Ripe zoning issue

PHILADELPHIA -- Sybil Peachlum has been fighting York City Hall for a decade over a lawn sign with an anthropomorphized peach holding a newspaper with the headline, "Peachy News. Jesus is Alive."

One of the highest courts in the land says she has a case.

The city says the 3 1/2-foot by 5-foot sign, which was, until recently, planted in Peachlum's front yard, violates zoning rules. Peachlum says the ban violates her right to free speech.

A lower court had dismissed her lawsuit seeking to keep the sign, but the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated it Thursday, declaring that after years of languishing before a city appeals board, her case deserves to be decided by a judge.

"Peachlum's claim," the court wrote, "is clearly ripe."

The ruling clears the way for a federal judge to decide soon whether Peachlum, who has been a frequent thorn in the side of city officials, gets to put the cheerful evangelical display back up. It was taken down recently when she was evicted and is now in storage at her sister's house.

The sign made its first appearance as a holiday decoration, then was anchored with cement in 1994. It didn't take long for some neighbors to decide that the big peach, illuminated by neon lamps, was too tacky for the block.

Attorney Erik Stanley of the religious freedom group Liberty Counsel said that while cities have a right to regulate signs, the display erected by his client is protected by the First Amendment.

"The neon only gets turned on at Christmas and Easter," Stanley said. "It's not a glaring eyesore; it's her way of reaching out to her neighbors with a message she wants to communicate. It's no different than hanging an American flag on your property."