Plaintiff Surmises St. Louis Sign—and Animal—Preferences
An activist who owns several St. Louis apartments as part of his “housing ministry” is challenging a sign ordinance that bans his large mural opposing government seizure of property.
Jim Roos’ 360-square-foot mural, painted on the side of one of his apartment buildings, reads “End Eminent Domain Abuse.” He received a citation because it is 10 times larger than allowed.
Roos is fighting a citation in a federal lawsuit that claims he is being targeted because of his message, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. “I think if it said, ‘Go Cardinals,’ we wouldn’t have any problems,” Roos told the newspaper.
The city recently allowed an exemption for a gas company that wanted to display a 1,000-square-foot sign on its headquarters.
Roos is getting some help from the Institute for Justice, a libertarian advocacy group in Arlington, Va. The institute says the sign code is inconsistent because there are no size restrictions on flags, civic symbols, time and temperature signs, and works of art.
“If Jim had put up a painting of dogs playing poker, that would be OK,” the institute’s William Maurer told the Post-Dispatch.
