(A) No person or organization shall place, maintain or display or cause to be placed, maintained or displayed within any right-of-way in the City any sign as defined in § 153.133 of the Springdale Code of Ordinances.
(B) If a sign which contains a beneficial message is displayed within a right-of-way, any benefactor of such message, whether an individual or an organization (as defined in § 130.08 of the Springdale Code of Ordinances) shall be presumed to be maintaining or causing to be maintained the sign in violation of this section if actual notice of the existence of the sign is provided to such person or organization and such sign is not removed within five (5) days of the receipt of such notice.
(1) The notice required by this section shall be written notice delivered to the person or person's residence or to any business location or headquarters of the benefactor of such message. The notice shall contain at least the following information: it shall cite this section, it shall substantially state the message in the sign sufficient to identify the sign in question, it shall identify the location of the sign or signs involved, it shall state the requirement of this section to remove said sign or signs within five (5) days of the receipt of notice and it shall state the penalty which may be imposed if tho sign is not removed. One notice for each benefactor of a message is sufficient if more than one sign is displayed provided that the total number of signs are identified as well as the number of signs displayed at each location. Notice shall be presumed completed if delivery to a person or location mentioned above is evidenced by a return certification of delivery signed by a Springdale police officer or evidenced by a return receipt of certified mail showing delivery to the person or address indicated. Such notice shall be signed by the Springdale Chief of Police or his representative and a copy of such notice will be retained as evidence of the contents of the notice.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the "benefactor" of a "beneficial message" means a person or organization which is identified either directly or indirectly by the message and which, by virtue of such message, reasonably could receive, or could have received direct or indirect benefit resulting from the display of such message.
(3) For the purposes of this section, beneficial message" includes but is not limited to:
(a) Messages which indicate the name of a candidate or candidates, whether for public or private office, and whether or not the election has occurred.
(b) A message identifying a commercial establishment or enterprise.
(c) A message indicating action on a public issue.
(d) A message announcing an event, sale or other project.
(e) Any message which can reasonably be construed to provide a benefit to the person or organization identified by the message.
(C) For the purposes of this section, it is not necessary to prove that the benefactor of a beneficial message actually has received or will receive benefit from the display of such message, but it is sufficient if it can be shown beyond a reasonable doubt that a reasonable person could conclude under the circumstances that a benefit could be derived from the display of such a message.
(D) "Public right-of-way" for the purposes of this section, means the area within which this city, the state, or its subdivision, or the Federal government are authorized to maintain or build road improvements or structures accessory thereto. Furthermore, for purposes of this section, it shall be presumed all traffic signs, utility poles, traffic lights, guardrails, handrails, and structures supporting the foregoing items as well as sidewalks running adjacent to public roads, the area between divided highways, and other structures placed to improve the use or safety of the public roadway and accessory structures are within the public right-of-way.
(E) This section shall not apply to the following:
(1) Messages on vehicles utilizing the right-of-way for travel or authorized parking.
(2) Authorized traffic signs, signals and accessory structures displaying authorized signs.
(3) Authorized signs providing information regarding public improvements and necessary government information or other public information authorized by the City
(F) Whoever violates this section shall be guilty of a minor misdemeanor. Each separate sign may be considered a separate offense. If notice to remove a sign or signs has been given, each day that the signs remain in violation of this section shall be considered a separate offense.
(Ord. 39-1084, passed 6-16-84)