Town Council To Consider Regulating Lawn Signs in Public Spaces

With multiple political lawn signs crowding traffic islands, street-side grass verges and other conspicuous public areas throughout New Canaan, local officials say they’re eager to figure out whether and how the town may regulate them.

Traffic island at Laurel and Canoe Hill Roads, on Oct. 31, 2018. Credit: Michael Dinan

With Election Day rapidly approaching, it’s probably too late this year to solve the problem of over-proliferating lawn signs, according to members of the Town Council Bylaws and Ordinances Committee. 

Yet some sort of public service announcement is in order, according to Committee Co-Chair Steve Karl.

“There are a lot of people who have looked at the number of signs and say, ‘What happened?’ “ Karl said at the Committee’s special meeting, held Monday in Town Hall. “This particular election is so competitive that there are more signs out than normal. And a lot of the separate candidates have their own people coming to town sticking signs wherever they think there are high traffic areas—off the Parkway, rotaries, that type of thing. Our local Dems and Republicans, they are asking each other, ‘How come you are doing this?’ And they’re like, ‘Well, we are not doing this.’ Neither side is doing this. It’s the outside coming in.”

Verge at Main Street and Locust Avenue, on Oct. 31, 2018. Credit: Michael Dinan

Under the New Canaan Zoning Regulations, political signs associated with an election or referendum are allowed as-of-right in residential zones, so long as they’re removed within seven days of the corresponding vote (see page 133). There’s no rule on the books about how long before an election signs may be placed. Even so, New Canaan might be able to draw up a regulation concerning its own public space.

Addressing the question of whether First Amendment rights are involved, Councilman Mike Mauro, an attorney, noted that private property is different from public land. With the latter, he said, the government may regulate the time, manner and place of free speech, though not its content.

“We 100 percent have the right to say, ‘It’s not happening here,’ ” Mauro said, referring to specific placement of lawn signs.

He added: “People’s houses is a different story.”

Town Council Chairman John Engel, a guest at the meeting, said he believed those tasked with placing political lawn signs in New Canaan do “coordinate through the RTC and the DTC.”

“And I know that they have asked people, ‘Do you want signs?’ And they distribute them and they remind them that they are to be removed within 24 hours of the election,” Engel said.

Yet, Engel added, “If the DTC and RTC were both reminded this week ‘not in the public right-of-ways,’ then they would probably go remove and move them.”

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, also a guest at the meeting, said the local RTC and DTC have coordinated placement of political signs on private properties.

“It is the out-of-town candidates who are putting them on [the public right-of-way],” Moynihan said. “The other towns allow it. We don’t.”

Asked about the question of political lawn signs, Public Works Director Tiger Mann said New Canaan has no rule regarding placing them in the public right-of-way. 

“We try to stay away from political signs,” he said. “If they were causing a sight line issue or safety concern, then we would move them, but in the same traffic island four or five feet—we would not remove them.”