Yorktown tables political sign discussion

The Yorktown Town Board moved to table discussion of temporary opinion signs at its May 12 meeting, including political signs, with the majority of its members instead calling for a broader review of the town’s entire sign law.

“When looking at the law as a whole, it became evident that there were parts of the law that have not been looked at in decades,” Supervisor Ed Lachterman told Yorktown News. “Four of the board members felt that it would be prudent to table the conversation for now and work at all of the issues we would like to see fixed and insure with legal that we are not infringing on any First Amendment Rights.”

The town’s current sign law regulates the size, location and duration of seven of eight types of temporary signs. There are no regulations for “temporary opinion” signs, which include election signs.

Councilwoman Susan Siegel agreed with her colleagues—Lachterman and Councilmen Patrick Murphy, Sergio Esposito and Ilan Gilbert—that the current law is outdated but argued that residents have raised concerns about temporary opinion signs, often used for political messaging, which she said have become an increasing issue, especially during election cycles. She expressed concern about the amount of time a full law review would take.

Siegel has written about temporary opinion signs dating back to 2018. She told Yorktown News that she “decided to focus on amendments to the one section that addresses the complaints we hear most often: the proliferation of unsightly election year campaign signs.”

She said she wants the law amended before this year’s election campaign signs begin to appear.

“If we regulate real estate, tag sale and special event signs, it's only logical that we should also regulate temporary opinion signs.”

It was not immediately clear when the matter may return to the Town Board agenda.