Belmont city staff has been tinkering with its sign ordinance for months and will ask its City Council to pass an urgency ordinance tonight to impose a moratorium on new billboard structures.

The temporary halt will give staff another 45 days to develop sign policies that do not trample on First Amendment rights to free speech since the cities of San Carlos and Richmond have recently been sued for maintaining an allegedly unconstitutional sign ordinance, according to a staff report by City Attorney Marc Zafferano.

The plaintiff in the case against San Carlos, Jeffrey Herson and East Bay Outdoor, Inc., was successful in obtaining a temporary restraining order against the city and immediately resubmitted an application for a billboard overlooking Highway 101 that will read “Palin for President 2012.”

The city sign ordinance in San Carlos was never meant to address the signs’ content, just if they met installation requirements, according to City Attorney Greg Rubens.

Herson’s lawsuit, however, claims San Carlos favors commercial over political speech with an ordinance restricting the latter to 32 square feet and limiting their presence to two months before an election.

San Carlos first discussed a temporary moratorium on all new signs within the city three weeks ago and will revisit the matter at tonight’s meeting.

For Belmont’s urgency ordinance to pass, four of its five councilmembers must approve it. Councilwoman Coralin Feierbach has indicated she will not attend tonight’s meeting because she is out of town meaning the remaining councilmembers must be unified to pass the ordinance.

If the council does not approve the ordinance, numerous new billboard structures and accompanying signs might be hastily erected in an unregulated manner that would impair the city’s substantial interests in public safety and protecting the visual appearance of the city, according to Zafferano’s staff report.

Councilman Warren Lieberman has read the staff report and is anxiously awaiting to hear what city staff has to say on the subject at tonight’s meeting.

“From my understanding, it will only regulate the placement of new billboards and has nothing to do with content on current billboards,” Lieberman said.

Lieberman wants to make sure the city’s sign ordinance is respectful of the Constitution.

“Free speech is the cornerstone of our country,” Lieberman said.

Councilman Bill Dickenson said he is undecided on how he will vote tonight.

“I’m kind of on the fence right now. I want to hear what everybody has to say,” Dickenson said. “I do think, though, there are bigger issues that we could be spending our resources on, such as water.”

Dickenson is referring to an $11.1 billion bond and four companion bills signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Friday. The water legislation benefits Southern California and hurts Northern California, Dickenson said.

The Belmont City Council meets 7:30 p.m., Council Chambers, 1 Twin Pines Lane, Belmont.

Bill Silverfarb can be reached by e-mail: silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.