Full opinion text
ORDER MOODY, District Judge. This cause came before the Court for consideration upon the following Motions: 1. Individual Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the Complaint with Prejudice (Dkt.# 10) and Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint (Dkt.62), Plaintiffs response in opposition thereto (Dkt.# 13) and the individual Defendants’ reply thereto (Dkt.22); 2. Plaintiffs Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Dkt.# 16), supporting memorandum (Dkt.# 17) and Defendants’ memorandum in opposition thereto (Dkt.# 30); 3. Plaintiffs Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Dkt.# 18), supporting memorandum (Dkt.# 19), and Defendants’ memorandum in opposition thereto (Dkt.# 42), and 4. Defendants’ Motion for Final Summary Judgment (Dkt.# 41), supporting memorandum (Dkt.# 42) and Plaintiffs response in opposition thereto (Dkt.# 51). Both parties have also filed supporting affidavits and exhibits to their Motions, including certified copies of the ordinance at issue. The Court heard the arguments of counsel on March 15, 2002. Additionally, the Court requested (Dkt.71), and considered, the parties additional briefs on standing. (Dkts.74, 75). I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Plaintiff has filed a separate Statement of Facts in support of its Motions for Partial Summary Judgment and Preliminary Injunction. (See Dkt. # 20). Defendants have incorporated their recitation of the facts as part of their memorandum in support of their Motion for Summary Judgment. (See Dkt. #42). The undisputed facts are as follows. Plaintiff, Granite State Outdoor Advertising, Inc., (“Granite State”) is a Georgia corporation in the business of buying or leasing land upon which to construct signs and billboards to be used for the dissemination of both commercial and non-commercial speech. (Amded.Compl., ¶ 6). Defendants point out that Granite State employs only two persons, the president and vice-president, and operates out of the Georgia residence of its president, who previously worked for two outdoor advertising companies. Since its incorporation in 1997, Granite State has “never erected a billboard, never operated a billboard, has never been licensed as an outdoor advertising company, and has not yet held a permit in its own name to erect a. billboard.” (Charles Dep. at 39-41, 47, 68). To date, Granite State has received profits from the sale of at least twenty-two billboard permits to Eller Media which were obtained from similar litigation brought against various cities and municipalities in the state of Georgia. (Id. at 12, 69). In the case at bar, Granite State entered into lease agreements for five different parcels of real property located in commercial or industrial areas in the city of Clearwater, Florida (“Clearwater”), upon which to construct and operate one freestanding billboard sign on each parcel of property. Id., ¶ 8. Plaintiff subsequently obtained three other lease agreements and filed an amended complaint to add its claims regarding these three parcels. Id., ¶ 8A. Defendant Clearwater is a political subdivision of the state of Florida and describes itself as a “resort community on the west coast of the state with more than five miles of beaches on the Gulf of Mexico” which has an economic base that relies “heavily on tourism.” (See § 3-1801). Clearwater has codified various sign regulations to create a comprehensive scheme for regulating, inter alia, the permitting, placement, number, construction, size, height, design, operation, and maintenance of the signs within the city’s boundaries. (Amded.Compl., ¶ 9). Clearwater has regulated the height and size of signs for more than twenty-five years and enacted various codes over the years. (See Dkt. # 42, pp. 6-8). The sign regulations at issue are contained within Division 18 of Clearwater’s Community Development Code (the “Code”). The entirety of the sign ordinance, “Division 18” containing §§ 3-1801 through 3-1807 (the “Ordinance”), is attached as Appendix 1 to this Order and is referred to herein by section number. Section 3-1802 contains the specific purposes and intentions for which the sign regulations were promulgated. Clear-water’s sign regulations are intended to: A. Enable the identification of places of residence and business. B. Allow for the communication of information necessary for the conduct of commerce. C. Lessen hazardous situations, confusion and visual clutter caused by proliferation, improper placement, illumination, animation and excessive height, area and bulk of signs which compete for the attention of pedestrian and vehicular traffic. D. Enhance the attractiveness and economic well-being of the city as a place to live, vacation and conduct business. E. Protect the public from the dangers of unsafe signs. F. Permit signs that are compatible with their surroundings and aid orientation, and preclude placement of signs in a manner that conceals or obstructs adjacent land uses or signs. G. Encourage signs that are appropriate to the zoning district in which they are located and consistent with the category of use to which they pertain. H. Curtail the size and number of signs and sign messages to the minimum reasonably necessary to identify a residential or business location and the nature of any such business. I. Establish a sign size in relationship to the scale of the lot and building on which the sign is to be placed or to which it pertains. J. Preclude signs from conflicting with the principal permitted use of the site or adjoining sites. K. Regulate signs in a manner so as to not interfere with, obstruct vision of or distract motorists, bicyclists or pedestrians. L. Require signs to be constructed, installed and. maintained in a safe and satisfactory manner. M. Preserve and enhance the natural and scenic characteristics of this waterfront resort community. The sign ordinance also contains a provision under its “General Standards” section that provides, “[n]ot withstanding any other provision of this Code, no sign shall be subject to any limitation based on the content of the message contained on such sign.” § 3-1804.H. Similarly, there is no distinction between commercial or noncommercial speech within the sign ordinance. The sign ordinance regulates four categories of signs: 1) § 3-1803 prohibits twenty-five different types of signs (such as portable signs, vehicle signs and roof signs); 2) § 3-1805 allows twenty different types of signs without a permit (such as safety or warning signs, holiday decorations, garage or yard sale signs and for sale signs); 3) § 3-1806 proscribes certain height, area and lighting requirements for residential signs (subdivision development and multifamily entry signs and school and park identification monument signs) and nonresidential signs (freestanding, monument, transit shelter and attached signs)— these signs require a permit under the development review process; and 4) § 3-1807 permits signs that comply with eight enumerated “flexibility criteria” that may be approved under the City’s Comprehensive Sign Program. The sign ordinance also contains a provision, § 3-1804, titled “General Standards,” that prescribes building and electrical code compliance and regulates setback, lighting and illumination, banners and flags, gasoline price signs, and time and temperature signs. The Permitting Process Article 4 of the City’s Code, titled “Development Review and Other Procedures,” sets forth the process for