Cite as: 512 U. S. 43 (1994)
Opinion of the Court
stations," 6 §35-6, id., at 42a. Unlike its predecessor, the new ordinance contains a lengthy "Declaration of Findings, Policies, Interests, and Purposes," part of which recites that the
"proliferation of an unlimited number of signs in private, residential, commercial, industrial, and public areas of the City of Ladue would create ugliness, visual blight and clutter, tarnish the natural beauty of the landscape as well as the residential and commercial architecture, impair property values, substantially impinge upon the privacy and special ambience of the community, and may cause safety and traffic hazards to motorists, pedestrians, and children." Id., at 36a.
Gilleo amended her complaint to challenge the new ordinance, which explicitly prohibits window signs like hers. The District Court held the ordinance unconstitutional, 774 F. Supp. 1559 (ED Mo. 1991), and the Court of Appeals affirmed, 986 F. 2d 1180 (CA8 1993). Relying on the plurality opinion in Metromedia, Inc. v. San Diego, 453 U. S. 490 (1981), the Court of Appeals held the ordinance invalid as a "content based" regulation because the City treated commercial speech more favorably than noncommercial speech and favored some kinds of noncommercial speech over others.
6 The full catalog of exceptions, each subject to special size limitations, is as follows: "[M]unicipal signs"; "[s]ubdivision and residence identification" signs; "[r]oad signs and driveway signs for danger, direction, or identification"; "[h]ealth inspection signs"; "[s]igns for churches, religious institutions, and schools" (subject to regulations set forth in § 35-5); "identification signs" for other not-for-profit organizations; signs "identifying the location of public transportation stops"; "[g]round signs advertising the sale or rental of real property," subject to the conditions, set forth in § 35-10, that such signs may "not be attached to any tree, fence or utility pole" and may contain only the fact of proposed sale or rental and the seller or agent's name and address or telephone number; "[c]ommercial signs in commercially zoned or industrial zoned districts," subject to restrictions set out elsewhere in the ordinance; and signs that "identif[y] safety hazards." § 35-4, id., at 41a, 45a.
47
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007