Trustees discuss restoring political-sign rules, plan size limits and further review

Trustees reviewed the township’s sign rules on Oct. 1 and discussed whether to reinstate written limits on political signs after state-level changes and court decisions in 2015 removed earlier local restrictions.

A resident, Robert Brett Updike, spoke to the meeting and said changes since 2015 allow political signs on private property year-round so long as they are not in the right-of-way. Trustees reviewed model municipal language (examples from Blue Ash and others) and discussed keeping political-sign rules separate from general temporary-sign rules.

Trustees generally supported adding size limits tied to zoning districts (examples discussed during the meeting: R-E through R-3 — 16 square feet; A/R-4/RMHP — 32 square feet; business/industrial — 64 square feet) and agreed to add the size limits as new subsections under the political-sign provision while preserving separate rules for temporary commercial signs. They also flagged practical enforcement issues: state campaign rules limit some local regulation (sign placement in right-of-way and on poles), and the board discussed unintended effects (such as restricting municipal signs for voter levies or fire department notices).

Why it matters: political-sign rules affect free-speech space on public property, enforcement burden for township staff, and local practices around elections; trustees said any change should be in place well before the next major election.

Next steps: trustees asked staff to draft proposed language that adds size limits for political signs by zoning district and to research the applicable Ohio Revised Code provisions and local examples; they plan to revisit the draft at the next meeting so it could be considered before the next election cycle.