards based on their content.” Nat’l Adver.

Co. v. City of Orange, 861 F.2d 246, 248 (9th Cir. 1988) (citing Metromedia, Inc. v. City of

San Diego, 453 U.S. 490, 513, 516 (1981)). 

Plaintiffs do not argue that Section 17.52.515(A) by itself regulates noncommercial

billboards based on their content. Nor could they—the plain language of that provision

limits its application to “permanent structure[s] or sign[s] used for the display of offsite

commercial messages . . . .” Zoning Ordinance § 17.52.515(A) (emphasis added). Instead,

Plaintiffs assert that because the Zoning Ordinance “includes content-based exemptions to an

otherwise content-neutral speech restriction, the restriction is itself content-based.” Opp’n at

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20 Plaintiffs also argue that Zoning Ordinance § 17.52.520(A), allowing signs by public officials,

is itself unconstitutional because it is content-based and discriminates based on the speaker. Opp’n at

19. Because this argument is more appropriately discussed with respect to Plaintiffs’ equal protection

claims—which are considered infra in Section III(B)— the Court does not address it further in this

section.

21 Permitted signs include, among others, the following: sale or lease signs; official public signs;

no trespass signs; warnings; house and mailbox identifiers; street names; signs identifying a benefactor;

signs identifying a location of historic interest; signs identifying statues or monuments; pedestrian and

traffic signs; temporary political signs; and announcements related to meetings held at schools,

churches, or other places of public assembly. Zoning Ordinance § 17.52.520.

22 Plaintiffs also request that the Court reconsider its earlier discussion regarding the blanket

noncommercial nature of the permitted signs. See Opp’n at 20 n.8; Citizens for Free Speech, 62 F.

Supp. 3d at 1138. Upon further review of Zoning Ordinance § 17.52.520, the Court observes that some

of the permitted signs (for example, signs for apartment rentals and for sales, rentals, or leases of

buildings or lots in subdivision developments) could be characterized as commercial in nature. See

Zoning Ordinance § 17.52.520(J), (K). Nonetheless, their commercial nature does not change the

Court’s analysis, since regulation of commercial speech does not invalidate a billboard ordinance. See,

e.g., Nat’l Adver., 861 F.2d at 248 (“‘[T]he city may distinguish between the relative value of different

categories of commercial speech . . . .’”) (quoting Metromedia, 453 U.S. at 514).

21

17.20 Plaintiffs identify four types of signs referenced in Zoning Ordinance § 17.52.520, the

provision describing the categories of permitted signs,21 as “hav[ing] no content-neutral

criteria”—Sections 17.52.520(A), (B), (C), and (Q)—and contend that the remaining

categories “are subject to content-neutral criteria only if the signs display certain content.” 

Opp’n at 18. 

In arguing that these permitted signs are content-based “exemptions” that preclude

summary judgment, Plaintiffs essentially ask the Court to overturn its prior holding on this

issue. The Court previously concluded that Section 17.52.515 does not regulate

noncommercial speech at all. See Citizens for Free Speech, 62 F. Supp. 3d at 1138.

Accordingly, the permitted signs could not be “exemptions” to a noncommercial speech

ban,22 since “exceptions cannot exist without a corresponding general rule . . . .” Id. 

Plaintiffs attempt to skirt this holding by contending that, even if Zoning

Ordinance § 17.52.515 applies only to commercial speech, the reference to some permitted

signs that are noncommercial in nature means that Section 17.52.515 must also apply to

noncommercial speech “as a matter of statutory construction . . . .” Opp’n at 20. But

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23 The other cases cited by Plaintiffs in which content-based noncommercial exemptions to an

otherwise content-neutral sign ban made that provision content-based involved bans that explicitly

regulated all speech, including noncommercial speech. See Foti, 146 F.3d at 634 (ordinance banned “all

signs on all public property”) (emphasis in original); Moreno Valley, 103 F.3d at 816 (ordinance

regulated all signs, which included both commercial and noncommercial messages). As discussed

below, Plaintiffs cannot show that same breadth in Section 17.52.515.

