In LaCroix v. Town of Fort Myers Beach, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit addressed whether Fort Myers Beach, Florida likely violated the First Amendment by implementing Chapter 30 of the town’s Land Development Code (“the Ordinance”).
On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court’s denial of preliminary injunctive relief, holding that the Ordinance banned “all portable signs . . . regardless of whether they are political, religious, advertising a garage sale, or an open house.” Although the ban was content-neutral, the Eleventh Circuit concluded that section 30–5 of the Ordinance categorically banned a method of expression without providing citizens a meaningful alternative. Thus, the Eleventh Circuit granted a preliminary injunction, finding that the ban likely violated the First Amendment.