In June, leaders at Vienna, VA’s United Methodist Church of the Good Shepherd purchased an illuminated monument sign with an electronic message center to advertise its ministries more effectively than an old-style, changeable-letter readerboard could. However, when the church’s display broadcast three messages one day this summer – one offering refuge from the heat, another touting its website and a third listing the time for a prayer-group meeting – Fairfax County officials sent a letter warning the church that only two messages are allowed per 24-hour period. The county offered the choice of complying or removing the sign.
Local officials arranged a meeting in late July with the church to determine a solution. No compromise ensued, so Good Shepherd’s congregants decided to fight for their First Amendment rights of free speech. Thus, on August 23, the church filed a federal lawsuit. Also, church officials said many noncompliant signs in the county haven’t been contested; they suspect someone complained to zoning-office personnel. The church’s leadership doesn’t plan to use scrolling text or rapidly changing messages – only a few new messages daily.
The suit states, “Under the county’s restrictive policy, the church must pick and choose which of its various functions can be displayed on its sign each day. Such an impact is a substantial burden on the church’s religious exercise.”
Several members of the Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors disparaged the zoning administrator’s action. Supervisor Pat Herrity, a Republican from Springfield, said, “This is what happens when you’re not careful with regulation.”
A week later, Fairfax County backtracked on demanding the sign’s removal. According to September 17 report on the Washington Post website, a judge at Alexandria, VA’s federal court signed off on an agreement whereby the county officially abolishes the prior two-message-per-day limit and stipulates Fairfax County will review its entire code as it relates to illuminated signage.