What does a 2015 Supreme Court decision about a small town in Arizona have to do with borough code in Haines? The decision Reed versus the Town of Gilbert is behind the most recent change to Haines borough code. The ruling says that governments may not regulate signs based on their content.
The Haines borough unanimously voted to amend sign code at the first meeting of the year. The change means the code is now in compliance with the United States Constitution. But for a few years…it wasn’t. The code change has been in the works since 2017 when Haines resident Mike Denker pointed the issue out to the assembly.
“Once it was brought to our attention by the Code Review Commission we basically stopped enforcing the sign regulations where it applied to content until we could get this done,” says Haines Borough clerk Alekka Fullerton. “And that’s the appropriate response. If you have a law that’s unconstitutional and you enforce it you open up to liability.”
The borough simply stopped enforcing code until the assembly voted to change it. In Reed versus the Town of Gilbert the judge ruled the government may not regulate signs based on what they say. But municipalities do that all the time. Or, did.
“The supreme court says they may not regulate signs based on the content of the sign,” she says. “That was the crux of the entire case. And the borough was in fact doing that.”
The supreme court decision protects free speech. If you regulate signs based on what they say, there’s a likelihood that some groups get more rights to speech than others. If a sign with one message can be posted, but another sign can’t, for example. So the Code Review Commission set to work revising the code. It took years to change. But Fullerton says that’s far ahead of most rural municipalities. She says it’s a credit to Denker that he caught the issue.
“There are many, many jurisdictions who will probably never change their sign ordinance. They should. The smaller the municipality the less likely they are to make changes. Haines happens to have a very sophisticated population. We try really hard to stay on top of things. That’s reflective of who we are as a community.”
Mike Denker caught the problem. He says: “It was really proactive of the borough that they wanted more info and came into compliance. It was great move by the borough and the assembly, so kudos to them for getting it done. It really jumped on all the municipalities and I think we’re one of the first in the state that started addressing it .”
Denker says that communities needs to keep an eye out to make sure everyone gets the same treatment.
“Even our sign code that we just passed, were going to have to continue to look at it to make sure that we are handling all speakers, all messages, and all content the same. To make sure everyone has same opportunity to engage in the process whether that be in a public meeting or in a message on a sign.”
Now the Haines borough will enforce sign code that’s reflective of the supreme court’s interpretation of free speech. Size and shape of signs is still regulated. But when it comes to content, everyone gets their say.
