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City of San Mateo Municipal Code.

25.04.010 FINDINGS.

In enacting this Chapter, the City Council finds:

(a) If carefully regulated, the placement of signs on city sidewalks by private individuals can provide a useful outlet for the expression of ideas and the communication of information related to beneficial commercial activity, including, but not limited to, the advertisement of real estate open house events.

(b) It is the desire of the City Council to enact standards that would allow for the regulated use of city sidewalks for these communication purposes.

(c) In enacting these regulations it is not the intention of the City Council to regulate the content of messages on signs to be placed on city sidewalks, but, instead, it is the City Council's intention to enact reasonable time, place and manner restrictions aimed at insuring the safety of those using the public sidewalks and those driving on adjacent streets, and to achieve the City's aesthetic interests by reducing visual clutter that would result from the unregulated posting of signs on sidewalks.