obtaining various levels of permit approval and the appeals process. Division 10 of Article 4 requires that the application for approval of a sign “shall be reviewed and approved by the community development coordinator as a level one approval.” The process for a level one approval is set forth in Division 3 of Article 4, with appropriate references to the appeals process set forth in Division 5— §§ 4-504 and 206 (community development board appeals and public hearings) and § 4-505 (appeals to hearing officer). The relevant divisions of Article 4, §§ dr-206, 301-303, 501-505 and 1001-1007 are attached to this Order as Appendix 2. The initial step in the permitting process is to complete the application process. Once submitted, a determination of completeness shall be made by the community development coordinator within five days. § 4-202C.1. Within five or ten working days after that determination is made, the community development coordinator or members of the development review committee (depending on whether the level one approval sought is for “standard development” or “flexible standard development”) shall determine whether the application is “legally sufficient” (defined as “whether the required application materials have been prepared in a substantively competent manner”). § 4-202C.2 and 3. If insufficient, the application is deemed withdrawn. Once an application is deemed complete and legally sufficient, the development review committee shall review the application in accordance with the applicable division of the Code; in the case of a sign permit, Article 3, Division 18. § 4-202.D. An appeal may be taken to the Community Development Board which holds a “quasi-judicial public hearing.” See §§ 4-501, 504, 206. A hearing officer has the authority to hear appeals from the Community Development Board. § 4-501.B. There are no time limits in the Code for an appeal to be heard. See §§ 4-504 and 206 (community development board appeals); § 4-505 (hearing officer appeals of community development board decisions, which are required to establish a “timely date” for the hearing, and must issue a decision within 45 days of the hearing). To overturn a decision, the Community Development Board must find by “substantial competent evidence” that the decision (1) “misconstrued or incorrectly interpreted” the Code, (2) is in “harmony with the general intent and purpose” of the Code and (3) will not be “detrimental to the public health, safety and general welfare.” § 4-504.C. Severability Provision Under the Code’s “General Provisions,” there is a severability provision that reads as follows: “[sjhould any section or provision of this Development Code be declared to be unconstitutional or invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of this Development Code as a whole or any part thereof other than the part so declared to be unconstitutional or invalid.” § 1-107. Granite State’s Applications Clearwater’s ordinance limits freestanding billboard signs in excess of fourteen feet in height and in excess of sixty-four square feet in area per side. § 3-1806.B. Plaintiff applied to Clearwater for permission to post a 65 foot high and 672 square foot billboard sign on each of its leased parcels of property. (Charles Aff. at ¶¶ 6-8). Clearwater’s Planning Department denied the applications on August 10, 2001, the same day they were submitted. (Amded. Compl., ¶ 11; Tarapini Aff. at ¶ 9). On each application, Clearwater noted the reason for denial- — -“Refer to Section 3 — 1806(B1)” and “Height, Size and Numbers of Signs (Total Square Feet on Parcel).” (Charles Dep., Exh. 1-5). The Plaintiffs proposed signs were more than four times the allowable height and ten times the allowable area. Granite State did not appeal the initial denial of the sign permits and instead, on August 31, 2001, initiated this action by filing an eleven count complaint against Clearwater, its Mayor, Defendant Brian Aungst, Sr., and its City Manager, Defendant William Horne. (Charles Dep. at 92; Tarapini Aff. ¶ 9). The Individual Defendants Defendants Aungst and Horne appear to have been sued in both their individual and official capacities. Neither of these Defendants was personally involved in the denial of Granite State’s billboard permit applications and did not learn about the permit applications until after their denial. (See Aungst and Horne Affs.). Neither Defendant has had any verbal or written communications with Granite State or its principals, nor have they ever met with representatives of Granite State. (Id.). II. LEGAL ANALYSIS A. Individual Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss The individual Defendants move to dismiss the claims made against them in both their individual and official capacities. In their individual capacities, these Defendants claim that they are entitled to the defense of qualified immunity for any governmental actions taken while they served in their capacities of mayor and city manager. Defendants further maintain that there is no basis for individual liability because Plaintiff has failed to make any allegations whatsoever against the individual Defendants in the Amended Complaint. Plaintiff opposes the Motion to Dismiss on the basis that these Defendants have enforced “clearly unconstitutional restrictions on the fundamental right of speech,” and as such, they should be held liable in their individual capacities. Plaintiff appears to argue, without legal support, that elected or appointed officials can be personally liable for an allegedly unconstitutional ordinance solely by virtue of the fact that the official is responsible for the enforcement of the ordinance. The Court agrees with Defendants that there is no basis for individual liability in this case because Plaintiff has not alleged any specific allegations against these Defendants; that is, Plaintiff makes no claim against these Defendants for any action taken by these Defendants, supervisory or otherwise, but instead sues them personally for an allegedly unconstitutional ordinance. Moreover, the individual Defendants should be dismissed because they are entitled to qualified immunity. Qualified immunity acts to cloak public officials from lawsuits unless they have violated “clearly established statutory or constitutional law of which a reasonable person would have known.” See Lassiter v. Alabama A & M Univ., 28 F.3d 1146, 1149 (11th Cir.1994). The Eleventh Circuit determines whether a law is clearly established through a fact-specific analysis that focuses on the “actual” and “specific details of [a] concrete case.” Id. at 1150; see also Granite State Outdoor Advertising, Inc. v. Cobb County, Case No. 1:01-CV-1376-WBH at 7-9 (attached as Exh. B to Dkt. 51). The contours of such right must be “sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand what he is doing violates that right.” Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 640, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987). Not only are there no specific factual allegations as to the individual Defendants (who were acting within their discretionary authority), the constitutional law at issue in this case is far from clearly established (as this order will undoubtedly demonstrate). See Naturist Society, Inc. v. Fillyaw, 858 F.Supp. 1559, 1571 (S.D.Fla.1994) (with regard to qualified immunity in First Amendment case, public officials are not expected to be more knowledgeable than the courts with respect to the “complexities of constitutional law”). Accordingly, the individual Defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. Defendants also argue that the Amended Complaint should be dismissed against the individual Defendants in their official capacities because suits against local governments in their official capacities are duplicative of actions against the local government entity itself. The Court agrees. Plaintiff has sued the city of Clearwater for the same alleged constitutional violations. Therefore, naming the individual Defendants in their official capacities is redundant. See Will v. Michigan Dept. of State Police, 491 U.S. 58, 109 S.Ct. 2304, 105 L.Ed.2d 45 (1989); Busby v. City of Orlando, 931 F.2d 764 (11th Cir.1991). Plaintiffs contention that if the Court invalidates the sign ordinance the inclusion of the individual Defendants, in their official capacities, is necessary to insure issuance of the sign permits previously denied to Granite State is meritless. See Granite State Outdoor Advertising, Inc. v. Cobb County, Case No. 1:01-CV-1376-WBH at 5-6 (attached as Exh. B to Dkt. 51). The Court may direct Defendant Clearwater, if necessary. B. First Amendment Analysis 1. Standing Typically, standing requires that: 1) a plaintiff suffered an “injury in fact;” 2) that there be a “causal connection” between the injury and the conduct complained of, such that the injury is fairly traceable to the challenged action of the defendant and not the result of the independent action of some third party not before the court; and 3) it must be “likely, as opposed to merely speculative, that the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision.” See Bischoff v. Osceola County, Fla., 222 F.3d 874, 883 (11th Cir.2000). However, for First Amendment over-breadth challenges., the requirements for standing are generally more lenient. Id. at 884. The Supreme Court recognized overbreadth challenges as “exceptions” to the general rule of standing for laws that are written “so broadly that they may inhibit the constitutionally protected speech of third parties.” Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for St. Vincent, 466 U.S. 789, 798, 104 S.Ct. 2118, 80 L.Ed.2d 772 (1984) (addressing an ordinance banning handbills on public property). Such a challenge, in essence, permits third party standing for claims on the grounds that ordinance may pose a “realistic danger” that the statute itself will “significantly compromise recognized First Amendment protections of parties not before the court.” Id. at 801, 104 S.Ct. 2118. Generally, courts have permitted such challenges when the constitutional rights involve the First Amendment. See, e.g., Sec’y of State of Md. v. Joseph H. Munson Co., Inc., 467 U.S. 947, 957-9, 967-8, 104 S.Ct. 2839, 81 L.Ed.2d 786 (1984). Nonetheless, it still remains that a plaintiff must establish that he or she suffered some “injury in fact” as a result of the defendant’s actions. Bischoff, 222 F.3d at 884 (citing Virginia v. Amer. Booksellers Assoc., Inc., 484 U.S. 383, 392, 108 S.Ct. 636, 98 L.Ed.2d 782 (1988); Munson, 467 U.S. at 958, 104 S.Ct. 2839; National Council for Improved Health v. Shalala, 122 F.3d 878, 883 (10th Cir.1997); Bordell v. General Electric Co., 922 F.2d 1057, 1061 (2nd Cir.1991)). Defendants contend that Granite State does not have standing to assert the First Amendment claims it makes in this case; nor should it be permitted to make an overbreadth challenge to the Code. Specifically, Defendants make the argument that Granite State cannot contend that the section under which it was denied its permits, § 3-1806.B, which imposes height, size and location limitations on freestanding signs, is unconstitutional. (Dkt. #42 at 19). To the contrary, Granite State contends that § 3-1806.B is unconstitutional because: 1) it requires applicants to seek permission for development review, a procedure which affords government officials an improper level of discretion without reference to objective standards; 2) it requires applicants to file for permits prior to posting the sign, procedures which are void as impermissible prior restraints on speech; 3) the section restricts commercial and non-commercial signs without satisfying the Central Hudson analysis; 4) the section violates equal protection; and 5) it is invalid because it is inextricably intertwined with the unconstitutional whole of the sign ordinance, preventing severance. (Dkt. # 51 at 3). Defendants also contend that Granite State has not suffered an injury in fact because it did not participate in the appeals process. (Dkt.# 74 at 9-15). Defendants further contend that Granite State does not have standing because it does not have a “commercial speech interest.” The Supreme Court has recognized that individuals with a “commercial interest” in speech may raise a facial challenge to an ordinance, raising the non-commercial speech interests of third parties. Metromedia Inc. v. City of San Diego, 453 U.S. 490, 504, n. 11, 101 S.Ct. 2882, 69 L.Ed.2d 800. (1981). Although Defendants acknowledge this holding, they claim that Granite State has no speech interest because it has been neither an advertiser nor a billboard operator, instead it merely obtained leases for properties upon which billboards would be constructed. In essence, Defendants argue that these activities are not sufficient to establish an interest in speech sufficient to confer standing. But Granite State claims that it has a commercial interest in speech. It holds leases on property upon which it has applied for permission to place billboards. In fact, Granite State contends that if victorious in this litigation, it may well choose to build and operate the signs itself. Clearly, parties with a commercial interest in speech may assert facial challenges to the First Amendment, in essence, filing suit on the grounds that there is an infringement of the rights of third parties as well as of their own free speech rights. See, e.g., Metromedia, 453 U.S. at 504, n. 11, 101 S.Ct. 2882 (“we have never held that one with a ‘commercial interest’ in speech also cannot challenge the facial validity of a statute on the grounds of its substantial infringement of the First Amendment rights of others”); but see id. at 544-48, 101 S.Ct. 2882 (Steven, J., dissenting) (no standing, even under the “limited exception” for overbreadth, for “hypothetical cases” of property owners not before the Court). See also National Advertising v. Ft. Lauderdale, 934 F.2d 283, 285 (11th Cir.1991). The more central issue is whether Granite State has standing to make a facial challenge to Clearwaters’s entire sign ordinance on overbreadth grounds. After extensive review, the Court is constrained to find that Granite State has standing to make an overbreadth challenge to those portions of the ordinance that directly implicate, and could accordingly “chill,” the First Amendment rights of persons not before the Court, but not to the appeals portion of the permitting section as Granite State was not affected in any way by this provision because it did not appeal the City’s denial. The overbreadth doctrine is “manifestly, strong medicine” that should be use “sparingly and only as a last resort.” Broadrick v. Oklahoma, 413 U.S. 601, 613, 93 S.Ct. 2908, 37 L.Ed.2d 830 (1973). In Taxpayers for Vincent, after analyzing the plaintiffs’ claims to determine whether they had standing to bring a facial challenge on overbreadth grounds, the Supreme Court found that their challenge was only “as