Dear Lee County Board of Commissioners:
After making numerous requests for documents pertaining to the sign ordinance amortization clause over the phone and via e-mail, I am filing the attached Freedom of information act request to get the documents. It is clear the board is determined to pass a sign ordinance tonight that is wrong for Lee County and violates the Constitution as well as the Laws of the State of Georgia. For months we have pointed out these legal issues, but the board continues to side with the Southwest Georgia Regional Development Center (SWGRDC), who has been proven multiple times to be misleading with information and steadfast the the ordinance is best applied through strategic application, or in layman’s terms looking the other way.
Over the last two weeks, I have been struggling to get the county to enforce their current sign ordinance on an 8400 acre parcel of land in Northeast Lee County. I have been met continually with the statement, “We only have one code enforcement officer, and sign complaints aren’t urgent unless the involve the safety of the traveling public.” This is a glaring failure of the current Board of Directors. Who now want to increase the amount of regulation without increasing enforcement. This is simply unacceptable.
Patrick Henry stated “The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government – lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.”
It is clear that you are willing to violate the Constitution of the United States because the SWGRDC tells you it is alright to do so. Has any board member checked their legal research? I myself had to showed SWGRDC that they were in violation of O.C.G.A 16-7-58(a)(2):
“Your concern over O.C.G.A 16-7-58(a)(2) is a solid concern. I looked it up; although I am not completely certain that the state code is legal, we certainly do not intend for the Leesburg and Lee County ordinance to be the test. Therefore, we will be changing that part of the ordinance to be in compliance with state code.”
Sincerely,
Stephen O’Neil, AICP
Southwest Georgia Regional Commission
Yet they are still willing to move ahead blatantly disregarding this law.
As a Board are you really willing to make a statement that a person advertising a gallon of gas has sign rights that a person advertising a gallon of milk doesn’t? Are you willing to tell a business that they cannot place any political signs at their place business going directly against State law? Are you willing to shut the lights out on church and school signs across the County?
I am asking the board to seek a second opinion from a different consultant outside of the region, one who actually has a sign ordinance in place that has withstood Constitutional arguments. SWGRDC is of the opinion that if a sign ordinance is not or has not been challenged it is Constitutional, this is a very risky choice for the County to follow.
If this sign ordinance is passed tonight, I am putting you on notice that I will personally challenge the Constitutionality/legality of EVERY aspect of this ordinance. Commissioners it is time for you to quit listening to consultants and bureaucrats and read your own document and consider the constitutionality of each limit you are trying to apply. You are the elected officials, and if you don’t understand the document you are instituting, I ask you tenure your resignation as you are not serving the people who you represent.
Sincerely,
Timothy M Nelson
229-395-9249
