United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

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

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

Page 249 U. S. 270

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. 249 U. S. 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.