Lawsuit prompts more changes to sign code

Amid a lawsuit alleging the town of Fraser is violating residents’ First Amendment rights, the town board changed its sign code — again.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Denver on behalf of Melinda McWilliams and Alan Jensen, who posted eight double-sided displays protesting President Donald Trump and calling for action on climate change in Jensen’s front yard starting in January 2017.

The signs stayed up until the pair received a letter from the town manager in September 2018 demanding they remove them within a week or face prosecution for violating the sign code.

The town’s code previously required residents to obtain permits to display signs, and the code restricted the number, placement and type of signs. The code didn’t restrict “works of art,” so Jensen and McWilliams tried to work with town officials to have the signs approved. But they were denied, in violation of their rights to free speech, the lawsuit said.

The ACLU also filed a motion seeking to prevent enforcement of the town’s sign code until the issue is resolved, declaring the code unconstitutional.

On Wednesday night, the town board approved amendments that increased the number of yard signs residents could display in their yards to four, allowed an exemption for murals and works of art and removed permitting requirements for residential signs, Marketing and Economic Development Manager Sarah Wieck said in an email.

“Like many communities throughout the nation, many businesses and residents in Fraser have sought to beautify their properties with the addition of a wide variety of murals and quilt panels,” Town Manager Jeff Durbin said in an emailed statement. “The Fraser Town Board adopted amendments to the Sign Code to accommodate these forms of creative expression while also respecting the First Amendment as recently established in Reed vs. Gilbert.”

ACLU of Colorado legal director Mark Silverstein called the willingness to amend the code a significant step toward resolving the lawsuit.