Bagel-shop owner wins appeal to use outdoor advertisements

Blazing Bagels owner Dennis Ballen won an appeal to keep his outdoor advertising signs Friday when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed an earlier district-court ruling that the city of Redmond's ban on portable signs is unconstitutional.

Judge Richard C. Tallman, writing for a three-judge panel, held that Redmond's ban was more extensive than it needed to be, and it discriminated against businesses' freedom of speech.

The city wanted to regulate advertising signs within its boundaries, allowing some uses for real-estate agents, political signs or celebratory display banners, but limiting other kinds — including A-board or sandwich-board signs, or the animated, "dancing signs" that are rotated or waved, that Ballen wants to use to advertise his business.

The city said it wanted to limit visual blight in the city, and was also concerned that the signs could cause traffic hazards.

The case arose in June 2003, after the city told Ballen he was violating a city ordinance by hiring an employee to stand on a busy street corner holding a sign that read, "Fresh Bagels — Now Open." The Washington D.C.-based Institute for Justice filed suit on Ballen's behalf on July 22, 2003.

On June 15, 2004, the U.S. District Court ruled that the city ordinance violated the constitutional rights of the bagel-shop owner. Friday's decision follows the city's appeal of the 2004 ruling.

Rachael Tuinstra: 206-515-5637 or rtuinstra@seattletimes.com