Bethlehem NY and political signs

The primary campaign season is here and the dreaded political signs are back. Every year it seems to be a game of “the one with the most signs wins.” Although the signs offend my aesthetic sensibilities, I do realize they are a necessary evil. Not many people read the newspaper anymore, most do not know their politicians or attend local board meetings. The only real way to get to know a candidate, is to speak with them, and hopefully, you will take the opportunity to do so if they come to your door. Signs are a good marketing tool, as the more you see a name, the more likely you will remember it on election day.

In 2013, the Town of Bethlehem sign law was revised. The existing law at the time, did not allow for signs to be placed in the right-of-way of any road owned by the town, county or state. Despite this, during political season, most candidates were either not aware or violated this prohibition. The last political season before the sign law revisions was particularly bad with some candidates placing multiple signs in the same small right of way areas. It was too much and needed change.

The town board undertook a revision, led and written by then Councilman Jeffrey Kuhn and chair of the Bethlehem Democratic Committee, and current candidate for county legislature. The new law kept the prohibition for the placement of signs on the public right way but made another important change. The town law now only allows temporary signs, which includes political signs, to be placed on private, non-commercial property at the discretion of the property owner for up to three months.

In drafting the current law, Kuhn has said that he relied on the New York State, Department of State publication entitled, Municipal Control of Signs.[1] Surprisingly, page 3 of the publication in a discussion of signs on commercial properties states, “Typical sign regulations which have been found to interfere with free speech are those which allow only commercial signs on business premises…” and “In National Advertising Co. v. Town of Babylon, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals declared unconstitutional the Town of Islip sign ordinance which only permitted signs on business premises to display information concerning the name of the business or the goods and services offered. The Court invalidated the Islip sign ordinance because it was content-based. In only allowing the business’s name to be displayed on premises, the sign ordinance impermissibly discriminated against noncommercial messages in favor of commercial speech.”

In plain language, the Town of Bethlehem cannot legally prohibit temporary political signs on commercial premises.

The question now is what to do. The town has been removing political signs from commercial properties as recently as this week. There is no time for the town to enact an amendment prior to the primary. The sign law needs to be reviewed once again prior to the November general election. I would also suggest that for this primary election, they stop removing signs from commercial property until a review can be done. Fairness dictates a better result for those commercial property owners that have been prohibited from placing signs since 2013.

[1]Velte, Mary. (2013 October 16). Spotlight News. Boy Scouts pan Bethlehem sign law.