For a couple decades in newsprint, e-mails and personal letters, as a resident of Tempe, I have goaded officials about making their sign ordinance fair and practical. I have been quick to point out uneven treatment of those wanting to put up signs. Ordinance revisions in recent years have shown greater common sense. Signs should be visible and informative and serve both the public and the promoter.I remember one Tempe councilman grabbed my collar and shook me when I told him how I thought the new sign on the Centerpoint building was asinine. It lacked size and visibility and reflected how woeful the citys ordinance was, I said. The small sign faded into the building, out of balance with the structure. The mistake was repeated when America West put up its headquarters on First Street, and lame signage was attached high on the side of the building. The US Airways sign, replacing it, has been an improvement.So the new fuss in Gilbert over church signs has caught my attention. The Alliance Defense Fund in Scottsdale filed a lawsuit on March 7 on behalf of a Gilbert church claiming the town is discriminating on the basis of the content of signs. According to a story by Tribune reporter Beth Lucas, the ADF said Good News Presbyterian Church had sought to put out signs the day before morning services, rather than a maximum of two hours before services began, as allowed by the Gilbert ordinance. Rules also call for the temporary signs, often A-frame signs, must to be removed from streets and sidewalks within an hour after services end.According to the code, religious assembly signs are required to be smaller in size, fewer in number and displayed for much less time than similar non-religious signs, said ADF litigation counsel Jeremy Tedesco. Also, according to the ordinance, ideological signs and political signs neither of which the code defines are allowed to be posted without a permit, whereas a permit is required to post religious signs.But Town spokesman Greg Svelund called the accusations false because religious entities are allowed more signs than businesses and elections pose a special situation, including that they are for a limited number of months and have the noble purpose of getting people interested in voting and democracy.According to the code, businesses can put up just one temporary sign (up to six square feet) but it can only be displayed during business hours. It goes up when things open and must come down when doors close.In the 14-page suit (www.telladf.org/UserDocs/ReedComplaint.pdf), its argued that the Good News was trying to follow its mandate to go and make disciples of all nations and that with just 40 regular attendees, it lacks the resources to advertise and promote itself other ways. It has been meeting at Coronado Elementary School for four years and has the extra burden of catching the attention of a drive-by public. So it had been placing 17 signs in strategic places near the school. They had been putting signs out early each Saturday and gathering them up at midday on Sundays. After the church was cited for violating the ordinance in September 2005, the church sharply reduced its number of signs and hours of posting to the legal limit. Attendance subsequently has dropped with the reduction in the temporary signs, the lawsuit said. Church officials recently contacted the towns code compliance department seeking leniency, but were told it could cut no slack in time of display. The town reaffirmed that no more than four signs would be allowed, according to the lawsuit. It notes that weekend residential signs like yard sales and realty open house signs have been staying up longer. The suit says the code chills protected speech by discouraging individuals and groups from placing signs for the purpose of engaging in protected speech based on the religious nature of the sign. The argument is made that a sign encouraging people to attend a church service easily falls into the category of an ideological sign.The town is pretty petty in limiting a faith group to four signs lasting three hours before and after a church service. It is a free speech issue. Cut some slack for entities that lack permanent sites and have to be discovered for lack of 24-7 signs.

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