applied” to their activities and heard only the “concrete case” before them. Taxpayers for Vincent, 466 U.S. at 802-3, 104 S.Ct. 2118 (plaintiffs did not demonstrate that the ordinance applies to “any conduct more likely to be protected by the First Amendment” than their own). For a valid facial challenge on overbreadth grounds, the Court found that there must be a “realistic danger that the statute itself will significantly compromise recognized First Amendment protections of parties not before the Court.” Id. at 801, 104 S.Ct. 2118. Indeed, the overbreadth of the statute must “not only be real, but substantial as well, judged in relation to the statute’s plainly legitimate sweep.” Id. at 800-1, 104 S.Ct. 2118 (quoting Broadrick, 413 U.S. at 615, 93 S.Ct. 2908). There is no exact definition of “substantial overbreadth;” however, the “mere fact that one can conceive of some impermissible applications of a statute is not sufficient to render it susceptible to an overbreadth challenge.” Id. at 800, 104 S.Ct. 2118; see also Sec’y of the State of Md. v. Joseph H. Munson Co., Inc., 467 U.S. 947, 104 S.Ct. 2839, 81 L.Ed.2d 786 (1984). “The requirement of substantial overbreadth is directly derived from the purpose and nature of the doctrine. While a sweeping statute, or one incapable of limitation, has the potential to repeatedly chill the exercise of expressive activity by many individuals, the extent of deterrence of protected speech can be expected to decrease with the declining reach of the regulation.” Taxpayers for Vincent, 466 U.S. at 800-1, 104 S.Ct. 2118 (quoting New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S. 747, 772, 102 S.Ct. 3348, 73 L.Ed.2d 1113 (1982)). In Ferber, the Court rejected an overbreadth challenge to a statute prohibiting persons from knowingly promoting sexual performances by children, even acknowledging that the statute may reach certain educational materials, finding that the “arguably impermissible applications of the statute amount to more than a tiny fraction of the materials within the statute’s reach.” Ferber, 458 U.S. at 773, 102 S.Ct. 3348. Accordingly, the Court turns to whether Granite State’s claims fit within the limited exception to the standing doctrine for overbreadth challenges. From the Amended Complaint and Granite State’s motions, it appears to mount two distinct facial challenges in its quest to have the ordinance declared unconstitutional: (1) that Article 3, Division 18 is an unconstitutional content-based regulation and vests government officials with “undue discretion,” and (2) that Article 4, the permitting and appeals section, is an impermissible “prior restraint” that does not comply with the requirements of Freedman v. Maryland, 380 U.S. 51, 85 S.Ct. 734, 13 L.Ed.2d 649 (1965), because it contains no time limits for the appeals process. In Granite State’s first overbreadth challenge, it claims that the regulations set forth in Article 3, Division 18, when applied to Granite State, as well as to other third parties who would be denied a sign permit, are in violation of the First Amendment because the sign ordinance is impermissibly content-based on its face. In Granite State’s facial challenge to Article 3, it points to several specific provisions which it alleges are constitutionally infirm, but, ironically, not to the provision under which Clearwater denied Granite State’s permit applications. Nonetheless, the Court finds that Article 3 of Clearwater’s ordinance is one that when applied to speech, in the form of signs, may effectively chill First Amendment rights. Hence, the Court is constrained to find that Granite State has standing to challenge Article 3, Division 18 under the limited exception to the standing doctrine for a facial over-breadth challenge. However, in viewing Granite State’s second argument, that the lack of time limits on the appeals process renders it facially invalid, the Court has greater difficulty in finding that Granite State has standing to raise a facial challenge that fits within the limited exception for an overbreadth challenge. Granite State did not appeal the denial of its permit applications; instead, it filed this lawsuit. Granite State contends that it has standing to facially challenge Clearwater’s permitting process as an unconstitutional “prior restraint” on speech. Plaintiff points to several cases involving permitting schemes for adult businesses in which the Court allowed a facial challenge to the ordinance based on a lack of time limits on the permitting process. See, e.g., Redner v. Dean, 29 F.3d 1495, 1502 (11th Cir.1994) (allowing facial challenge for pri- or restraint that could result in the “suppression of expressive activity for an indefinite period of time”). Defendant acknowledges, as does this Court, that facial overbreadth challenges are permitted in some circumstances when a permitting scheme is deemed a “prior restraint” and fails to comply with the requirements of Freedman. See Redner, 29 F.3d at 1495; Artistic Entertainment, Inc. v. City of Warner Robins, 223 F.3d 1306 (11th Cir.2000) (adult business ordinance); U.S. v. Frandsen, 212 F.3d 1231 (11th Cir.2000) (park ordinance regarding assembly); see also Cannabis Action Network, Inc. v. City of Gainesville, 231 F.3d 761 (11th Cir.2000) (street closing and sound ordinance declared facially unconstitutional as “prior restraint”), judgment vacated, — U.S. -, 122 S.Ct. 914, 151 L.Ed.2d 881 (Jan. 22, 2002) (remanded to consider in light of Thomas v. Chicago Park ). For these requirements to apply, the permitting scheme must be a censorship scheme. See Thomas v. Chicago Park, 534 U.S. 316, 122 S.Ct. 775, 780, 151 L.Ed.2d 783 (2002) (“[w]e have never required that a content-neutral permit scheme regulating speech in a public forum adhere to the procedural requirements set forth in Freedman.”). For reasons discussed infra, the Court finds that Clearwater’s ordinance is not such a scheme. Granite State’s initial applications were denied within the time provisions provided. Granite State did not seek an appeal of these denials. Hence, it could not be injured by the lack of time limits in the Code’s appeals provisions. Without an actual injury under Article 4, the Court cannot extend Granite State’s standing to challenge this Article under the limited exception for overbreadth, especially in light the Supreme Court’s guidance to use it “sparingly”. Granite State’s injury lies in the enactment of the sign ordinance in Article 3, to which the Court has permitted a facial challenge. See Messer v. City of Douglasville, Georgia, 975 F.2d 1505, 1514 (11th Cir.1992) (affirming district court’s holding that Messer does not have standing to challenge the board of appeals, as he did not request or receive a hearing — the appeal in this case had been made by the co-defendant billboard companies who had since been dismissed from the case with prejudice). Moreover, the permitting and appeals process set forth in Article 4 applies to all development review decisions by the City, not just to sign permits. As such, the alleged unbridled discretion of government officials to arbitrarily delay appeal decisions through the lack of time limits in Article 4 is not specific just to speech rights, as Plaintiff alleges with respect to Article 3, but applies equally to other permitting decisions and appeals. Hence, the Court views the reach of Article 4 as much broader — implicating many permitting situations not involving First Amendment rights. In conclusion, the Court finds that the permitting portion of this ordinance, Article 4, has much less potential to chill the exercise of First Amendment activity than Article 3. Additionally, there is a very limited set of third parties whose First Amendment rights could be chilled under the appeal portion of the regulation; particularly in light of the City’s ordinance protecting content of any signs from serving as a basis for denial. See § 3-1804.H. Accordingly, the Court declines, for the reasons discussed supra, to permit Granite State to raise this type of hypothetical scenario in a facial overbreadth challenge to Article 4. Rather than speculate on a hypothetical case involving an individual whose sign permit was arbitrarily and im-permissibly denied, the Court saves this question for another day, and for a plaintiff who has actually been injured by such a delay. See Messer, 975 F.2d at 1514. Granite State has suffered no such injury. 