Pulaski County’s regulations on campaign signs are a step closer to officially being repealed. On Monday, the plan commission voted to recommend removing the “special signs” portion of the Unified Development Ordinance. Members generally agreed to the change back in April, but hadn’t taken a formal vote.
Their recommendation now goes to the county commissioners for final approval. They took a preliminary vote back in May, but that was before the plan commission took any formal action.
As the Unified Development Ordinance currently stands, special signs may only be posted from April 1 to May 15 and from October 1 to November 15, and they’re limited to six square feet in size. There’s also a limit of 10 signs on a given property.
The reason the ordinance refers to “special signs” rather than “campaign signs” stems from a Supreme Court decision a few years ago. Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer says the decision has left the rules unclear and made it tricky for local governments to legally differentiate between campaign signs and other signs that may be posted when drawing up regulations.
Members of the Pulaski County Election Board felt the regulations created more confusion and called for their removal. They noted that the placement and content of campaign signs is already governed by a completely separate set of state and federal laws.
