City of Fayetteville v. McIlroy Bank & Trust Co.

George Rose Smith, Justice.

In 1973 the City of Fayetteville adopted a comprehensive ordinance regulating the size, height, and setback requirements of signs within the city. The preamble recited among other considerations that the city’s scenic resources had contributed greatly to its economic development, that the scattering of signs throughout the city was detrimental to the preservation of those scenic resources, and that a purpose of the ordinance was to preserve the city’s natural beauty. The ordinance was designed to regulate all signs erected after its effective date, January 19, 1973,…