The city of Edinburg is regulating when political campaign signs can be posted on private property.
After a state law removed restrictions on how long political campaign signs could be placed, the Edinburg city council passed an ordinance that limits when those signs can be posted to just 90 days before the start of an election and requires that they be removed no later than 10 days after an election.
City Councilman Daniel “Dan” Diaz said they had heard there was a change in state law to the effect that there was no longer a time limit on how early those signs could be posted or how long they could stay up.
“In essence that means that somebody running for office could put signs out a year before or two years, even three years before, and they could just be up indefinitely,” Diaz said.
The Texas Election Code states a city ordinance that regulates political signs on private property cannot prohibit the sign from being placed, cannot require a permit or approval from the city, cannot impose a fee for the sign and cannot charge more for the removal of the sign than they charge for the removal of other signs.
It’s not immediately clear whether the ordinance conflicts with state law. A request to speak with the city attorney Thursday afternoon was not granted as of press time.
On Tuesday, the city adopted the new ordinance that incorporates many of the provisions of an ordinance the city previously had, but also adds new regulations.
The new ordinance states that a political campaign sign posted on private property cannot be placed more than 90 days before the first day of voting for the election to which the sign pertains. It must also be removed within 10 days after the election.
As also stated in the Texas election code, a sign cannot be more than 36 square feet, cannot be more than 8 feet high, cannot be illuminated and it cannot have any moving elements.
“We decided that, for beautification purposes and to help clear up the city of political signs that just stay up forever, we’re going to stick to our initial ordinance that states that political signs can only go up 90 days before the election and the candidate would have (10) days to remove their signs after the election,” Diaz said.
Campaign signs are also outlawed on real property “subject to an easement or other encumbrance” that allows the city to use the property for public purposes. They are also not allowed on or within public right-of-ways within the city.
Such signs — except those officially posted by the city — are also prohibited on public or city property.
City-owned buildings or grounds such as city hall, library, public safety building, city parks, etc. are considered public or city property.
An exception to this regulation is a public facility where a political debate is being held. However, the political signs or materials can only be posted during the event and must be immediately removed when it’s over.
This ordinance also does not apply to a sign, including a billboard, that temporarily has a political message but which is typically available for rent or purchase to carry commercial advertising or other messages that aren’t primarily political.
A violation of the ordinance will be subject to any fines and enforcement allowed under the Texas Election Code.
“I just hope that all the candidates can agree on helping make the city of Edinburg free of political signs that are just flooding the entire city,” Diaz said. “Hopefully, we can all have the respect for all the citizens and all the candidates and the city to keep it clutter-free of political signs because this could just open up Pandora’s Box everywhere.”
