Longboat sign code on the home stretch

It’s been almost three years since the U.S. Supreme Court wrote an opinion making Longboat Key’s sign code and others like it around the country unconstitutional.

Now town leaders are one public hearing and vote away from new rules designed to retain the island’s strict policies without trampling First Amendment rights.

How? By regulating size and number, not the signs’ message. Previously, the town regulated real estate signs differently than, say, political signs or yard-sale signs or signs alerting neighbors to a lost dog.

The proposed ordinance allows residents to post one 1-square-foot sign anytime on their property and another 3-square-foot sign on a property that is for sale, rent or lease.

 To match up with the Supreme Court’s 2015 opinion in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, Ariz., the town has no say in what words those signs may display.

Assistant Town Attorney Kelly Fernandez said the proposed ordinance was drafted based on a template designed by the International Municipal Lawyers Association, which determined, based on case law, that restricting the use of signs to whether a property is for sale, lease or rent is allowed under the Supreme Court decision.

The Town Commission on June 4 OK’d the new sign code on first reading by a vote of 6-1. A second hearing is scheduled for July 9.

Commissioner Ed Zunz voted against the measure. Zunz, a retired lawyer, said he was not convinced that limiting allowance of larger signs to when a property is for sale, lease or rent meets the rules as defined by the Supreme Court. His worry is that restricting larger signs to when a property is for sale, lease or rent could be legally interpreted as a nod to real estate content.

“It’s a complicated thing,” Zunz said.

For real estate agents, however, it’s simple: signs equal sales, said Sarasota Manatee Realtors Association President Greg Owens. Even in an industry increasingly driven by websites and digital marketing, calls derived from real estate signs continue to be one of the best ways for agents to sell properties, Owens said.

Realtor Andrew Vac said signs work as a sort of “wakeup call” to those who are either thinking about selling their home or might know someone interested purchasing property.

“The sign prompts,” Vac said. “If somebody is interested, they will Google it and find out about it. It really piques interests for somebody who had no clue.”

Owens said the problem he has with the town’s sign code is the rigid dimensions. Many real estate signs on Longboat Key are larger than 3 square feet, according to a town survey.

Anna Maria, Brandenton Beach and Sarasota allow signs larger than 3 square feet. 

If the codes were changed as proposed, Owens said real estate agents who want to do business on Longboat Key would all have to get new signs.

Most agents buy their signs in bulk, Owens said. Vac said he has about 24 signs in stock, which he purchases for up to $50 each.

“We want to make sure that this is something that is necessary and equitable,” Owens said. “The whole idea of signs is to help the homeowner to sell their property.”

Commissioner Ken Schneier,   who voted no but switched his vote after public comment, said he voted against the ordinance because he thought the real estate community had not been given the opportunity to be heard.

The commission had voted without hearing from the public — a vote that had Zunz and Schneier in the minority.

But Mayor George Spoll rewound the process and allowed a representative for the Sarasota Manatee Real Estate Association and a real estate agent with Michael Saunders & Co. to argue that strict restrictions on signs would “increase dramatically” the cost of doing business on the Key.

“They maybe weren’t prepared or maybe didn’t have enough time, but they didn’t make a compelling case for a larger sign,” Schneier said.