2. Severability Granite State argues that any unconstitutional provision(s) of the sign ordinance cannot be salvaged by simply severing them. Generally, Granite State argues that severance would remove incentives to challenge unconstitutional regulations, and specifically, that any alleged sections of Clearwater’s sign ordinance which violate equal protection are “inextricably intertwined” with the “whole of the sign ordinance” and to sever any permit requirements from the ordinance would remove “the very heart of the ordinance and im-permissibly leave the ordinance more restrictive of speech.” (Dkt. # 51 at 3, 13), citing Rappa v. New Castle County, 18 F.3d 1043, 1073 (3rd Cir.1994). On the contrary, Defendants contend that any unconstitutional portions of the ordinance may be severed and specifically point to the severability clause contained within the Code to evidence Clear-water’s legislative intent to severe any portions of the Code found to be invalid. Severability of a local ordinance is a question of state law. See City of Lakewood v. Plain Dealer Publishing Co., 486 U.S. 750, 759, 108 S.Ct. 2138, 100 L.Ed.2d 771 (1988); see also Metromedia, 453 U.S. at 521 n. 26, 101 S.Ct. 2882. Under Florida law, the test for severability is as follows: “[w]hen a part of a statute is declared unconstitutional, the remainder of the act will be permitted to stand provided: (1) the unconstitutional provisions can be separated from the remaining valid provisions, (2) the legislative purpose expressed in the valid provisions can be accomplished independently of those which are void, (3) the good and bad features are not so inseparable in substance that it can be said that the legislature would have passed the one without the other, and (4) an act complete in itself remains after the invalid provisions are stricken.” Waldrup v. Dugger, 562 So.2d 687, 693 (Fla.1990) (challenging application of revised gain time statute for habeas corpus challenge). The Florida Supreme Court simply stated: “[t]he severability of a statutory provision is determined by its relation to the overall legislative intent of the statute of which it is a part, and whether the statute, less the invalid provisions, can still accomplish this intent.” Ray v. Mortham, 742 So.2d 1276, 1280 (Fla.1999) (citations omitted). Courts have noted that the existence of a severability clause carries with it a “presumption” that the legislative authority would have enacted the remaining provisions and that the preference for severance is “particularly strong in cases containing a severability clause.” See Major Media of Southeast, Inc. v. City of Raleigh, 621 F.Supp. 1446, 1454 (E.D.N.C.1985) (upholding severability clause). Cf. National Advertising v. Town of Niagara, 942 F.2d 145, 148 (2nd Cir.1991) (finding severance improper despite existence of severability clause); United States v. Jackson, 890 U.S. 570, 585 n. 27, 88 S.Ct. 1209, 20 L.Ed.2d 138 (1968) (the ultimate determination of severability rarely turns on the presence or absence of a severability clause). Of course, in construing an ordinance for purposes of a facial challenge, the Court must construe any ambiguities in the ordinance as a whole in a manner which avoids any constitutional problems, if possible. See Southlake Property Ass., Ltd. v. City of Morrow, Ga., 112 F.3d 1114, 1119 (11th Cir.1997). With these guiding principles in mind, the Court addresses Granite State’s constitutional challenges to Clearwater’s sign ordinance, and specifically addresses Defendants’ suggestions that certain provisions, if found to be invalid, may be severed. {See Dkt. #42 at n. 9, 14, 15). In large measure, the Court finds, as set forth in detail infra, that most of the provisions Plaintiff alleges are “content-based” or permit “undue discretion” by government officials, do not do so. There are, however, some provisions regarding which the Court agrees with Plaintiff, but finds that those provisions are severable, such that the legislative purpose of Clearwater’s sign ordinance is preserved and speech is not more restricted after severance. 3. Content Based v. Content Neutral Distinction It is truly a Herculean task to wade through the mire of First Amendment opinions to ascertain the state of the law relating to sign regulations, beginning with the Supreme Court’s leading decision on billboard regulations in Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego, 453 U.S. 490, 570, 101 S.Ct. 2882, 69 L.Ed.2d 800 (1981) (plurality decision) (Rehnquist, J., dissenting, who referred to the plurality decision as a “virtual Tower of Babel, from which no definitive principles can be clearly drawn”). As the Court more fully discusses below, there is much variety and diversity of opinions in this area (in addition to sign ordinances, courts have reviewed First Amendment challenges to adult entertainment clubs, tobacco advertising and the noise volume of music concerts), suggesting that constitutional law on this subject is far from clear. One of Granite State’s primary arguments, based in large part on the plurality decision in Metromedia, is that the Clear-watér sign ordinance is unconstitutional because it is an impermissible content-based ordinance that cannot survive strict scrutiny review. In Metromedia, Justice White, writing for the plurality, found that San Diego’s sign ordinance was unconstitutional because it impermissibly favored commercial over non-commercial speech. It was also noted that although the ordinance’s general prohibition of signs created the “infringement,” the additional exceptions to the prohibition “are of great significance in assessing the strength of the city’s interest in prohibiting billboards.” Id. at 520, 101 S.Ct. 2882. Relying on this argument and its claim that the ordinance favors commercial speech over non-commercial speech, Granite State cites to many of the exceptions contained in Clearwater’s sign ordinance (for example, construction signs or for sale signs) as evidence that the sign ordinance is content-based. The “Catch-22” of Sign Regulations This almost-conelusory mandate that an ordinance with a category or exception for a sign based on its content automatically makes the ordinance unconstitutional per se is the proverbial “catch-22” confronting many cities and municipalities when they attempt to regulate signs in their communities. See Metromedia, 453 U.S. at 560, 101 S.Ct. 2882 (Burger, J. dissenting,) (“having acknowledged the legitimacy of local government authority, the plurality largely ignores it”). Granite