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Carefree delays vote on political-sign ordinance after Supreme Court guidance
Summary
The council voted unanimously to postpone final action on Ordinance 2025-02, a proposed amendment to the town's political-sign code, after staff said the town must align its rules with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Reed v. Gilbert and plans a code-wide update with outside consultants.
The Carefree Town Council voted unanimously to postpone consideration of Ordinance 2025-02, the second reading of an amendment to the town's political-sign regulations (Town Code 11-3-2), while staff completes a code-wide review to ensure compliance with U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
Mayor and staff explained that the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Reed v. Gilbert holds that ordinances that regulate signs based on their message are content-based and thus subject to strict scrutiny. Staff said the town's current code distinguishes political signs from other sign types in ways the court has found unconstitutional and recommended postponing the ordinance while the town's contract with Michael Baker & Associates is used to update the zoning code.
"We will not enforce the town political signage in our right of ways where it is contrary to Reed v. Gilbert," the mayor told the council. Staff said the town will follow the Supreme Court's interpretation until the code is updated and that the next election cycle may see signs in locations that past code language would have restricted.
Councilmember motioned to postpone the ordinance to allow the broader code review to proceed; the council seconded and voted to postpone the ordinance by unanimous voice vote.
Outcome: Ordinance 2025-02 postponed for code-wide review to ensure alignment with Reed v. Gilbert.
