St. Louis Poster Advertising Co. v. St. Louis, 249 U.S. 269 (1919)

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St. Louis Poster Advertising Company v. City of St. Louis

Nos. 220 and 2

Argued March 12, 13, 1919
Decided March 24, 1919
249 U.S. 269

ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT

OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI

A city ordinance allowing no billboard of 25 square feet or more to be put up without a permit, and none to extend more than 14 feet high above ground, requiring an open space of 4 feet between the lower edge and the ground, forbidding an approach of nearer than 6 feet to any building or to the side of any lot than 2 feet to any other billboard or 15 feet to the street, requiring conformity to the building line, limiting billboard in area to 500 square feet, and exacting a permit fee of one dollar for every 5 lineal feet held within the police power. P. 274. Cusack Co. v. Chicago, 242 U.S. 526.

Making billboard safe against wind and fire may not exempt them from the power of restriction or prohibition. Id.

Such regulations may not improperly include incidental and relatively trifling requirements founded in part, at least, on aesthetic reasons such as a requirement of conformity to a building line. Id.

A high tax imposed by a city on billboards for the purpose of discouraging them is not objectionable under the Constitution. Id.

It is not an answer to an ordinance regulating the size, etc., of billboards that they are on land leased or belonging to their owner, or that their owner has contracted ahead to maintain advertisements upon them, or that the size of board allowed is too small for standard posters and that these cannot be changed without affecting the business disastrously. Id.

195 S.W. 717 affirmed.

The cases are stated in the opinion.