City Of Glenwood Removing Time-limit Provision From Political Sign Ordinance

The City Of Glenwood is removing a provision in its Land Development Ordinance that requires political signs to be taken down within one week after an election.

The action is being taken after a member of the audience at the April 8 meeting of the Glenwood City Council said the ordinance is “unconstitutional.”

“Obviously, somebody complained about my signs in my yard,” said Richard Blowers. “This city ordinance about political signs is unconstitutional and needs to be removed. I just want to bring that up – do what you have to do.

“I was going to give like a five-minute speech, but it’s pretty simple. If you know the United States Constitution, how this reads is unconstitutional.”

Blowers added he has no intention of taking down the signs, which were put up in support of Donald Trump prior to the November 2024 presidential election.

Currrently, the City Of Glenwood’s Land Development Ordinance contains the following provision regarding political campaign signs:

“Signs announcing candidates seeking public office or pertinent political issues to be dealt with at a specific, date-certain election. Such signs shall be confined to private property and shall be removed within one week following the election to which they pertain. This requirement for removal shall not affect the right of a property owner to communicate any other message within the requirements or limitations of this ordinance.”

Glenwood Mayor Angie Winquist thanked Blowers for addressing the council, but city officials did not discuss the matter publicly during the meeting.  In a meeting follow-up interview, Glenwood City Administrator Mitch Kolf confirmed the city agrees with Blowers’ assessment of the ordinance.

“We need to work with our city attorney to rewrite it and change it to take out that provision,” Kolf said. “Other provisions of the ordinance will stay in place, prohibiting placement in the right of way.”

Late last week, The Opinion-Tribune contacted several other cities and counties in southwest Iowa and found the City of Glenwood is not alone in having an ordinance in place that restricts how long a political sign can be displayed on private property.

The City Of Red Oak’s ordinance states  “Political signs shall be permitted to be displayed for a period not more than 90 days prior to the relevant election and must be removed within 10 days after the election.”

Mills County’s sign ordinance restricts a political sign from being erected earlier than 45 days before an election and requires it be taken down within seven days after the date of balloting.

Pottawattamie County has a similar ordinance in place, County Auditor Mary Ann Hanusa confirmed Monday, but added the ordinance is now “under review.”

“I did find that we do have an ordinance on yard signs, but I talked to our attorney’s office, it is among those that are under review now for possible changes,” she said.

Hanusa said the ordinance includes a provision stipulating how long political signs can be displayed.

“It does and that’s why it’s under consideration for review,” she said.

In Malvern, City Clerk Joe George said the city has no provision in its ordinances that would restrict how long a sign can be displayed.

In Fremont County, a spokesperson for the auditor’s office said she believed the county ordinance was based on state law and contained no language that would require political signs to be taken down within a specific time period.

According to a posting on the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board website, “There are no restrictions in Iowa’s campaign sign laws on how long a campaign sign can be displayed. However, there may be community specific restrictions that apply, such as from a city or homeowners association.”

In a written statement to The Opinion-Tribune, Rita Bettis Austen, Legal Director for the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) Of Iowa, suggested the U.S. Supreme Court has found ordinances similar to those currently in place in Glenwood, Red Oak, Mills County and Pottawattamie County to be in violation of the First Amendment of the constitution.

“Local laws should champion the right of residents to peacefully express their thoughts and opinions, not censor them,” she said. “The First Amendment protects, at the highest level, political speech. And the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that First Amendment protections apply, indisputably, to yard signs. Regulations that are based on signs’ content, rather than neutral factors like size and placement, must satisfy very high judicial scrutiny, and are normally unconstitutional. Any city ordinances that regulate signs have to be neutral as to what the signs say. Cities can’t allow for-sale signs, for example, but ban political signs. Ordinances also have to be reasonable and serve a public purpose.

“Limiting the duration of some signs, but not others, based purely on their political content, is precisely the kind of content-based regulation the Supreme Court has held violates the First Amendment.”