22

Plaintiffs’ reliance on National Advertising and Metromedia in support of this argument is

mistaken. Those cases both involved ordinances that did not specifically identify the nature

of speech regulated. See Nat’l Adver., 861 F.2d at 247 (ordinance banned “general or

billboard advertising signs,” defined as “signs which direct attention to a business,

commodity, industry or other activity which is sold, offered or conducted elsewhere than on

the premises upon which such sign is located, and which may be sold, offered or conducted

on such premises only incidentally, if at all”) (quotation marks omitted); Metromedia, 453

U.S. at 493–94 (ordinance prohibited “outdoor advertising display signs,” including any sign

that “directs attention to a product, service or activity, event, person, institution or business”)

(quotation marks omitted). As a result, those courts needed to confront the threshold issue of

whether those ordinances regulated noncommercial speech,23 and National Advertising found

the noncommercial nature of the exemptions instructive in light of the facial ambiguity. See

861 F.2d at 247. 

Here, by contrast, the Zoning Ordinance’s billboard ban is not ambiguous: it explicitly

regulates only commercial speech. Section 17.52.515 bans “billboard[s],” which are signs

“used for the display of offsite commercial messages . . . .” Zoning

Ordinance § 17.52.515(A) (emphasis added). “Billboard” must be read as synonymous with

“advertising sign,” id., so even if the definition of “advertising sign” contains a

word—“uses”—that bears some similarity to the terms in National Advertising and

Metromedia, that word cannot encompass noncommercial speech, since such an

interpretation would make “advertising sign” not synonymous with “billboard.” The Court is

“‘not required to . . . adopt an interpretation precluded by the plain language of the

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Ordinance.’” S.O.C., 152 F.3d at 1144 (quoting Foti, 146 F.3d at 639–40). Likewise, the

Court has a “duty to interpret [the Zoning Ordinance], if fairly possible, in a manner that

renders it constitutionally valid.” Outdoor Sys., 997 F.2d at 611. Plaintiffs have not

provided any additional evidence supporting its interpretation beyond the argument above,

which the Court has already rejected. Consequently, the Court is not inclined to change its

earlier holding regarding the scope of the billboard ban in the Zoning Ordinance.

Plaintiffs have alternatively argued, in both a supplemental filing and at the hearing,

that the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, 576 U.S. __, No.

13–502 (June 18, 2015) makes the exemptions in Section 17.52.520 content-based. See Pls.’

Notice of Suppl. Authority (dkt. 68) at 1. But the Court agrees with the County that Reed has

“no applicability to the issues before the Court . . . .” Def.’s Reply to Pls.’ Suppl. Filing (dkt.

69) at 1. Reed was specifically concerned with a sign code’s application of different

restrictions—including temporal and geographic restrictions—to permitted signs based on

their content. See 576 U.S. at __ (slip op. at 12) (“Ideological messages are given more

favorable treatment than messages concerning a political candidate, which are themselves

given more favorable treatment than messages announcing an assembly of like-minded

individuals. That is a paradigmatic example of content-based discrimination.”). Plaintiffs

have not identified any distinct temporal or geographic restrictions on different categories of

permitted signs in Section 17.52.520 based on those signs’ content. Consequently, Reed

does not apply here. 

Because the Court follows its previous holding that Section 17.52.515 only applies to

commercial speech, the Court must examine that provision under intermediate scrutiny, not

strict scrutiny. See Cent. Hudson Gas & Elec. Corp. v. Pub. Serv. Comm’n of N.Y., 447

U.S. 557, 561, 564 (1980). To survive intermediate scrutiny, an ordinance that restricts

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24 Plaintiffs do not contend that the commercial speech restricted by Section 17.52.515 is

misleading or does not concern lawful activity. See generally Opp’n.