State’s argument clearly demonstrates this “catch-22”: (1) it is .permissible for the government to regulate, or prohibit, signs to further legitimate governmental interests {Metromedia)] (2) any sign prohibition must provide an exception for “For Sale” signs (.Linmark); (3) exceptions or regulations of signs requiring a reading of their message are content-based (Nat’l Advertising Co. v. Town of Niagara, 942 F.2d 145 (2nd Cir.1991)); (4) content-based sign regulations are generally unconstitutional when subject to strict scrutiny review (Burson v. Freeman, 504 U.S. 191, 112 S.Ct. 1846, 119 L.Ed.2d 5 (1992)); and (5) since an exemption allowing “For Sale” signs necessarily requires one to read the words “for sale” on the sign, it is impossible to draft a sign ordinance that is constitutional. Some courts have followed this conclusory theory, see, e.g., North Olmsted Chamber of Commerce v. City of North Olmsted, 86 F.Supp.2d 755 (N.D.Ohio 2000); Nat’l Advertising Co. v. Town of Babylon, 900 F.2d 551 (2nd Cir.1990); however, others have tried to formulate ways to avoid this “catch-22.” See, e.g., Rappa v. New Castle County, 18 F.3d 1043 (3rd Cir.1994). Review of Relevant Cases It is instructive to review the Supreme Court’s seminal decisions in this area. Justice Stevens, who filed a dissenting opinion in Metromedia, authored the Court’s majority opinion in Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent, 466 U.S. 789, 104 S.Ct. 2118, 80 L.Ed.2d 772 (1984), which discussed at great length the general principles, history and other cases involving the First Amendment, beginning with the country’s first printing presses and censorship of movies, stressing the “unacceptable risk of suppression of ideas.” Id. at 797, 804, 104 S.Ct. 2118 (concluding that the “general principle that has emerged from this line of cases is that the First Amendment forbids the government to regulate speech in ways that favor some viewpoints or ideas at the expense of others”). In Taxpayers for Vincent, the Court upheld an ordinance prohibiting the posting of handbills and signs on public property and public objects (like utility poles), because it found that it was within that city’s constitutional power to attempt to improve its appearance, an interest that was “basically unrelated to the suppression of ideas” and the ordinance was reasonably tailored to do so, with available alternative channels of communication. Id. at 804, 813-15, 104 S.Ct. 2118. The Court held “there is not even a hint of bias or censorship in the City’s enactment or enforcement of this ordinance. There is no claim that the ordinance was designed to suppress certain ideas the City finds distasteful or that has been applied to Appellees because of the views that they express.” Id. at 804, 104 S.Ct. 2118. This decision suggests that an ordinance need only be subject to strict scrutiny if it serves to regulate a particular viewpoint or amounts to censorship. This content-based theory warranted mention by the Court in a non-sign case, Cincinnati v. Discovery Network, 507 U.S. 410, 113 S.Ct. 1505, 123 L.Ed.2d 99 (1993) (Stevens, J. delivered the majority opinion). Discovery Network involved the city’s attempt to enforce an ordinance banning “commercial handbills” on public property by ordering the removal of news-racks from which the “commercial handbills” were disseminated. These news-racks looked just like those containing newspapers. The Court found the ordinance unconstitutional primarily because it was not a “reasonable fit” of the city’s legitimate interests in aesthetics and safety and their chosen means of furthering those interests, a “sweeping ban” on the “commercial handbill” newsracks which were only a small fraction of the total newsracks on the street. Id. at 428-29, 113 S.Ct. 1505. After so holding, the Court discussed the content-based versus content-neutral distinction, finding that the ban on news-racks with “commercial handbills” was im-permissibly content-based. Id. at 428-9, 113 S.Ct. 1505. Beginning with the premise that the government may impose “reasonable restrictions on time, place, or manner of engaging in protected speech provided that they are adequately justified ‘without reference to the content of the regulated speech,’ ” the Court was not persuaded that the justification of preserving aesthetics and safety adequately justified the regulation because “the very basis of the regulation is the difference in content between ordinary newspapers and commercial speech.” Id. at 429, 113 S.Ct. 1505. Although this is one of the few commentaries by the Supreme Court on this specific issue, it does not appear to be critical to the Court’s holding, which focused primarily on the lack of “reasonable fit.” Earlier, in Ward v. Rock Against Racism, 491 U.S. 781, 109 S.Ct. 2746, 105 L.Ed.2d 661 (1989), the Court upheld a municipal regulation that required performers to use sound technicians and a sound system provided by the city, finding that it did not violate the free speech rights of the performers. The Court held that the regulation (of the expressive activity of music) is content-neutral, “so long as it is justified without reference to the content of the regulated speech.” Id. at 791, 109 S.Ct. 2746 (citations omitted). The Court found the government’s purpose of controlling noise levels at bandshell events was a “controlling consideration... [that had] nothing to do with the content.” Id. at 791-2, 109 S.Ct. 2746 (citations omitted). The' Court also considered, and rejected, the plaintiffs argument that the statute was unconstitutional on its face because it placed “unbridled discretion in the hands of city officials charged with enforcing it.” Id. at 793, 109 S.Ct. 2746 (citations omitted). The Court concluded that the city’s regulation was narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest by protecting its citizens from unwelcome noise. Id. at 796, 109 S.Ct. 2746. It is also instructive to review the Supreme Court’s ruling in Ladue v. Gilleo, 512 U.S. 43, 114 S.Ct. 2038, 129 L.Ed.2d 36 (1994). This case involved an ordinance that banned all residential signs except those falling within one of ten exemptions. The petitioner resident wanted to place a sign about the war in the Persian Gulf— first on her front lawn, and when that was denied, then in the window of her home. Id. at 45-46, 114 S.Ct. 2038. The Court found that the ordinance violated the resident’s right to free speech, in large part because there were no alternative means of communication for her. Id. at 54, 114 S.Ct. 2038. The Court found that as a resident, the plaintiff was “almost completely foreclosed in any venerable means of communication that is both unique and important.” Id. As Justice O’Connor added in her concurrence, the Court circumvented its “normal inquiry,” which first determines whether a regulation is content-based or content-neutral, then applies the appropriate level of review (i.e. strict or intermediate scrutiny). Id. at 59, 114 S.Ct. 2038 (O’Connor, J., concurring). Justice O’Connor even goes so far as to note that regulations are “occasionally struck down because of their content-based nature, even though common sense may suggest that they are entirely reasonable ... [t]he content distinctions present in this ordinance may, to some, be a good example of this.” Id. at 60, 114 S.Ct. 2038. It is equally instructive to review the Supreme Court’s most recent rulings on the facial constitutionality of a municipal park ordinance