Wheeling man wins political sign battle

A six-month fight in the name of the First Amendment has paid off for a Wheeling resident.

Chris Shefner has been fighting a citation he received Nov. 5 of last year for having two Ron Paul signs in his front yard.

On Monday, the Wheeling village board made a final change to its ordinances that Shefner said complies with what he was looking for.

Originally, Wheeling only allowed one political sign per candidate per yard. The signs also were not allowed up more than 30 days before an election.

Shefner was given a $25 ticket for having the two signs in his yard long before that time limit. He contended that violated his constitutional right to freedom of speech.

"There's absolutely no need for this kind of law to be around," he said last year. "It's my personal property; I should be able to put whatever I want in the yard."

In February of this year, Wheeling dropped the time limit because it had been found unconstitutional in other villages, but the provision for one sign per candidate was left standing.

The issue went back to the Wheeling plan commission for several meetings, but no consensus was reached.

"We had essentially decided to file suit," said Jessica Nolan, Shefner's attorney.

However, the village board made one last effort to come up with something that would balance Wheeling's interests and still allow Shefner to express his views.

On Monday, the law was changed so that all signs on residential yards have to be less than an aggregate of 32 square feet. One sign can be no bigger than 12 square feet.

While there are still limits to the amount of signs on one lawn, there's no limit by candidate any more.

The rule for taking political signs down seven days after an election remains the same and is consistent with what many other towns allow.

Issue signs -- such as ones that express views about war or taxes -- must follow the same provisions, but they are not tied to a time limit.

"Communities have the right to maintain aesthetics, but we have to balance that with the right to free speech," said James Ferolo, attorney for Wheeling. "I feel this was a good balance that was struck."

Shefner said the only outstanding issue that remains is that of his citation; the village and his attorney will be working that out later this week.

"It's a pretty good outcome," he said. "There's no reason to go any further."

Shefner's kept his two Ron Paul signs in his yard during the whole battle, and he said he'll keep them there until the elections in November.

"He's still in the race," he said. "As long as he's still in there, I'll keep my two signs up."