25 This purpose statement is not included in the version of the Zoning Ordinance attached to

Plaintiffs’ Request for Judicial Notice because, due to the publisher’s error, Section 17.52.515(B)–(G)

did not become part of the published version of the Zoning Ordinance. See Citizens for Free Speech, 62 F. Supp. 3d at 1135. But the Court took judicial notice of those subsections because the County

properly published them pursuant to Cal. Gov. Code § 25124. Id. at 1136. Accordingly, the Court

considers those provisions, which were attached as Exhibit A (dkt. 20-1) to the County’s Request for

Judicial Notice (“Def.’s First RJN”) (dkt. 20) filed in opposition to Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary

injunction, in deciding this motion.

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commercial speech that is not misleading and concerns lawful activity24 must (1) seek to

implement a substantial governmental interest; (2) directly advance that interest; and (3)

reach no further than necessary to accomplish the given objective. See id. at 564; Moreno

Valley, 103 F.3d at 819. The Zoning Ordinance meets this test. 

First, the County has demonstrated that the billboard ban was enacted in order to

implement a substantial government interest. The purpose of the ban is to “advance the

County’s interests in community aesthetics by the control of visual clutter, pedestrian and

driver safety, and the protection of property values . . . .” Zoning

Ordinance § 17.52.515(B)(1).25 “The burden on the [County] of meeting the first prong of

the Central Hudson test is not a great one.” Moreno Valley, 103 F.3d at 819 n.2. Moreover,

the goals of traffic safety and visual appearance have been consistently upheld as substantial

government interests. See, e.g., Metromedia, 453 U.S. at 507–08; World Wide Rush, LLC v.

City of L.A., 606 F.3d 676, 685 (9th Cir. 2010) (“[T]here is no question that restrictions on

billboards advance cities’ substantial interests in aesthetics and safety.”). In any event,

Plaintiffs do not appear to contest that the County has actually shown a substantial interest

underlying the billboard restriction. See Opp’n at 22.

Second, Plaintiffs’ contention that the County has not presented evidence in support of

the assertion that Section 17.52.515 “actually advances its stated purpose to support its

interests in aesthetics and safety” is inaccurate. Id. The Court may grant summary judgment

on this issue in the County’s favor “without detailed proof that the billboard regulation will

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26 Plaintiffs object to this portion of the Dalton Declaration as hearsay. Opp’n at 4. The Court

denies this objection for two reasons. First, Plaintiffs’ “attempt to assert th[is] objection[ ] without

providing any individualized discussion is procedurally defective,” because the objection itself is

“unduly vague.” See Dukes v. Wal-Mart, Inc., 222 F.R.D. 189, 199 (N.D. Cal. 2004). Because the part

of the declaration objected to contains multiple statements, it is impossible to tell which specific

statements Plaintiffs consider hearsay. Second, the statement in lines 14–16 is admissible. Dalton

worked with the Castro Valley Community Advisory Committee (“CAC”) as part of her role at the

County’s Redevelopment Agency, so she appears to have firsthand knowledge of the CAC’s actions,

to which her statement in lines 14–16 pertains. Dalton Decl. at 2:10–13; see also Boyd, 458 F. Supp.

2d at 1024 (distinguishing matters “known to the declarant personally” from hearsay).

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in fact advance the [County]’s interests.” Ackerley Commc’ns of Nw. Inc. v. Krochalis, 108

F.3d 1095, 1099–1100 (9th Cir. 1997). In Metromedia, despite a “meager record” reflecting

the ordinance’s advancement of its traffic safety goals, the Supreme Court affirmed that “‘as

a matter of law . . . an ordinance which eliminates billboards designed to be viewed from

streets and highways reasonably relates to traffic safety.’” 453 U.S. at 508 (quoting

Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego, 610 P.2d 407, 412 (Cal. 1980) (en banc)). A

similarly lenient standard exists for showing advancement of an interest in maintaining visual

appearance by banning billboards, since that goal is “necessarily subjective . . . .” Id. at 510

(“It is not speculative to recognize that billboards by their very nature, wherever located and

however constructed, can be perceived as an esthetic harm.”) (internal quotations omitted).