as reviewed under the First Amendment. See Thomas v. Chicago Park Distr., 534 U.S. 316, 122 S.Ct. 775, 151 L.Ed.2d 783 (2002). Thomas involved a municipal park ordinance requiring individuals to obtain a permit before conducting events for more than fifty persons and providing an application process with a fourteen day time limit for granting or denying the application. Applications could be denied on any of thirteen specific grounds. An applicant is given seven days to appeal the decision on the application after which it may seek judicial review in state court by common law certiorari. The plaintiffs in Thomas sought to secure a permit to hold a rally advocating the legalization of marijuana. Upon the denial of their application, they filed an action alleging that the ordinance was unconstitutional on its face. The Supreme Court found otherwise, upholding the ordinance as content-neutral. This Court notes that most of Chicago Park’s listed grounds to deny a permit, eleven of which are noted in footnote 1 of the Court’s opinion, are decidedly content-neutral. Id. at 777 n. 1. For example, a permit may be denied if the application is not complete, the application fee is not attached, or the applicant is legally incompetent to contract. Id. Yet, interestingly, others may be construed as being more “content-based.” For example, a permit may be denied if the “use or activity intended by the applicant would present an unreasonable danger to the health or safety of the applicant, or other users of the park ... or the public” or a permit has previously been granted authorizing uses that “do not reasonably permit multiple occupancy of the particular park or part thereof.” Id. But these grounds are clearly not using any content distinction as a censorship scheme nor are they an attempt to limit activities in the park based on the applicant’s viewpoint. In fact, the Court upheld the park ordinance as a “content-neutral time, plan and manner regulation,” finding that the licensor is not authorized to “pass judgment on the content of the speech” and that “[n]one of the grounds for denying a permit has anything to do with what a speaker might say.” Id. at 779. In comparison, the Supreme Court did not agree with the plaintiffs that the park ordinance was like the censorship scheme in Freedman v. Maryland, which would have required that litigation be initiated by the park district every time it denies a permit and that the ordinance specify a deadline for judicial review. Id. at 779. Specifically, the Court found that the park’s licensing scheme was not “subject matter censorship” and as a “content-neutral time, place, and manner regulation of the use of a public forum,” it does not have to adhere to the procedural requirements set forth in Freedman. Id. at 779-80. The Court also found that government officials were not given unduly broad discretion in determining whether to grant or deny a permit. Id. at 780-81. Application to Clearwater Ordinance Of course, Defendants argue that the Clearwater’s sign ordinance is similar to the ordinance in Thomas in that the requirements of Freedman do not apply because it is content-neutral. Defendants further maintain that if Clearwater’s Code were subject to a more limited variation of the Freedman requirements, it would meet this higher level of review because the sign permitting decisions must be made within a limited time period and are subject to judicial review. (Dkt. #42 at 28). Granite State opposes this argument in part because it believes that the Clear-water ordinance is not content-neutral, and also because government officials are allowed undue discretion (as discussed infra). One of the few issues that is clear under the Supreme Court’s decision in Metromedia is that government is permitted to regulate speech through sign ordinances that are not content-based, provided they are narrowly tailored to further the significant government interests. Metromedia, 453 U.S. at 511-12, 516, 101 S.Ct. 2882. Once a regulation is found to be viewpoint-neutral, it is subject to intermediate scrutiny, which requires that the state demonstrate that: 1) the act serves a substantial governmental interest (unrelated to the suppression of free expression), and 2) it is narrowly drawn to serve that interest without unnecessarily interfering on First Amendment freedoms (that is, the restriction in First Amendment freedoms is no greater than is essential to the furtherance of the interest). Taxpayers for Vincent, 466 U.S. at 805, 104 S.Ct. 2118. The Eleventh Circuit summarized that to uphold a viewpoint-neutral regulation of speech, a government must show that “1) it has the constitutional power to make the regulation, 2) an important or substantial government interest unrelated to the suppression of free speech is at stake, and 3) the ordinance is narrowly drawn to achieve its desired ends, leaving other channels for the communication of information.” Messer v. City of Douglasville, Ga., 975 F.2d 1505, 1510 (1992). Indeed, in Messer, the Eleventh Circuit upheld a limit on the use of portable signs as a partial solution for its aesthetic concerns, stating “[since] it could have prohibited all portable signs in furtherance of this interest, by allowing a limited number, it is in fact more narrowly tailoring the restrictions to meet its purpose.” Messer, 975 F.2d at 1514. However, it need not be the least restrictive means possible. See Rock Against Racism, 491 U.S. at 781, 109 S.Ct. 2746. And, the ordinance should leave open ample alternative channels of communication. The Supreme Court specifically addressed two “significant government interests” in Metromedia — traffic safety and aesthetics of the community. Metromedia 453 U.S. at 509-10, 101 S.Ct. 2882 (“[t]here is nothing here to suggest that these ... accumulated, common-sense judgments of local lawmakers and of the many reviewing courts that billboards are real and substantial hazards ... are unreasonable... [w]e reach a similar result with respect to the second asserted justification for the ordinance — advancement of the city’s esthetic interests. It is not speculative to recognize that billboards by their very nature, wherever located and however constructed, can be perceived as an esthetic harm”) (citations and quotations omitted). It is also clear from the decision in Taxpayers for Vincent that a state may legitimately exercise its police powers to advance its aesthetic interests and traffic safety. See Taxpayers for Vincent, 466 U.S. at 806-07, 104 S.Ct. 2118 (in effect affirming Me-tromedia’s holding that a city’s aesthetic interests are sufficiently substantial to provide an acceptable justification for a content-neutral prohibition against the use of billboards). See also Messer, 975 F.2d at 1510 (it is “well settled that both traffic safety and aesthetics are substantial governmental goals”); Southlake Property Assoc., Ltd. v. City of Morrow, Ga., 112 F.3d 1114, 1116 (11th Cir.1997) (recognizing Morrow’s right to “clean, aesthetically pleasing and safe business thoroughfares”); Harnish v. Manatee County, Fla., 783 F.2d 1535 (11th Cir.1986) (“prohibition of portable signs to eliminate aesthetic blight passed muster under the First Amendment”). But what is not clear from Metromedia, or the Court’s other decisions, is exactly how a city or municipality can constitutionally regulate signs to further these interests. Many courts, like this one, and many commentators, are concerned that local governments