Burrillville ends political sign limits after ACLU challenge | News | valleybreeze.com

Valley Breeze Staff Writer

With a recent amendment, Burrillville residents no longer have time limits put on how long they can display political signs on private property.

BURRILLVILLE — Acting at the request of the ACLU of Rhode Island, the Burrillville Town Council voted unanimously last week to remove longstanding restrictions on how long residents can display political campaign signs on private property.

The amendment to the town’s sign ordinance follows a letter from the ACLU sent in August, which argued that the regulation was an unconstitutional restriction on free speech.

“Political signs play an important role for both candidates and voters,” R.I. ACLU Executive Director Steven Brown wrote in the letter. “Many people do not have the time to actively participate in political campaigns, nor the money to make substantial financial contributions to the candidates they support. Political signs are an easy way for people at the grassroots level to get involved in political campaigns and to show their support for a candidate or idea.”

The Burrillville ordinance in question, passed in 2004, prohibited non-permanent political and pre-election signs from being posted more than 60 days before an election and required candidates to remove them within 10 days after the election. The law also placed responsibility for sign removal on the candidates themselves, rather than the property owners.

After receiving the letter, the council tasked the ordinance subcommittee with revising it. The first reading of the amendment occurred at a January council meeting this year.

Councilors discussed the amendment at the public hearing on Feb. 26 before voting unanimously to approve it.

Vice President Stephen Rawson stated that he had long been opposed to the ordinance, emphasizing that while public property regulations are one matter, private property owners should have the right to display signs as they see fit.

“We weren’t the only ones trying to regulate this,” Rawson said previously. “I always had a problem with it at that time, as it was a violation of free speech.”

Town Manager Michael Wood clarified that the amendment does not create new permissions for signage, but simply eliminates the restriction on when political signs must be taken down.

“The only thing that’s being changed here is when you have to take the sign down. That’s all that the complaint was,” Wood explained at the meeting. “And that’s all you’re modifying in this ordinance.”

He added that, in his three decades with the town, the rule had never been enforced.

Council President Donald Fox noted that the original ordinance had been enacted by a Democratic-majority Town Council in reaction to a specific candidate and was not widely enforced.

“I don’t remember why that past council put this in place,” Fox said. “It was of a different political persuasion and stripe at the time. It was a knee-jerk reaction to a past member of the council that wasn’t very well liked.”

The ACLU’s letter cited multiple court rulings affirming that time limits on political signs violate the First Amendment. The organization pointed to a 2022 lawsuit in Pawtucket that resulted in the city being permanently barred from enforcing a similar restriction.

Councilor Kevin McDaniel raised a question about whether outdated or obsolete political signs would be covered under other town regulations. Town officials suggested that while there are provisions governing obsolete signs, the town has never received formal complaints about outdated campaign signs remaining up indefinitely.

With the amendment approved, Burrillville joins other Rhode Island communities in bringing its signage regulations in line with constitutional free speech protections. The change allows residents to display political signs on their private property without government-imposed time constraints.

Valley Breeze Staff Writer

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