HOA’s Losing Sign Dictatorship in Colorado Deerwood Realty and Friends…Ep. 36

Intro

On September 7, 2021, you will be able to have a sign in Colorado with any message at any time of year. The HOA can still restrict

-size of sign
-location of sign
-number of signs

Those in favor on the bill said that it might “open the floodgates” for signs and flags that may be considered offensive, but necessary for free speech.

Those not in favor of the bill were concerned about restrictions the limits of HOA’s which they consider private.

Thoughts/Questions

1. What is the best way forward? I think that this is a good law. I see it in terms of free speech. Why should one group be able to have a sign, but another group not be able to have a sign? Why should no one be able to have a sign?
2. That being said, signs can be tacky….and I can see why a HOA would want to try to preserve a neighborhood style. I see this from the perspective of a real estate agent, where there are communities where I can’t put out a sign for sale.
3. The worst outcome would have been to let certain groups have signs and other groups not have signs….that is a cause for division. Moreso than having a sign you disagree with.
4. I feel like I’m relatively late to the sign debate. I don’t remember a lot of signs in the neighborhood when I was a kid…but I do remember signs for school boards, some political offices…nothing like it is today.
5. Now, there are signs for children starting school, children graduating school, any nature of political sign. I’m not really a sign person. I don’t think that a sign on my property really shows who I am as a person, and I don’t have this desire to signal to others a poor representation of my beliefs. But I do think people have a first amendment right to display a sign of their choosing if they want to.
6. I can already see the cracks in the new law. You will now have HOA’s restrict the size of the signs in some neighborhoods to the size of a postage stamp. Also, what happens when people use their windows to display a sign? I guess it will come down to the definition of a sign at that point.

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Source: https://www.denverpost.com/2021/07/02/colorado-hoas-flags-signs-restrictions/

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