Express Your Politics, But Keep It Legal

It’s that season again! No, not for football, campfires, or pumpkin spice lattes, but time for politics and elections (although football, campfires, and pumpkin spice lattes sound like a much better deal)! While elections can often be boring and fraught with conflict, many people choose to participate and show their support for a particular candidate for a certain office. While there is certainly nothing wrong with this, yard signs promoting a certain candidate can often become unsightly and clutter the community landscape. Last year, the City of Elizabethton revised our sign regulations including the regulations for political signs.

In order to ensure that you enjoy your first amendment rights to political speech, the Regional Planning Commission and City Council have placed some simple regulations to ensure that political signs do not visually pollute neighborhoods and do not interfere with driver’s safety.

Sign Size. Political signs are permitted in both residential and non-residential zones in the city. Sign located within residential zones must be no bigger than 4 square feet (2 feet by 2 feet) and signs located in non-residential zones must be no bigger than 32 square feet (approximately 5 feet by 6 feet). If you are unsure of the zone your property is located in, visits our website, www.Elizabethton.org, or give us a call at 542-1503 to find out. Under no circumstances are political signs allowed to be placed on public property including parks, street medians, trucks parked in public parking lots, or other governmental property. If you are unsure who owns the property, find out before placing a sign.

Sign Locations. Political signs must be placed on your property and not in the public right-of-way or near intersections which can block sight distances. Signs smaller than 4 square feet should be placed on the house side of sidewalks or power line poles. If your property has neither nearby, you should observe a minimum 5 foot setback from the edge of the stone/pavement of the road. Signs larger than 4 square feet should be place at least 5 feet on the building side from sidewalks or power line poles and 10 feet from the edge of the stone/pavement of the road if sidewalks or power line poles are not near you.

Also keep in mind that you may only have one political sign per candidate per each piece of property or parcel. Please keep these regulations in mind when you participate in helping to elect your candidate. Violations of these regulations could result in city staff removing the sign or a citation to City Court.

Don’t forget early voting starts October 19th and keep in mind that there is more than just a presidential candidate to vote for this year – a Congressman seat, a State Representative seat, 3 City Councilman seats, 3 School Board Members seats, and a City Judge seat. Go vote. Let’s talk about it!

Acceptable Political Sign Locations for Signs Under 4 square feet.