The "poster ban" initiative

Initiative 46 was a 1999 citizens' initiative in Seattle, Wash. With almost no budget, community activists collected over 15,000 signatures in 6 months, a few thousand shy of the required number to make the ballot. Below is the text of I-46.

In 2002, the poster ban was declared unconstitutional by the Washington State Court of Appeals (sharing a fate with the first poster ban). In 2004, the Supreme Court reversed that decision. However, by then the city had modified the ordinance to allow for limited public posting.

Complete Text of Initiative 46

AN ORDINANCE amending Seattle Municipal Code Section 15.48.100, deleting the prohibition against attaching handbills, signs and posters to utility poles and lamp posts.

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. Section 15.48.100 of the Seattle Municipal Code is amended as follows:

SMC 15.48.100 Unlawful posting of signs.

It is unlawful for anyone to affix any handbill, sign, or poster upon any traffic control device, utility pole, lamp post, City-owned structure, or City-owned tree or shrubbery in any public place, or to affix the same to a wire or appurtenance thereof, except that affixation is authorized on poster boards and kiosks that are designated for handbills and signs. The provisions of this section shall not apply to traffic, parking and other regulatory signs posted under the auspices of a public agency with the permission of the City.

City-owned structures include bridges and overpasses, monorail supports, retaining walls, fences, street furniture and shelters, among other construction. For the purpose of this section, City-owned structures do not include utility poles or lamp posts.