Banner's removal revives debate over free speech

By BETH REESE CRAVEY, The Times-Union
beth.cravey@jacksonville.com
4/2/2008 - 6:55 am

Clay County to review its rules on signs after backlash from residents.

The longstanding conflict between free speech and sign regulation has arisen anew in Clay County, where a patriotic - but illegal - banner was ordered removed by a county code enforcement officer.

But in the ensuing debate, county commissioners found no easy answers on how to balance free speech, patriotic and otherwise, and the desire not to have a cluttered community.

"It's a quagmire," Commissioner Harold Rutledge said.

The canvas sign, which reads, "Salute Every Generation's Heroes" and is mounted on PVC pipe, has hung for two years in front of Annabelle's Interiors Inc. at 46 College Drive in the Orange Park area.

Ella George, the office manager for the store, said the banner was removed Tuesday. She said the sign was initially erected because store owner Annabelle Hamachek and her employees supported the military and wanted to say so publicly.

But banners are not allowed in Clay County, except for specially permitted, temporary ones that advertise a public event. So-called "free speech" signs must be wooden or plastic, no bigger than 3 square feet, no higher than 6 feet.

Irate residents took up the banner's cause, arguing that its patriotic message warranted protection, particularly in military-friendly Northeast Florida.

"I, along with MANY others are really ticked off about Clay County's decision to cite a business owner to remove a patriotic banner that's NOT advertising the business but rather encouraging support of our troops," said Steve Eide in a series of e-mails to commissioners. "Some things need to be changed, and those 'things' are the [county] employees and board members who have disregard for patriotic Americans and our fighting men and women who are sacrificing for US."

County officials wondered whether residents would support banners or large free speech signs if someone used them to criticize the military or express another unpopular sentiment.

"You have to take the good with the bad," Rutledge said during a sign code discussion Monday afternoon by the commission's Policy Committee, which plans to review the entire sign code over the next few months. "We can't regulate the message; we can regulate the size."