Store owner fights Santa display ban

Palm Beach Post ^ | Tuesday, December 2, 2003 | Sarah Eisenhauer

[freekitty]

Why don't the dufuses just change the code?

[bicycle thug]

I'm tired of things like this. They care more about how well the corpse looks or the kind things they can say about the offending business then keeping it thriving.

You can make a city so clean and within a proper range of acceptable limits of appearence it actually looks ugly. You look and you feel disturbed because it lacks nature's inspired chaos, or the oddball human element here and there. I wish this guy luck; he's gonna need it with that flock of turkeys dunning him.

If I lived there, I'm sure they would hate my purple house and dandilion garden. ;-)

[Jack Wilson]

he owes $47,000 .... is this worth it?

[gcruse]

He also owes for violations at his house. He must be a real... flagrant fellow. I think he has a right to do on his property what he will, but then I believing in zoning laws, too. Point being, it wouldn't be worth it to me.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

ping

[Tunehead54]

Bookmarking the unbelievable! Haven't read it all - is he residential?

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.

Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

[Dog Gone]

I think basing his legal argument on freedom of religion is a loser. Santa is a pretty secular fella.

But he could win if he phrased the argument differently. There is no rational basis for restricting Santa to two months, any more than restricting the Golden Arches for two months.

The guy has a lousy attorney.

[gcruse]

You're right, I think, on both counts.

[Looking for Diogenes]

I've been to that store. All it sells is Christmas-related merchandise. Putting a couple of Santa Clauses out front would not be holiday decorations- it'd be plain old advertising - like putting a five foot puppy in front of a pet store.

[Homer1]

I agree.

The guy owns a Christmas shop. He should have the right to advertise on his storefront.

The religion angle is a crock

[Dog Gone]

And putting a Christmas cap on one of those big puppies would be illegal in this city.

This is clearly vulnerable to challenge on a constitutional basis. More than one, actually.

But, this guy is going to lose because he and his attorney want to fight it on a different battlefield. Oh well.

[mtbopfuyn]

So, if they sell Christmas decorations I don't understand what the problem is with Santa. Exactly what wording in the code is he breaking?

[Looking for Diogenes]

Exactly what wording in the code is he breaking?
mtbopfuyn

You know Google works on your computer too! OK, since you caught me in a good mood here's the ordinance.

I don't know if they think he's violating this ordinance directly, or if his Santa statues are out of compliance with other sections of the sign ordinance but would be exempted under this ordinance during the holiday season. Feel free to read the rest of the municipal code of North Palm Beach to figure that one out. :)

Sec. 6-112. Exempt signs
F) Holiday lights and decorations, erected during the appropriate holiday season, shall comply with all building and electrical codes. Holiday lights and decorations may be erected no earlier than four (4) weeks prior to the subject holiday with the exception of the Christmas/Hanukkah holidays. Christmas/Hanukkah lights and decorations may be erected no earlier than October 15th. All holiday lights and decorations must be removed within two (2) weeks following the holiday.

[Old Professer]

You don't get it, do you - they are in charge; they can't back down.

A sane man would dress the Santa Clauses in children's pajamas and put peace candles all about the base and then light them and go have a beer.

[Old Professer]

You can't believe in property rights and zoning both.

[gcruse]

I know it. But I've seen what nonzoning does to Houston, and it isn't pretty. Keep the factories out of residential areas.

[FLAMING DEATH]

I think Christmas is the most despicable of all holidays. I celebrated it only twice in my entire life, at the behest of a woman that I now don't much like, and can sum it up by saying that it is nothing more than people buying things they can't afford for people they don't like who won't appreciate what they get. In fact, I routinely refer to it as "Debtmas".

All that having been said...

What this man displays on his own property is his own right. If the outside of his store is NOT his property, but if other merchants are allowed to put displays outside stores, then this guy should be allowed to as well.

The government should mind it's own business.