Gurnee agrees on political sign size limit

Gurnee now has a local law controlling the size of political signs on private residential property.

Village trustees this week agreed to allow a maximum aggregate of 16 square feet of political signs on residential lots. That decision meshed with a village staff recommendation issued last month.

Similar to other towns, Gurnee had banned campaign signs on all property until 60 days before an election, and required their removal five days after the votes are cast.

But under state law effective since Jan. 1, the village can no longer enforce time limits for political signs on private residential property — only commercial land. However, local officials are allowed to determine the size.

Under Gurnee’s measure, individual signs are limited to 3 square feet for properties fronting side streets in traditional residential neighborhoods. Mayor Kristina Kovarik said property owners can have multiple signs before reaching a limit of 16 total square feet.

Larger political signs will be allowed for private residential lots fronting a street defined as “major” by the village. That means just a single 4-by-4-foot political placard could go up and hit the limit.

Trustee Kirk Morris was the lone dissenter on the sign limitations. He said Wednesday he’s not against having limits on political signs, but objected to the different maximum sizes for homes on smaller and major streets.

“I’m against complicated laws,” Morris said. “Let’s make things simple.”

Kovarik said it would be preferable to not need a size restriction for the political signs. However, she said, the village must be prepared if someone installs a huge political sign in a residential neighborhood.

“They (residents) would complain to us about why can’t the village pass an ordinance limiting a sign,” Kovarik said.

While towns must be “reasonable” when enacting a political sign size limit, an exact square footage wasn’t included in the state law. Gurnee Village Attorney Bryan Winter said an aggregate 16 square feet should be considered reasonable.

American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois representatives said they had wanted the state to not only get rid of the time restrictions for political signs, but also eliminate the ability of cities to enact size or square footage restrictions.