FINAL CHAPTER IN THE NEILLSVILLE SKATEPARK SIGN SAGA?
Wednesday, February 15th, 2006 -- 11:44 AM
Advertisements will be allowed at the Neillsville Skate Park ? but not for long.A First Amendment saga that erupted when an area pro-life group was told they couldn?t place a sign at the Skate Park came to a conclusion Tuesday night with the City Council amending their current sign ordinance and adopting a resolution that will allow signs at the Skatepark ? but only until the end of the year.
The 2 X 4 signs were placed on the west fence of the park as part of a fundraising drive spearheaded by the private Skate Park Committee.
The Council first became involved in November when Clark County Right to Life President Renee Schoen said a city employee told her the group could not donate the required $500 to place a pro-abstinence sign at the park because the sign was ?religious? in nature.
That touched off a discussion on the City Council that eventually led to all the signs being removed.
Mayor Diane Murphy appointed a Sign Committee, which returned two recommendations that were unanimously approved by the Council Tuesday night.
First, the Council amended the current sign ordinance to make it more flexible. City Attorney Bonnie Wacsmuth advised the current ordinance does not allow ?off-premise? signs in City Parks ? unless approved by the Council. She said the amendments allow the common council to approve such signs by ?specific motion or resolution?, and only for the ?improvement or maintenance to City of Neillsville property?.
"If, for example, a hockey rink comes along and you guys think you'd like to allow them to do some advertising to get that hockey rink up - you can again pass a new resolution and put restrictions on size, on price and all those things," Wacsmuth explained. "But, unless you do that, they can't put those signs there."
The Council then passed a specific resolution that will allow signs to go back up at the Neillsville Skatepark until the end of the year. The resolution prohibits signs promoting ?tobacco or alcohol or to include pornography, profanity, sexually offensive language or displays?.
It remains unclear how the Skatepark Committee - which raised a good portion of the money needed to develop the park through the signs ? will be impacted by the Council?s action. It was noted last night businesses were told their signs would stay up for five years if they donated $500; ten years if they donated $1,000.
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