In fact, the County has presented evidence that Section 17.52.515 advances the

County’s interests in traffic safety and aesthetics. The County sought to ban the construction

of new billboards in response to concerns about “the proliferation of billboards in the

unincorporated areas of the County,” which were perceived “as a significant problem for

visual blight in some areas . . . .” Dalton Decl. (dkt. 56) at 2:14–16,26 2:19–26. Other

evidence provided by the County demonstrates that Section 17.52.515 was enacted to

advance the County’s interest in preventing “visual clutter . . . .” Def.’s First RJN, Ex. A. 

Moreno Valley, in which the ordinance did not even contain a statement of purpose, is

inapposite here. See 103 F.3d at 819. Metromedia requires a minimal showing to satisfy this

part of the intermediate scrutiny test, and the County meets it. See 453 U.S. at 508, 510. As

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27 Plaintiffs also cannot argue that the relocation exception in Section 17.52.515(A)(3), which

permits owners of existing billboards to construct billboards in new locations, “‘undermine[s] and

counteract[s]’ the interest the government claims,” such that the provision does not “‘directly and

materially advance’” those interests. See Metro Lights, L.L.C. v. City of L.A., 551 F.3d 898, 905 (9th

Cir. 2009) (quoting Rubin v. Coors Brewing Co., 514 U.S. 476, 489 (1995)). The relocation provision

is entirely consistent with the County’s interests in enacting the billboard ban: “mov[ing] billboards to

more appropriate locations and reduc[ing] the overall number of billboards in the community.” See

Dalton Decl. at 4:1–2 (see footnote 28 regarding Plaintiffs’ objection to thisstatement). The relocation

provision does not undermine the County’s interests as expressed in Zoning Ordinance § 17.52.515(B).

See World Wide Rush, 606 F.3d at 685 (exceptions did not undermine interests where exceptions were

“made for the express purpose of advancing those very interests”).

28 Plaintiffs object to this portion of the Dalton Declaration as irrelevant. Opp’n at 4. Because

this statement is relevant to understanding the purpose of the relocation provision with respect to the

broader interests of Section 17.52.515, the Court denies this objection. 

26

a result, the Court finds that Section 17.52.515 actually advances the County’s stated

interests.27 28 

Third, Section 17.52.515 does not go any further than necessary to maintain the

County’s visual appearance and promote traffic safety. This “element of the analysis does

not require that the regulation be the least-restrictive means to accomplish the government’s

goal. Rather, what is required is a reasonable fit between the ends and the means, a fit ‘that

employs not necessarily the least restrictive means, but . . . a means narrowly tailored to

achieve the desired objective.’” Outdoor Sys., Inc., 997 F.2d at 611 (quoting Bd. of Trs. of

State Univ. v. Fox, 492 U.S. 469, 480 (1989)). 

Notably, the ban does not affect all billboards, but only those displaying “offsite

commercial messages . . . .” Zoning Ordinance § 17.52.515(A). Furthermore, the relocation

provision exempts existing billboards from the ban, reflecting the County’s interest in

addressing the specific problem of new billboards without significantly harming the owners

of existing billboards. Id. § 17.52.515(A)(3); Dalton Decl. at 3:18–20 (discussing relocation

provision’s goal of reducing impact on surrounding environment “without diminishing

[existing billboards’] economic value to the owners”). Other billboard bans with similar

exceptions have satisfied the third prong of the Central Hudson test. See, e.g., Metromedia,

453 U.S. at 508 (upholding ordinance in part because it “allow[ed] onsite advertising and

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some other specifically exempted signs”); Nat’l Adver., 861 F.2d at 248 (“The City may

prohibit [commercial] billboards entirely in the interest of traffic safety and aesthetics, and

may also prohibit them except where they relate to activity on the premises on which they are

located.”) (internal citations omitted). 

Because Section 17.52.515 passes intermediate scrutiny, the County’s regulation of

commercial speech is facially valid. Summary judgment as to Plaintiffs’ First Amendment

free speech claim is therefore appropriate as to the content-regulation issue. 

ii. State Claim

Plaintiffs further argue that even if Section 17.52.515 is not a content-based restriction

of speech under the First Amendment, the provision still violates Art. I, § 2(a) of the

California Constitution. Plaintiffs assert that the protections established by this liberty of

speech clause are broader than those created by the First Amendment, so the onsite/offsite

and commercial/noncommercial distinctions in Zoning Ordinance § 17.52.515(A)—which

are content-neutral under the First Amendment’s free speech clause—become content-based

under the California Constitution framework, subjecting the provision to strict scrutiny. 

