By Janice Morse
The Cincinnati Enquirer

WEST CHESTER TWP. - A dispute over the constitutionality of the township's restriction on election signs could be resolved today if parties in a federal lawsuit can reach an agreement.

David Langdon, a lawyer who represents township resident Nicholas Kontras and his activist group, said a meeting before a federal judge is set for today.

He said his clients, Kontras and COAST (Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending & Taxes), filed suit Monday in U.S. District Court and seek immediate action because they want to post signs well in advance of the March 2 primary election. The suit alleges that the township's restrictions on political and noncommercial signs impinge on citizens' right to free speech.

Attorney Robert Manley said Thursday that the township would have addressed the problem out of court if the plaintiffs had alerted officials to their concerns.

"Nobody from COAST ever contacted the township or me before filing suit," Manley said. "If they had, our position would have been: 'We will study it, and if there's a problem, we shall fix it.' And that is our current situation. ... A lawsuit was totally unnecessary."

But Langdon said, "We have no obligation to contact them. They have a blatantly unconstitutional law on the books, and it needs to be removed."

The suit seeks to halt enforcement of the restrictions and to have the regulations declared unconstitutional.

The suit also seeks "nominal damages" of $1 per plaintiff, plus attorneys' fees and court costs.

According to the suit, the zoning code forbids election-related signs from being posted more than 30 days before the election and requires their removal within five days afterward. The code also limits the signs to one per issue or candidate for each 100 feet of property along a roadway.

Those restrictions are "discriminatory" when compared to regulations for other types of signs, the suit says, calling the zoning code "unconstitutionally overbroad" and "unconstitutionally vague."

E-mail jmorse@enquirer.com