The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has upheld the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire's ruling that the town of Concord's ban on electronic message centers (EMCs) is constitutional.

The town based its sign ordinance around aesthetic and safety concerns, and the court affirmed the validity of those grounds.

The court said: "It is given that a billboard can constitute a traffic hazard. It follows that EMCs, which provide more visual stimuli than traditional signs, will be more distracting and more hazardous....[The] Plaintiff's own witness stated that bypassers focus more on rapidly blinking electronic signs than static signs. This constitutes a greater hazard."

The court also agreed that Concord has a right to protect its visual environment, saying that the town's aesthetic goals would be much harder to achieve without a ban on EMCs.

Two amicus briefs were filed in the case, one by Scenic America, and one by the American Planning Association, the Northern New England Chapter of the APA, the International Municipal Lawyers Association, the New Hampshire Municipal Lawyers Association, and the New Hampshire Planners Association.

Click here to read the entirety of the court's ruling (PDF).