 In 2005 , the town of Gilbert , Arizona adopted a municipal sign ordinance that regulated the manner in which signs could be displayed in public areas . Although the ordinance banned the display of most outdoor signs without a permit , twenty three categories of signs were exempt from the permit requirement . Three of those categories were relevant to this case . First , " ideological signs " , which contained " a message or ideas for noncommercial purposes " , could be up to twenty square feet in size and could be placed in any " zoning district " for any length of time . Second , " political signs " , which included content " designed to influence the outcome of an election called by a public body " , could be no larger than thirty two square feet on nonresidential property and sixteen square feet on residential property . Additionally , political signs could only be displayed " up to 60 days before a primary election and up to 15 days following a general election " . Third , “ temporary directional signs relating to a qualifying event " , which directed " pedestrians , motorists , and other passersby " to events hosted by non @-@ profit organizations , could be no larger than six square feet . Additionally , temporary directional signs relating to a qualifying event could be displayed no earlier than twelve hours before the start of a qualifying event and no later than one hour after the end of the event ; these signs could only be displayed in private property or public rights @-@ of @-@ way , but no more than four signs could be placed on a single property at the same time . 
