New Hamilton County sign rules take second shot at banning election placards

Hamilton County’s commissioners believe their second attempt at banning signs from public property will reduce clutter near unincorporated roadways without leading them back to court.

Commissioners approved an ordinance on Dec. 19 that only allows approved government, utility, construction and public safety signs to be placed in Hamilton County’s right of ways. Starting Feb. 1, any other signs—including political or real estate signs—will only be allowed on privately owned property, with the permission of the landowner.

Carmel already has an ordinance similar to the county’s in place, and several cities—Fishers, Westfield and Noblesville—are looking at adopting similar bans, according to county officials.

Steve Dillinger, president of the Hamilton County Commissioners, said he was previously opposed to a ban, but “people have gone crazy” over the past few election cycles and placed thousands of signs near the county’s roadways.

“I’d always felt like candidates that couldn’t raise money, or didn’t have money, that was one way they could promote themselves and get their name out,” Dillinger said. “But, I changed my mind. I felt like everyone was going overboard. When you get that many signs put up on intersections, it becomes a safety issue.”

When the county attempted to pass its first sign ordinance in 2018, then-county council candidate Rick Sharp and his attorney, Tim Stoesz, filed a lawsuit arguing the ordinance limited free speech by banning candidate signs.

Hamilton County Superior Court 3 Judge William Hughes ruled, because the 2018 ordinance provided a special exemption for commercial signs in certain parts of the county, the ordinance did restrict free speech by regulating signs according to their content.

While similar to the previous version, Dillinger said the new ordinance addresses the courts’ earlier concerns.

“We didn’t necessarily agree with all of the findings, but we corrected all of the things the court took exception to,” Dillinger said.

Now, there is no special exemption for commercial signs in certain parts of the county. The blanket prohibition will therefore apply to signs for real estate listings or other businesses the same way it applies to political signs.

Zach Miller, a real estate agent with F.C. Tucker Co. and chairman of the MIBOR Realtor Association’s Hamilton County division, said the ban may not have as much of an effect on agents’ sales as it would have in the recent past.

“Before today’s new technology, signs were everything,” Miller said. “But technology has definitely made it easier for people to find homes without relying directly on signs.”

He said the prohibition will put a crimp in the way real estate agents conduct business, but the most important signs agents use are those placed on private property with the permission of the homeowner.

“There’s still a basis of our business that is reliant on being able to have those signs out,” Miller said.

Even so, Miller said, the MIBOR Realtor Association works with local government officials to influence and stay aware of sign ordinances.

The new ordinance also has a more lenient response to violators. Whereas the commissioners previously approved an optional $500 fine, the new ordinance states that a violator whose sign is taken to the Hamilton County Highway Department only has to pay $3 per sign for signs smaller than six-square-feet, and $15 for signs larger than that.

Uncollected signs may be scheduled for disposal if they’re not collected before June 30 or Dec. 31 of each year.

“I think the general public is very pleased we passed this ordinance. A lot of people felt the signs cluttered up the intersections and looked like a mess,” Dillinger said.