Council tables proposed temporary-sign rules after extended debate over rights, timing and free-speech concerns

City planner Mr. Derby presented TX-2025-01, staff’s proposed refinements to the zoning ordinance’s sign exemptions and temporary-sign rules, and told council the planning commission recommended the package with a 5–1 vote (after an amendment allowing multiple yard signs during the stated period).

Council members pressed staff on a string of concerns during lengthy discussion: how “public right of way” would be interpreted and enforced when multiple agencies (city, county, SCDOT) have interests; whether duration limits (proposal moved from 30 to 45 days) unduly restrict First Amendment activity for political signs; the practicality of enforcing removal timelines for real-estate signs (including whether removal is tied to sale closing); and dimensional limits—councilors said a proposed maximum three-foot sign height would preclude many commercial real-estate signs.

City attorney Mr. Hughes advised the council that courts require content-neutral, time-place-and-manner regulations and that treating different temporary signs by different rules risks legal problems; he said staff’s approach was to create uniform rules that meet constitutional standards but that the council could set the specific durations. Several council members said the draft contained too many open issues to forward. Council member Rupp moved and council member Roche seconded a motion to table TX-2025-01 to the next Committee of the Whole; the motion to postpone carried 7–0.

No amendments to the ordinance were adopted at the meeting; staff and council said they will return with revised language for public discussion.