Opinion ID: 591208
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Off-premise signs

Text: 9 The Douglasville sign code prohibits off-premise signs 1 throughout the historic district of the City of Douglasville, 2 and in various specific locations. 3 In addition to challenging the ordinance relating to off-premise signs in the Historic District, Messer argues that the regulations in Secs. 26-7, 26-8(b)(6) and (c)(3), (5), (6), (9) and (10) of the Douglasville Code unconstitutionally favor commercial over noncommercial speech.
10 There is a complete ban on off-premise signs in the historic district in the City of Douglasville. Appellant Messer argues that this ordinance favoring on-premise over off-premise signs also favors commercial speech over noncommercial speech, thus violating the First Amendment as interpreted by Metromedia, Inc. v. San Diego, 453 U.S. 490, 101 S.Ct. 2882, 69 L.Ed.2d 800 (1981). 11 The Metromedia plurality held that regulation favoring on-site commercial advertising over off-site commercial advertising was permissible, but regulation favoring on-site commercial over non-commercial speech was impermissible. Metromedia, 453 U.S. at 511-12, 101 S.Ct. at 2894-95. A landowner or commercial enterprise has much more significant interest in identifying or advertising its own business or products than in advertising the products of others. Thus, a governmental entity may restrict the landowner's interest in advertising the products of others in the interests of aesthetics and safety, while leaving the landowner's interest in advertising its own business intact. However, this does not justify disallowing noncommercial billboards where commercial billboards are allowed. The court stated: 12 The fact that the city may value commercial messages relating to onsite goods and services more than it values commercial communications relating to offsite goods and services does not justify prohibiting an occupant from displaying its own ideas or those of others. 13 .... 14 Insofar as the city tolerates billboards at all, it cannot choose to limit their contents to commercial messages; the city may not conclude that the communication of commercial information concerning goods and services connected with a particular site is of greater value than the communication of noncommercial messages. 15 Metromedia, 453 U.S. at 513, 101 S.Ct. at 2895. 16 The Court, however, did not distinguish between onsite and offsite noncommercial messages. Thus, it did not directly address the question now before us: whether a regulation allowing onsite noncommercial signs while denying offsite noncommercial signs would be constitutionally permissible. 17 We must first decide whether such an ordinance seeks to regulate speech according to its content. It is well settled that the First Amendment forbids the government to regulate speech in ways that favor some viewpoints or ideas at the expense of others. Members of City Council v. Taxpayers for Vincent, 466 U.S. 789, 804, 104 S.Ct. 2118, 2128, 80 L.Ed.2d 772 (1984). In Vincent, the Court ruled the sign ordinance at issue viewpoint neutral as 18 [T]here is not even a hint of bias or censorship in the City's enactment of enforcement of this ordinance. There is no claim that the ordinance was designed to suppress certain ideas that the City finds distasteful or that it has been applied to appellees because of the views that they express. The test of the ordinance is neutral--indeed it is silent--concerning any speaker's point of view. 19 Vincent, 466 U.S. at 804, 104 S.Ct. at 2128 (citations omitted). 20 We find that the City of Douglasville's sign ordinance prohibiting off-premise billboards is similarly viewpoint neutral. It regulates signs not based on the viewpoint of the speaker, but based on the location of the signs. There is no claim of bias, censorship or preference regarding a speaker's point of view. The ordinance does not favor commercial over non-commercial speech; neither does it favor non-commercial over commercial speech. Contrary to Messer's argument, there is simply no basis for equating on-premise signs with commercial speech, and off-premise signs with noncommercial speech. A noncommercial enterprise would be able to put up a sign bearing a noncommercial message as long as it relates to any activity on the premises. Similarly, a commercial enterprise would be able to put up a sign bearing a noncommercial message which related to any activity on the premises. For example, an auto mechanic's garage would be able to put up a noncommercial message relating to the recycling of used motor oil. Accord Wheeler v. Commissioner of Highways, 822 F.2d 586, 591 (6th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1007, 108 S.Ct. 702, 98 L.Ed.2d 653 (1988) (a distinction between onsite and offsite noncommercial signs is constitutionally permissible); National Advertising Co. v. Chicago, 788 F.Supp. 994, 997-98 (N.D.Ill.1991) (the distinction between on-site and off-site advertising is not aimed toward the suppression of an idea or viewpoint); see Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence, 468 U.S. 288, 295, 104 S.Ct. 3065, 3069-70, 82 L.Ed.2d 221 (1984) (general ban on camping in park upheld); Heffron v. International Soc. for Krishna Consciousness, Inc., 452 U.S. 640, 648-49, 101 S.Ct. 2559, 2564-65, 69 L.Ed.2d 298 (1981) (regulation requiring all dissemination of ideas to be made from fixed locations within state fair upheld); cf. National Advertising Co. v. Orange, 861 F.2d 246, 248 (9th Cir.1988) (court discussed but did not decide the issue because it struck ordinance based on system of exemptions); contra Burkhart Advertising, Inc. v. Auburn, 786 F.Supp. 721, 732 (N.D.Ind.1991) (ban on off-premise signs is not content neutral because [i]t prohibits all kinds of speech because of what it says); Metromedia, Inc. v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, 538 F.Supp. 1183, 1187 (D.Md.1982) (identification signs only ordinance was not content neutral because an owner or occupier within the area may affix a sign identifying his premises but may not affix a sign displaying his ideas or those of others). 