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And it’s too bad.
But the city of Winona’s efforts to regulate dynamic signs seems to be a bit heavy-handed and maybe a waste of city staff time.
The city is dealing with the perceived problem of dynamic signs, which flash multicolored lights and video displays, sometimes very brightly.
The city contends it must regulate these signs because they could be a distraction and bother motorists or shine incessantly, ruining views and becoming light pollution.
However, those seem to be worse-case scenarios and a sky-is-falling response.
At a recent meeting, some sign company employees appeared before the Winona Planning Commission to argue the proposed ordinance violated freedom of speech and was an abridgement of property rights. These arguments appeal to the flag-waving, freedom loving side in all of us.
But they’re wrong.
The government — whether federal or local — has proven through the courts time and again that it can regulate freedom of speech and that it only goes so far. Moreover, just owning a piece of property doesn’t confer on the owner the right to do whatever he or she wants. If that were so, there’d be no such thing as planning or zoning laws.
However, this squabble over the signs seems to raise a different issue — is this really the highest and best use of city staff time? Or, is it just another example of an increasingly protective nanny state that must try to wrap the community in a lifevest in order to save it from something that might (or might not) happen.
Maybe most importantly, we have to wonder if someone down at City Hall forgot what a sign is and what one does.
Signs are meant to grab attention. Just because they flash in color or show video doesn’t mean their purpose has changed recently. Think to the Burma Shave ads a couple of generations ago. Think about the Wall Drug signs plastered all over the Dakotas. Think about patent medicines and car advertisements that once adorned barns across America. They weren’t placed in remote locations, they were put where lots of people could see them — by roads and thoroughfares. The signs are meant to catch the eyes and attention of drivers, passengers and passersby.
You can try legislating attentive drivers, but it’s hard if not impossible to enforce it.
Ultimately, keeping eyes on the road is the responsibility of each individual driver. Those who are too easily distracted by a sign should probably turn the keys over to someone else.
This most recent proposal by Winona city staff seems to place responsibility right smack dab on exactly who it doesn’t belong. The responsibility, in most cases, is the drivers’.
The advertisers and the sign creators are just the messengers. Still, for their sake, we’d consider watching out for stones coming from the direction of city hall.
By Darrell Ehrlick, editor, on behalf of the Winona Daily News editorial board, which also includes publisher Rusty Cunningham and online editor Jerome Christenson. To comment, send e-mail to letters@winonadaily news.com.
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