Burien Sign Code Update Open House

The City of Burien is updating their sign code in response to the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court case, Reed v. Town of Gilbert. The Supreme Court found that the Town of Gilbert’s sign code violated the guarantee of freedom of speech within the First Amendment, making it unconstitutional. Gilbert’s sign code regulated signage based on content, and differentiated between signs requiring permits and signs that were exempt from permits such as political signs, ideological signs, and temporary directional signs. The recent ruling does not allow jurisdictions to have criteria based on the sign’s message, and regulations must be limited to location, duration design, and materials.