Item 8D- Sign Code- SuspensionRESOLUTION NO.
AGENDA ITEM# SD
JULY 25, 2016
DRAFT 7/12/2016
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF ATLANTIC
BEACH, FLORIDA, STATING ITS INTENTION TO COMPLY WITH THE SUPREME
COURT OPINION IN THE CASE OF REED V. TOWN OF GILBERT, ARIZ.,-U.S.-, 135
S. Ct. 2218, 2221, 192 L. Ed. 2d 236 (2015) AND SUSPENDING ENFORCEMENT OF ALL
REGULATIONS GOVERNING TEMPORARY NON-COMMERCIAL SPEECH AS THOSE
REGULATIONS RELATED TO THE CITY'S SIGN CODE, PROVIDING FOR AN
EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City Commission has adopted ordinances govemmg certain signs
within the City of Atlantic Beach and those ordinances are contained in the city's Code of
Ordinances in Chapter 17, Signs and Advertising Structures, together with associated definitions
set forth in Chapter 6, Building and Building Regulations, and Chapter 24, Land Development
Regulations.
WHEREAS, pursuant to the Supreme Court opinion in the case of Reed v. Town of
Gilbert, Ariz. (U.S. June 18, 2015), the traditional regulation of temporary noncommercial signs
in municipal codes across the country was impacted in that any sign code provisions which
separately categorized or classified temporary noncommercial signs, such as political signs or for
rent signs, based upon the information conveyed, are now subject to strict scrutiny rather than
intermediate scrutiny by the courts.
WHEREAS, in response to this recent opinion, it is in the best interest of the City to take
action to suspend enforcement of regulations governing temporary noncommercial speech as
those regulations relate to the City's Sign Code and related definitions and will consider
revisions to its Sign Code and related provisions to comport with the Supreme Court's guidance
in the Reed case to ensure that its signage regulations will be interpreted as content neutral
except where a compelling government interest requires a content-based distinction.
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