Opinion ID: 732386
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Permit Requirement for Off-Site Structures and Signs

Text: 21 Desert and OMG contend that the permit requirement violates the First Amendment because it gives unbridled discretion to City officials. We review the district court's grant of summary judgment de novo. Warren v. City of Carlsbad, 58 F.3d 439, 441 (9th Cir.1995), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 1261, 134 L.Ed.2d 209 (1996). 22 A person must obtain a permit before erecting an off-site structure or sign. Although the issuance of a permit by City officials is subject to some objective criteria relating to locational and structural standards, City officials have discretion to deny a permit on the basis of ambiguous and subjective reasons. For example, the ordinance states that a permit shall issue subject to findings that the structure or sign 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. Moreno Valley Ordinance No. 133, § 19.3. 23 As the Supreme Court stated, a law subjecting the exercise of First Amendment freedoms to the prior restraint of a license, without narrow, objective, and definite standards to guide the licensing authority, is unconstitutional. Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham, 394 U.S. 147, 150-51, 89 S.Ct. 935, 938, 22 L.Ed.2d 162 (1969). Furthermore, we have noted that 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 County of San Francisco, 952 F.2d 1059, 1065 (9th Cir.1990) (citing City of Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publishing Co., 486 U.S. 750, 755, 108 S.Ct. 2138, 2143, 100 L.Ed.2d 771 (1988)), cert. denied, 504 U.S. 914, 112 S.Ct. 1951, 118 L.Ed.2d 555 (1992). 24 Moreno Valley Ordinance No. 133 contains no limits on the authority of City officials to deny a permit. City officials have unbridled discretion in determining whether a particular structure or sign will be harmful to the community's health, welfare, or aesthetic quality. Moreover, City officials can deny a permit without offering any evidence to support the conclusion that a particular structure or sign is detrimental to the community. Thus, we conclude that the permit requirement is unconstitutional.