Opp’n at 23–25. The County contends that no case law supports Plaintiffs’ argument. Reply

at 11–12.

The Court agrees with the County, as it cannot find any authority suggesting that the

distinctions identified by Plaintiffs in Section 17.52.515 violate the liberty of speech clause

of the California Constitution. That clause states that “[e]very person may freely speak,

write and publish his or her sentiments on all subjects,” and “[a] law may not restrain or

abridge liberty of speech . . . .” Cal. Const. art I, § 2(a). It is undisputed that California’s

liberty of speech clause “is broader and more protective than the free speech clause of the

First Amendment.” L.A. Alliance for Survival v. City of L.A., 993 P.2d 334, 342 (Cal.

2000) (collecting cases discussing breadth of liberty of speech clause). But “[m]erely

because [the liberty of speech clause] is worded more expansively and has been interpreted

as more protective than the First Amendment, however, does not mean that it is broader than

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the First Amendment in all its applications.” Id. Indeed, courts interpreting free speech

claims under the liberty of speech clause “borrow from federal First Amendment

jurisprudence to analyze whether a rule is content-based or content-neutral.” Glendale

Assocs., Ltd. v. NLRB, 347 F.3d 1145, 1155 (9th Cir. 2003); see also Fashion Valley Mall,

LLC v. NLRB, 172 P.3d 742, 753 (Cal. 2007) (using both Supreme Court and California

state authority to determine whether restriction was content-based). 

Plaintiffs cite Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego, 649 P.2d 902, 908 (Cal. 1982)

(“Metromedia II”) to support their assertion that an ordinance that only distinguishes

between commercial and noncommercial speech violates the California Constitution. See

Opp’n at 24. But as the County correctly points out, Plaintiffs disregard the context of that

decision. See Reply at 11–12. In Metromedia, the Supreme Court noted that its facial

invalidation of the ordinance in question was “based essentially on the inclusion of

noncommercial speech within the prohibitions of the ordinance . . . .” 453 U.S. at 521 n.26. 

As a result, when discussing the distinction between commercial and noncommercial speech,

Metromedia II was only determining whether it could sever the unconstitutional provision

from the ordinance. See 649 P.2d at 908–09. The court concluded that it could not do so

based on the structure of the ordinance, and consequently invalidated the entire ordinance. 

Id. at 909. 

But in attempting to reform the ordinance as directed by the Supreme Court,

Metromedia II explicitly acknowledged that it could “‘sustain the ordinance by limiting its

reach to commercial speech . . . .’” 649 P.2d at 904 (quoting Metromedia, 453 U.S. at 521

n.26) (emphasis added). Section 17.52.515, of course, already limits its application to

“offsite commercial messages . . . .” Zoning Ordinance § 17.52.515(A). This provision is, in

effect, what Metromedia II sought to create. 

Plaintiffs have not provided any additional authority suggesting that the prohibition of

“commercial messages” violates the liberty of speech clause. Accordingly, the Court finds

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29 Plaintiffs also cite a single case from the Oregon Supreme Court to argue that the

onsite/offsite distinction in Section 17.52.515 runs afoul of the liberty of speech clause. Opp’n at 24

(citing Outdoor Media Dimensions, Inc. v. Dep’t of Transp., 132 P.3d 5, 18 (Or. 2006)). The Court does

not consider this case persuasive. The Ninth Circuit has rejected the approach suggested by Outdoor

Media Dimensions, explicitly recognizing that the onsite/offsite distinction is not content-based under

the California Constitution. See Vanguard Outdoor, LLC v. City of L.A., 648 F.3d 737, 747–48 (9th

Cir. 2011) (holding that offsite sign ban was a content-neutral restriction that was not facially invalid

under California Constitution). In the absence of any authority to the contrary, the Court does not

consider the prohibition of “offsite commercial messages” to be content-neutral under the California

Constitution.

