Flathead County’s regulations for political signs will stay in place for now.

The county commissioners on Friday declined to make a decision on whether to allow political signs on private property for any length of time, and tabled the proposal indefinitely.

Until a decision is made, county zoning regulations will continue to allow political signs of up to 32 square feet to be erected 30 days prior to an election. Signs must be removed not more than one week after the election.

The regulations apply only to zoned land outside the three cities Flathead County.

The Flathead County Planning Board had recommended a change that would allow political signs to stay up for any amount of time as a matter of free speech. Court cases in other states have determined that limiting the time period for political signs is unconstitutional.

Deputy County Attorney Tara Fugina advised the commissioners that over the past couple of decades there has been a trend for local governments throughout the country to gradually erase the time limits for posting political signs.

At a public hearing on Monday the commissioners heard testimony both for and against the county-driven proposal. Many of the comments received via email at the Planning Office opposed the change.

“Amending the sign code to allow unregulated display of political signs would be a huge mistake, especially in a county that depends so much on its scenic quality for its livelihood,” Robert Horne of Whitefish wrote. “I encourage you to enforce the regulations we have and not allow political signs to be posted for a longer amount of time than they already are.”

Michelle Saurey said having political signs up for unlimited amounts of time would turn into an “eyesore” for the Flathead.

Sheryl Getman, representing cherry and grape growers on Flathead Lake, said allowing signs for any duration would be a “total setback” to the group’s recent progress in promoting agri-tourism.

“Our efforts over the past years have been to increase the attractiveness of our area,” Getman wrote. “We are working to attract more visitors to our orchards. Please do not clutter our beautiful county with political signs.”

Dave Skinner also emailed the Planning Office, saying he supports the political sign text amendment.

“If people want to clutter their property with political signage, it’s their right. I don’t have to like it ...”

In 2012, the Planning Office sent out letters clarifying county regulations for political signs because there had been confusion over where signs could and could not be posted, Planning Director BJ Grieve said.

When he began getting “quite a bit of feedback” from residents alleging it wasn’t legal to regulate how long signs could be posted, the matter was put on a list of potential text amendments for the Planning Board to consider.

Also in 2012, state administrative rules governing political signs were changed to remove language limiting signs to be erected not more than 90 days before an election. Another state rule change shortened the deadline to take down political signs from 30 to 14 days following an election.

The state rules apply only to private property adjacent to Interstate and primary state highways. They don’t apply along secondary highways, nor do they apply along designated scenic corridors. Only billboards and cellular towers are regulated along scenic corridors, Grieve said.

Commissioner Gary Krueger said he’s “inclined to remove the duration limits,” but moved to table the proposal. Commissioners Pam Holmquist and Cal Scott agreed, saying they’d like more time to study the text amendment.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.