Burns v. Barrett

561 A.2d 1378, 212 Conn. 176, 1989 Conn. LEXIS 217
CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
DecidedJuly 18, 1989
Docket13570
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 561 A.2d 1378 (Burns v. Barrett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Burns v. Barrett, 561 A.2d 1378, 212 Conn. 176, 1989 Conn. LEXIS 217 (Colo. 1989).

Opinion

Shea, J.

In this action the plaintiff commissioner of transportation sought the removal of three outdoor advertising sign structures erected by the defendant upon private property bordering interstate route 95 (1-95), two of the signs being located in East Haven and one in Bridgeport. The trial court imposed fines and granted injunctive relief with respect to the East Haven signs on the ground that they violated regulations of the department of transportation prohibiting the location of sign structures within 500 feet of a highway interchange and did not fall within any of the exceptions in the regulations. The Bridgeport sign was found not to violate any regulation and the court denied all relief with respect thereto.

The defendant has appealed from the judgment, claiming that (1) the regulations and statutes on which the court relied violate federal and state constitutional provisions1 concerning freedom of speech, (2) the injunction issued by the trial court constitutes a prior restraint upon freedom of speech, (3) injunctive relief should have been denied, in view of the availability of statutory fines as a remedy to secure compliance, and [179]*179(4) the court should have awarded the defendant an injunction against the plaintiff as well as damages for the losses he has incurred as a result of the actions of the plaintiff. We find no error.

After his application to the department of transportation for a permit to erect an outdoor advertising sign at Saltonstall Parkway in East Haven had been denied because the sign would have been within 500 feet of an 1-95 exit ramp, the defendant nonetheless proceeded to erect the sign at that location without a permit and completed the installation in July, 1986. The sign is supported by a vertical column from which two billboard panels extend to form a V, one facing eastbound and one facing westbound traffic on 1-95. The land on which the sign has been erected is owned by Torello Tire Company, Inc., which sells tires on the premises, and is situated in a commercial or industrial zone of East Haven, in which such signs are permitted. One of the sign panels bears the Torello name and advertises Goodyear tires, which the company sells. The other panel advertises the Chowder Pot Restaurant, which is located several exits south on 1-95. Because the regulation prohibiting signs within 500 feet of an interchange contains an exception for those “which advertise . . . activities being conducted upon the real property where the sign is located”; Regs., Conn. State Agencies § 13a-123-7; the plaintiff commissioner concedes the legality of the Torello sign. The restaurant sign, however, does not fall within the exception for on-premises signs, and the trial court, after upholding the validity of the regulations, accordingly ordered its removal.

The defendant also erected a similar sign structure for outdoor advertising on private land adjacent to 1-95 situated on Bradley Street in East Haven, after the commissioner had denied his application for a permit. This property also is located in a zone where such a use is permitted. This installation was completed about [180]*180the same time as the Saltonstall Parkway sign. One panel bears an advertisement for Red Writer, Inc., a company that conducts no activities on the premises where the sign is located. The other panel contains a picture of thé American flag and a statement, “We owe a great debt to Vietnam Vets.” The court found that the structure bearing both of these advertisements violated the regulation prohibiting such installations within 500 feet of an interstate highway exit and ordered removal of the entire structure.

I

The regulation relied on by the trial court was issued by the commissioner of transportation pursuant to General Statutes § 13a-123 (c)2 and provides that “[s]ign structures may not be located within five hundred feet of an interchange . . . . ” Regs., Conn. State Agencies § 13a-123-5 (b).3 It is undisputed that the two East [181]*181Haven sign structures violate the regulation because of their location within the proscribed distance from 1-95 interchanges. The defendant attacks the validity of the regulation (1) as creating an unconstitutional restriction on commercial speech, and (2) in conjunction with the exception for signs related to the premises on which a sign is located; Regs., Conn. State Agencies § 13a-123-7 (2); as unconstitutionally preferring some signs over others upon the basis of their content.

A

The Chowder Pot Restaurant and the Red Writer, Inc., advertisements that the court has ordered to be removed fall within the classification of “commercial speech,” as the plaintiff concedes. “Prior to 1975 purely commercial advertisements of goods for sale were considered to be outside the protection of the First Amendment.” Metromedia, Inc. v. San Diego, 453 U.S. 490, 505, 101 S. Ct. 2882, 69 L. Ed. 2d 800 (1981). In Virginia Pharmacy Board v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Counsel, 425 U.S. 748, 96 S. Ct. 1817, 48 L. Ed. 2d 346 (1976), the United States Supreme Court first plainly held that wholly commercial speech was constitutionally protected. The court invalidated a statute prohibiting pharmacists from advertising prescription drug prices on the ground that it unreasonably interfered with society’s strong “interests in the free flow of price information,” which the first amendment was designed to advance. Id., 755. “The First Amendment . . . protects commercial speech from unwarranted governmental regulation.” Metromedia, Inc. v. San Diego, supra, 561. “The protection available for particular commercial expression turns on the nature both of the expression and of the governmental interests served by its regulation.” Id., 563. It has been recognized, however, that “[t]he constitution . . . accords a lesser protection to commercial speech than to other constitutionally guaranteed expression.” Central Hud[182]*182son Gas v. Public Service Commission, 447 U.S. 557, 562-63, 100 S. Ct. 2343, 65 L. Ed. 2d 341 (1980).

The United States Supreme Court has “adopted a four-part test for determining the validity of government restrictions on commercial speech as distinguished from more fully protected speech. (1) The First Amendment protects commercial speech only if that speech concerns lawful activity and is not misleading. A restriction on otherwise protected commercial speech is valid only if it (2) seeks to implement a substantial governmental interest, (3) directly advances that interest, and (4) reaches no further than necessary to accomplish the given objective.” Metromedia, Inc. v. San Diego, supra, 507.

With respect to the first of these criteria, the commissioner has made no claim that the two off-premises commercial advertisements relate to any unlawful activity or are misleading. Accordingly, they qualify for constitutional protection to the extent of its availability for commercial speech.

The defendant maintains that the regulations fail to serve a significant state interest and to advance that interest directly, as the second and third criteria require.

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Bluebook (online)
561 A.2d 1378, 212 Conn. 176, 1989 Conn. LEXIS 217, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burns-v-barrett-conn-1989.