Fifteen-foot Trump sign sparks neighborhood debate over Bremerton sign code

BREMERTON — The “Trump 2020” sign in Kevin Chambers’ yard started out as a joke.

While Chambers was away on a work trip, a friend stopped by and installed the 4x8 sign — which reads “Trump/Pence 2020: Make America Great Again” — in the front yard of his West Bremerton home. Chambers, who says he is not a supporter of President Donald Trump, planned to take the sign down after about a week.

Then someone showed Chambers a screenshot from a Facebook group where commenters had discussed tearing the sign down and egging Chambers’ house.

“I decided I don’t really like Trump, but I don’t like people telling me what I could do in my yard more than I hate Trump,” Chambers said.

So the sign stayed up, until someone tagged it with spray paint. In response, Chambers and Robert Parker, a South Kitsap resident who owns the sign, used wood stilts to elevate it 15 feet above the ground.

That’s where the sign has stayed, until two weeks ago when Chambers received a letter from the city telling him the sign was in violation of city code. Under Bremerton’s rules, noncommercial signs are limited to a maximum height of six feet. The city has given Chambers until Jan. 21 to either lower the sign or take it down.

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What started as a joke between friends has now evolved into a debate over how the city regulates signs.

Chambers argues that the six-foot height limit is too strict for a sign on his property that doesn’t block sightlines for drivers and isn’t a safety risk. He also believes the city’s response was motivated by the content of the sign.

But city planners say the code is written to regulate all non-commercial signs, not just ones with political messages.

“We're not saying that based on the content of his sign that he has to take it down, it's purely that ‘Hey your sign is too high, just bring it down a bit, that way we're in compliance,’” city planner Justin Rowland said.

Under Bremerton’s code, “non-commercial speech signs” are signs with religious, political, social, or philosophical messaging and don't promote commercial products or services. Signs can’t be bigger than 32 square feet, and the maximum height is limited to six feet tall, measured from the ground to the top of the sign.

The six-foot height limit is the tallest the city can allow without requiring the sign owner to apply for a permit, according to city planning manager Allison Satter. Signs taller than six feet are required to be inspected for safety under International Residential Code rules.

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The city doesn’t proactively search for signs that are out of compliance, Rowland said. Instead, complaints from citizens drive what signs the city’s code compliance department investigates. In this instance, a Dec.18 complaint from a resident alerted the city to Chamber’s sign.

Satter said she agreed with Chambers that the way the sign is displayed now doesn’t pose any health or safety issues.

“Because it's not (a health and safety issue) it's not a priority for the city, but it is a violation,” Satter said. “You can say whatever you want on your property you just have to be compliant with those two minimal codes.”

The issue is more broad for Chambers, who said he wouldn’t have had to raise the height on the sign if the city properly enforced its rules on graffiti. He also called out “overzealous neighbors” who “don’t believe people can have their own opinion.”

“There's a lot of anger and vitriol when people don't agree, that's why I let the sign stay up in the first place,” Chambers said.

While city code doesn’t regulate specific content on noncommercial speech signs, Chambers said the fact the sign advertises President Trump’s re-election played a part in the city’s decision to cite him for a violation.

“I think the complaint was politically motivated, and I don’t think the city would have (responded) this way if it wasn’t Trump,” Chambers said.

The city treats all noncommercial signs the same way regardless of messaging, Rowland said.

“If there are complaints about any other potential candidates for the upcoming elections, if complaints are made about those signs and we look at it, we will follow through the same way we have with Mr. Chambers,” Rowland said.

Cities and counties across the country made changes to local sign rules following a 2015 Supreme Court ruling, Reed v. Town of Gilbert, that held regulations governing signs must be content-neutral. Bremerton altered its sign code in 2016, including a change that shifted political signs under the larger heading of “noncommercial signs.”

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Bremerton’s code passes muster under the ruling, according to Bob Gomulkiewicz, a professor of law at the University of Washington who teaches classes on intellectual property law and freedom of speech.

“When I read Bremerton’s sign ordinance on its face, it looks like they have done a nice job of regulating signs for constitutionally permissible reasons,” Gomulkiewicz said.

He added that the Supreme Court has also held that cities can have different rules for commercial and non-commercial signs. Right now, cities can more heavily regulate commercial speech.

“I think Bremerton has done a nice job there in that they have less regulation of noncommercial speech,” Gomulkiewicz said.

Chambers said he hasn’t decided yet whether he will take the sign down by the Jan. 21 deadline. If he doesn’t, the city may forward the case on to code enforcement. If the sign still isn’t in compliance, Chambers could be fined.

"Right now, I'm evaluation our options for how I want to proceed," Chambers said.

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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story explained that the city's six-foot height limit for signs was based on neighborhood character and how the area where the sign is located is zoned. The height limit is based on the International Residential Code, which requires all signs over six feet to be reviewed for safety. With a six-foot maximum height limit, the city can exempt noncommercial signs from requiring a permit.