Grantsville City is cracking down on unwanted mailings, including the mailers arriving in green bags every week at residents’ homes, after the city council approved a new ordinance on commercial handbills.
The new ordinance borrows heavily from the recent one passed by the Tooele City Council intended to solve the same problem.
The Grantsville ordinance specifically mentioned the advertising materials in green bags and complaints from the community received by the council members and mayor. It also mentioned the opt-out required personal information and people who completed the opt-out would still receive the mailings again, at a later date.
The language of the ordinance specifically addresses the delivery of the commercial material as offensive due to the “nuisance, unsightly condition, or potential injury” posed by the mailing to avoid any First Amendment challenges.
The amendment to the city code prohibits a person or business from throwing or depositing a commercial handbill on public property, including sidewalks, or private property without the owner’s consent.
The amendment also prohibits throwing handbills from moving vehicles, onto vacant property or onto property marked with signs prohibiting soliciting or trespassing.
During Wednesday’s meeting, the council agreed to stiffen the penalty to mirror the city’s littering ordinance, with each instance starting at a $299 fine. The original version of the ordinance only included an infraction as punishment and the amount would have been set at the discretion of the court. The state maximum for an infraction is $750.