have been placed in a tenuous and near impossible position in drafting a constitutional or content-neutral sign ordinance. See, e.g., Cordes, Mark, “Sign Regulation After LoAue: Examining the Evolving Limits of First Amendment Protection,” 74 Neb. L.Rev. 36 (1995); Bond, R. Douglass, “Making Sense of Billboard Law: Justifying Prohibitions and Exemptions,” 88 Mich. L.Rev. 2482 (1990). In essence, courts are left to define the constitutional perch upon which local governments may rest on the slippery slope of permissible content-neutral regulations. It is impossible not to acknowledge, as this Court does, that a sign ordinance must be justified by something other than its content, stressing Justice Stevens’ opinion that the First Amendment (and the resulting content-based distinction) was created to protect speech from the dangers of government censorship and to stop the government from suppressing the expression of ideas and public debate through the guise of regulation. Ward v. Rock Against Racism, 491 U.S. 781, 109 S.Ct. 2746, 105 L.Ed.2d 661 (1989). See also Members of the City Council of the City of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent, 466 U.S. 789, 104 S.Ct. 2118, 80 L.Ed.2d 772 (1984); Rappa v. New Castle County, 18 F.3d 1043 (3rd Cir.1994). What makes the content-based versus content-neutral distinction so difficult in cases involving sign ordinances is that, by their very nature, signs are speech and thus can only be categorized, or differentiated, by what they say. This makes it impossible to overlook a sign’s “content” or message in attempting to formulate regulations on signage and make exceptions for distinctions required by law (i.e., for sale signs) or for those signs that are narrowly tailored to a significant government interest of safety (i.e., warning or construction signs). For example, there is simply no other way to make an exemption or classify a for sale sign as a for sale sign without reading the words “For Sale” on the sign, or classifying a sign as a warning sign without reading the words “Warning Bad Dog” on the sign. In many cases, this classification raises the “red flag” of an impermissible “content-based” regulation. See Metromedia, 453 U.S. at 565, 101 S.Ct. 2882 (Burger, J. dissenting) (referring to differentiating among topics and “noncontroversial things” and “conventional” signs such as time-and-temperature signs, historical markers, and for sale signs). Hence, in looking at the general principles of the First Amendment as the Court did in Taxpayers for Vincent, the real issue becomes whether the distinctions or exceptions to a regulation (as well as any areas of government discretion) are a disguised effort to control the free expression of ideas or to censor speech. Common sense and rationality would dictate that the only method of distinguishing signs for purposes of enforcing even content-neutral regulations, such as number, size or height restrictions, is by their message. For example, a regulation permitting a freestanding billboard sign to be larger than a political yard sign which is larger than an address sign is a differentiation based on content (albeit for purposes of regulating size). This should not, on its own, render an ordinance unconstitutional. Indeed, it appears to be a matter of semantics. In rendering its opinion today, this Court focuses on whether the government regulation is trying to impermissibly censor speech or limit the free expression of ideas. The Court finds that Clearwater’s ordinance is, in general, not content-based and therefore does not require strict scrutiny review. However, in making this finding and given the guiding principles set forth supra regarding severance, the Court finds that some provisions of the sign ordinance are impermissible, but severable, eliminating any unjustified content-based distinctions and preserving the content neutrality of the sign ordinance. Specific Provisions of Clearwater’s Ordinance Initially, the Court addresses two patently inconsistent provisions in Clear-water’s ordinance regulating window signs. Section § 3-1803.U prohibits temporary window signs in residential areas whereas § 3-1805.Q allows window signs “up to eight square feet in area ... on any window area provided such sign does not exceed 25 percent of the total area of the window where the sign is located... [i]n no case shall the cumulative area of all window signs erected exceed 24 square feet in area.” Section 3-1805.Q makes no residential/non-residential distinction. These provisions are in direct conflict. As Defendants suggest, the Court can easily sever § 3-1803.U, leaving § 3-1805.Q regulating window signs. In doing so, the Court thus construes Clearwater’s sign ordinance, as it must, in such a way as to preserve its constitutionality. Additionally, the Court succeeds in increasing, instead of restricting, speech, by severing § 3-1803.U, rather than § 3-1805.Q. The Court next turns to § 3-1803 which lists twenty-six types of signs that are prohibited, such as roof signs, portable signs or signs that present traffic or pedestrian hazards. Section 3-1803.T prohibits “snipe” signs. This is defined as “an off-premises sign which is tacked, nailed, posted, pasted, glued or otherwise attached to trees, poles, stakes, fences or to other objects.” § 8-102. But Clearwater’s sign ordinance already prohibits signs attached to trees in § 3-1803.R and allows attached signs in § 3-1806.B.3. To the extent the portion of the definition of a snipe sign prohibits attaching signs to “other objects” contradicts the provision allowing attached signs, it cannot stand. Accordingly, in keeping with the guiding principles set forth supra regarding severance, the Court finds that part of the definition of snipe signs is severable and must therefore be stricken. In another provision of this section, § 3-1803.B, the Court finds that this provision makes an unjustified content-based distinction on these signs for governmental and public purpose signs. Like Discovery Network, it does not appear that there is a “reasonable fit” in making a distinction between governmental and public purpose signs (for a limited time and frequency) and non-governmental and nonpublic purpose signs (for a limited time and frequency). In furthering the governmental interests of the aesthetics and traffic safety, the Court can discern no justifiable distinction between these types of signs as it relates to the government interests of aesthetics and traffic safety. Moreover, the existence of this provision undermines the content-neutrality of the ordinance. Accordingly, under the general principles guiding severance set forth supra, the Court strikes this entire provision. Because this provision is included in the list of prohibited signs, the Court finds that it is unable to sever just the portion of the provision which makes the content-based distinction (government and public purpose signs) as that would be result in a greater restriction on speech by totally banning balloon, cold air inflatables, streamers and pennants. Granite State also contends that § 3-1803.Y is an impermissible content-based distinction that renders the ordinance unconstitutional. The Court disagrees. This section forms the “catch-all” provision in the list of prohibited signs. Granite State seems to argue, in a conclusory fashion, that this provision is invalid simply because it prohibits signs not specifically enumerated within the Code. Finding the ordinance con