Sign Pollution Complaints on the Rise

The 2022 election may result in reopening a wound on Marco Island that no one wants reopened. However, Marco’s citizens have been posting their distaste for sign pollution since the start of the 2022 election cycle and their dissatisfaction appears to be on the rise.

The original discussion about signs was raised in late 2016 by then Council Chairman Jared Grifoni shortly after his November election. Grifoni had read a law journal article regarding a Supreme Court decision on signs. 

This began a long and protracted dive into the issue of signs, which resulted in countless hours of time consumed by Planning Board and City Council members, as well as taxpayer resources.

The Supreme Court ruling held that any sign regulation must be “content neutral,” and applied to all types of signage. The focus, the court held, must be the time, place and manner of the signage. 

Size, height, setback, illumination, separation, location and display method may all be defined by the governing body, as well as form/sign type.

Attorney Kathryn Mehaffey, from the law firm Weiss-Serota, led the board through a detailed analysis of a draft ordinance her office created for their review.

A drawn-out debate on this issue included a long exchange related to signage being placed into the right of way, as is the present custom. The recommendation from Attorney Mehaffey was to eliminate the placement of signs in the right of way. Her rationale was based upon the “all or none” rule, with either all signs being permitted in the right of way, or none. Mehaffey warned the city’s Planning Board and City Council that the issue was one that was “going to be a very difficult area to address.” 

Both the Marco Island Planning Board and City Council ignored the attorney’s recommendations and continued to allow signage in the right of way, but with the provision that that signs could be set out at 7 AM and removed by 6 PM.

In June of this year, Council Chair Erik Brechnitz approached the subject of sign pollution. He pointed out that the City of Naples does not allow signs in the right of way, and it doesn’t appear to affect their lives. “We have a small staff and can’t be chasing these things,” said Brechnitz. Once again, his efforts failed.