ACLU backs Rockledge group's complaint
Environmental group unable to post signs
BY REBECCA BASU
The
Rockledge city officials
told the group Save Our Aquifer not to post the signs along private property on
a stretch of U.S. 1 in Rockledge.
The group was told its
signs didn't fit into 10 allowable cases for temporary signs, nor did they fall
into the category of political signs because they weren't about a referendum
issue or candidate.
Kevin Aplin, vice president
of the Brevard ACLU, disagreed.
"Clearly, it's a
political sign, to do with permitting over an environmental issue," he
said. "Citizens have a right to express an opinion. You can't make a
determination just because someone's not on a ballot (that) it's not a
political issue. Any sign that would comment on an issue of the day that would
come before the city of
The ACLU asked the city to
revoke its ordinance, and wants a response by Wednesday. It also asked the city
not to enforce the ordinance in the meantime.
Rockledge City Attorney Joe
Miniclier said there would be no enforcement on the sign law through today.
"We've never had the
free-speech issue come up before," he said. "The ordinance doesn't
speak specifically to what (the group) is trying to do by putting (signs) on
private, commercial property. We'll evaluate it and ask our council what they
want to do."
Rockledge has been moving
forward with a plan approved by
the city council to inject treated sewage into the Floridan Aquifer, the main
source of
The project, an aquifer
storage and recovery well, is being done as a way of guarding against water
scarcity and increasingly tight water regulations, officials said.
Well construction is
expected to finish soon. Then the city will seek an amendment to a permit,
allowing for a series of tests to prove the project won't harm the aquifer,
City Manager Jim McKnight said.
The Florida Department of
Environmental Protection, which issued the permit, will require a public
hearing on the amendment.
Save Our Aquifer
spokeswoman Amy Mosher opposes the well project because she believes it could
harm the aquifer and foul drinking supplies.
She said the group wants
signs in place before a public hearing, to raise awareness of the group's
opposition campaign. Smaller signs have been placed at private homes in the
city, Mosher said.
"Nine out of 10 people
still haven't heard about the project," she said.
Another part of the city's
sign law the ACLU calls unconstitutional is the requirement of a cash bond for
political signs. In
Contact Basu at 242-3618 or rbasu@floridatoday.com.
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