29

 this construction acceptable under the California Constitution.29 

Because the Court finds Section 17.52.515 to be content-neutral under the California

Constitution, the Court examines that provision under California’s intermediate scrutiny test. 

“A content-neutral regulation of the time, place, or manner of speech is subjected to

intermediate scrutiny to determine if it is ‘(i) narrowly tailored, (ii) serves a significant

government interest, and (iii) leaves open ample alternative avenues of communication.’” 

Fashion Valley Mall, 172 P.3d at 751 (quoting L.A. Alliance, 993 P.2d at 340). The first two

prongs correspond to extremely similar ones in the Central Hudson test, and the County has

satisfied both of those elements, as discussed supra in Section III(A)(2)(b)(i). Thus the sole

remaining question is whether Section 17.52.515 “leaves open ample alternative avenues of

communication.” Id. This part of the test “help[s] ensure that a facially neutral restriction is

not used as a subterfuge to suppress a particular message.” L.A. Alliance, 993 P.2d at 357. 

The evidence shows that the County is not using Section 17.52.515 to suppress a particular

message; rather, it is primarily interested in curtailing the growth of billboards in

unincorporated areas of the County. See Dalton Decl. at 2:22–23. Nor are persons or entities

interested in displaying particular speech precluded from doing so in a different area or in a

different form elsewhere in the County. Because Section 17.52.515 leaves open ample

alternative avenues of communication, it passes intermediate scrutiny. The Court therefore

grants summary judgment on the content-regulation aspect of Plaintiffs’ free speech claim

under the California Constitution. 

B. Equal Protection Claims

Plaintiffs contend that summary judgment is inappropriate as to both of their equal

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protection claims because the Zoning Ordinance allows the County to prevent the display of

Plaintiffs’ Signs, even though the Signs would be permissible if either of two groups—(1)

CBS Outdoor and Clear Channel Communications, whose billboards are subject to the

County’s relocation program, and (2) government speakers—sought to display the Signs. 

Opp’n at 5. The County has not responded to the comparison to the government speakers,

but argues in its Reply that CBS and Clear Channel are not subject to the same Zoning

Ordinance provisions as Plaintiffs, because those companies owned legally permitted

billboards in the County’s unincorporated areas prior to the enactment of Zoning

Ordinance § 17.52.515. Reply at 13; Dalton Decl. at 3:1–7, 3:17–27.

But as Plaintiffs point out, the County did not address Plaintiffs’ equal protection

claims at all in their opening brief on this motion. See generally Memo.; see also Opp’n at 5.

The Court does not consider arguments raised for the first time in a reply brief. See United

States v. Romm, 455 F.3d 990, 997 (9th Cir. 2006) (citing Smith v. Marsh, 194 F.3d 1045,

1052 (9th Cir. 1999)); United States ex rel. Giles v. Sardie, 191 F. Supp. 2d 1117, 1127 (C.D.

Cal. 2000). In addition, the County did not provide in its Reply any reason to grant summary

judgment as to the equal protection claims with respect to the government speakers. See

Reply at 12–13. The County therefore either has not provided any basis for summary

judgment or has prevented Plaintiffs from adequately responding to the County’s arguments

in favor of summary judgment. As a result, the Court does not grant summary judgment on

either of Plaintiffs’ equal protection claims.

IV. CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS summary judgment for the County as

to Plaintiffs’ free speech claims, to the extent that those claims are based on: (1) an asapplied challenge; (2) a facial challenge as to the unfettered discretion granted by Zoning

Ordinance §§ 17.52.520(Q), 17.52.520(D), and 17.54.130; and (3) a facial challenge as to

Section 17.52.515’s purported regulation of speech based on its content. The Court DENIES

the County’s motion as to Plaintiffs’ facial challenge regarding the unfettered discretion

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granted by Zoning Ordinance § 17.18.130, and as to Plaintiffs’ equal protection claims. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: July 16, 2015 

CHARLES R. BREYER

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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