ST. PETE BEACH - The city's lone billboard won't be getting any neighbors.
A federal court has sided with St. Pete Beach against a Georgia company that wanted to strike down the city's sign regulations so it could erect billboards.
In a 17-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge James Moody Jr. found that Granite State Outdoor Advertising Inc. is not entitled to challenge the city's sign rules or to receive attorney's fees. Moody also ruled Tuesday in favor of City Manager Mike Bonfield and Mayor Ward Friszolowski, who along with the city were defendants in the lawsuit.
"This is very good news," Bonfield said. "I'm very pleased."
Granite State had filed federal lawsuits in Tampa against Clearwater, St. Petersburg and St. Pete Beach. The suits claimed that each city's sign rules placed unconstitutional limits on free speech.
The company, which doesn't erect billboards but sells the permits that it wins after suing communities, had hoped to force the three cities to allow 19 new billboards. It wanted to erect five 65-foot signs on Blind Pass Road and on Gulf Boulevard in St. Pete Beach, where off-site signs are not permitted. The billboards also would have exceeded height and size limits.
Before filing the lawsuit against the city in 2002, Granite State had applied for billboard permits. The city denied the applications.
Last October, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Granite State's argument that St. Petersburg's sign ordinance was unconstitutional. And last month, the same court sided with Clearwater.
Granite State could appeal those decisions to the U.S. Supreme Court. And the company could ask an appellate court to review Moody's decision.
Adam Webb, an attorney for Granite State, could not be reached for comment.
Granite State has won suits in billboard cases in other Florida cities and in Georgia. The company objects to everything from how the cities regulate real estate signs to banners hung for special events. They allege that some rules illegally favor one kind of business or message over another.
"(St. Pete Beach, Clearwater and St. Petersburg) drew the line in the sand on these billboard cases," said Bill Brinton, a Jacksonville attorney who represented St. Pete Beach. "They were not intimidated by the potential negative outcome."