21 The Sixth Circuit, upholding a similar ordinance prohibiting off-premise advertising signs, stated: 22 [T]he on-premises/off-premises distinction does not constitute an impermissible regulation of content just because the determination of whether a sign is permitted at a given location is a function of the sign's message. Kentucky, by allowing persons who own or lease property, to have a sign, subject to size and space restrictions, advertising an activity conducted on the property is not favoring one message over another. The state has simply recognized that the right to advertise an activity conducted on-site is inherent in the ownership or lease of the property. 23 Wheeler, 822 F.2d at 591. 24 Having decided that the ordinance is viewpoint neutral, we must next decide if the government's interests justify this regulation of noncommercial speech. Time, place and manner restrictions are permissible if they are justified without reference to the content of the regulated speech, ... serve a significant governmental interest, and ... leave open ample alternative channels for communication of the information. Virginia State Bd. of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, 425 U.S. 748, 771, 96 S.Ct. 1817, 1830, 48 L.Ed.2d 346 (1976). In Vincent, supra, the Court stated: 25 [A] government regulation is sufficiently justified if it is within the constitutional power of the Government; if it furthers an important or substantial governmental interest; if the governmental interest is unrelated to the suppression of free expression; and if the incidental restriction on alleged First Amendment freedoms is no greater than is essential to the furtherance of the interest. 26 Vincent, 466 U.S. at 805, 104 S.Ct. at 2128, quoting United States v. O'Brien, 391 U.S. 367, 377, 88 S.Ct. 1673, 1679, 20 L.Ed.2d 672 (1968). Thus, to uphold a viewpoint neutral regulation of speech, a government must show that 1) it has the constitutional power to make the regulation, 2) an important or substantial government interest unrelated to the suppression of free speech is at stake, and 3) the ordinance is narrowly drawn to achieve its desired ends, leaving other channels for the communication of information. 27 It is well settled that the state may legitimately exercise its police powers to advance its aesthetic interests. Vincent, 466 U.S. at 805, 104 S.Ct. at 2129. It is also well settled that both traffic safety and aesthetics are substantial governmental goals. Vincent, 466 U.S. at 807, 104 S.Ct. at 2130. The Court in Vincent also affirmed Metromedia as holding that a city's aesthetic interests are sufficiently substantial to provide an acceptable justification for a content neutral prohibition against the use of billboards. Vincent, 466 U.S. at 806-07, 104 S.Ct. at 2130. 28 A government has a more significant interest in the aesthetics of designated historical areas than in other areas. In Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City, 438 U.S. 104, 107-08, 98 S.Ct. 2646, 2651, 57 L.Ed.2d 631 (1978), the Supreme Court recognized that 29 These nationwide legislative efforts [to designate historic sites and landmarks] have been precipitated by two concerns. The first is recognition that, in recent years, large numbers of historic structures, landmarks, and areas have been destroyed without adequate consideration of either the values represented therein or the possibility of preserving the destroyed properties for use in economically productive ways. The second is a widely shared belief that structures with special historic, cultural, or architectural significance enhance the quality of life for all. 30 Similarly, Justice Brennan, concurring in Metromedia, wrote: 31 I have little doubt that some jurisdictions will easily carry the burden of proving the substantiality of their interest in aesthetics. For example, the parties acknowledge that a historical community such as Williamsburg, Va. should be able to prove that its interest in aesthetics and historical authenticity are sufficiently important that the First Amendment value attached to billboards must yield. And I would be surprised if the Federal Government had much trouble making the argument that billboards could be entirely banned in Yellowstone National Park, where their very existence would so obviously be inconsistent with the surrounding landscape. 32 Metromedia, 453 U.S. at 533-34, 101 S.Ct. at 2906 (Brennan, J., concurring). 33 Next, we must also decide whether this ordinance is sufficiently narrowly drawn, and leaves open ample channels of communication of noncommercial messages. Again, we find that it is and does. The ordinance does not apply to the entire city of Douglasville. Off-premise noncommercial signs are allowed in the parts of the city not designated as a historic district. See Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc., 475 U.S. 41, 53-54, 106 S.Ct. 925, 932, 89 L.Ed.2d 29 (1986) (it was not an unreasonable restriction to have five percent of the entire city's area zoned available for adult movie theatres, as the First Amendment does not guarantee freedom from marketplace competition over commercial sites). 34 Because a blanket ban on off-premise signs is limited to the historic district of Douglasville, we do not need to decide if a government's interests in traffic safety and aesthetics are an acceptable justification for a city-wide ban of off-premise noncommercial signs. We simply decide that the government's interests in the aesthetics of a designated historic district are sufficiently significant to override the First Amendment rights of a property owner to off-premise noncommercial signs.
35 Messer also attacks various other limitations on off-premise signs as also favoring commercial over noncommercial speech. See note 3, supra. Because we find that limitations on off-premise signs are viewpoint neutral, we find the ordinances to be valid time, place and manner regulations. There is absolutely no evidence in the record to show that these ordinances unduly impact noncommercial speech, as Messer argues, or were designed to suppress such noncommercial speech. 36