NH town: Christian roadside sign more distracting, dangerous than gas station signs
ADF-allied attorney files suit on behalf of religious organization against town of Chichester for prohibiting sign because of religious content
Tuesday, Mar 8, 2011
CONCORD, N.H. — An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney representing a religious organization filed a lawsuit Monday against officials with the town of Chichester. The town’s planning board rejected the nonprofit’s application to construct an electronic message sign on its private property. The sign would display Bible verses along a public road where numerous other signs of similar dimension are already displayed.
“Christian organizations shouldn’t be censored by a city’s zoning officials because the messages of their street signs happen to be religious in nature,” said ADF Senior Counsel Joseph Infranco. “Town officials are in violation of the U.S. Constitution and federal law by denying a permit for this sign based on its content.”
In July 2010, the Chichester Planning Board denied plans by Signs for Jesus to display an electronic sign measuring approximately six by four feet in place of a similarly sized sign left by a woodworking business, which sold the property to the Christian nonprofit in 2009. Opponents originally objected because the sign might contain “objectionable” Bible verses. One board member expressed that, because the sign would attempt to communicate a message, it would be more distracting to drivers than commercial signs, which “just inform drivers about the price of gas.”
“Town officials may not single out religious content over concerns on how passing motorists will react,” Infranco explained. “If motorist reaction is a serious concern, the town would be better off banning displays of the current price of gas.”
The proposed sign would display a new Bible verse each day from its property along U.S. Route 4, where numerous other commercial and non-commercial signs, some of which are also brightly lit, line the road.
Planning officials originally denied the application for the sign but eventually approved it unanimously after numerous appeals. Nonetheless, the planning board denied site plan approval in a 4-3 decision on Feb. 9, citing concerns that drivers would try to read the sign’s messages at a busy intersection and create a traffic hazard.
The lawsuit argues that the denial violates the First Amendment and the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Person Act, which prohibits the government from singling out nonprofit religious organizations for discrimination in zoning matters.
Michael J. Tierney of Manchester, one of nearly 1,900 attorneys in the ADF alliance, is serving as counsel in the suit, Signs for Jesus v. Town of Chichester, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire.
“Christian organizations shouldn’t be censored by a city’s zoning officials because the messages of their street signs happen to be religious in nature,” said ADF Senior Counsel Joseph Infranco. “Town officials are in violation of the U.S. Constitution and federal law by denying a permit for this sign based on its content.”
In July 2010, the Chichester Planning Board denied plans by Signs for Jesus to display an electronic sign measuring approximately six by four feet in place of a similarly sized sign left by a woodworking business, which sold the property to the Christian nonprofit in 2009. Opponents originally objected because the sign might contain “objectionable” Bible verses. One board member expressed that, because the sign would attempt to communicate a message, it would be more distracting to drivers than commercial signs, which “just inform drivers about the price of gas.”
“Town officials may not single out religious content over concerns on how passing motorists will react,” Infranco explained. “If motorist reaction is a serious concern, the town would be better off banning displays of the current price of gas.”
The proposed sign would display a new Bible verse each day from its property along U.S. Route 4, where numerous other commercial and non-commercial signs, some of which are also brightly lit, line the road.
Planning officials originally denied the application for the sign but eventually approved it unanimously after numerous appeals. Nonetheless, the planning board denied site plan approval in a 4-3 decision on Feb. 9, citing concerns that drivers would try to read the sign’s messages at a busy intersection and create a traffic hazard.
The lawsuit argues that the denial violates the First Amendment and the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Person Act, which prohibits the government from singling out nonprofit religious organizations for discrimination in zoning matters.
Michael J. Tierney of Manchester, one of nearly 1,900 attorneys in the ADF alliance, is serving as counsel in the suit, Signs for Jesus v. Town of Chichester, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire.
- Pronunciation guide: Tierney (TEER’-nee)
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.