Umbrella hullabaloo winds up in federal court Kennebunk restaurant sues over logo cover-up

KENNEBUNK – A flap over umbrellas outside a restaurant in this tourist enclave has made its way into the federal courts.

The owner of Bartley’s Dockside is suing after being told to cover up the words “Hebrew National Beef Franks” on his umbrellas. The code enforcement officer contends the umbrellas violated a sign ordinance.

Brian Bartley said the code enforcement officer told him last July that the umbrellas were “personally offensive to me, and they have to go.”

Bartley said he was ordered to cover the logo with either spray paint or duct tape to make the umbrellas comply with town code, according to the lawsuit filed last month in U.S. District Court in Portland.

The flap grew as locals inquired as to who had defaced the umbrellas, and Bartley explained that he was required to do so.

Bartley’s lawyer, Ronald Coles, said the case smacks of anti-Semitism. “Had the umbrella said ‘Christian National Hot Dogs,’ I don’t think there would have been any issues,” Coles said Thursday.

Neither Town Manager Barry Tibbetts nor the code enforcement officer, Paul Demers, returned calls seeking comment Thursday.

Even though Bartley felt he had complied with the law, the town took him to state court for violating the sign ordinance, which limits the number of signs to three per establishment. Fines can range from $100 to $2,500 for each violation.

Things turned even uglier when the town declined to renew the beer and liquor license for the 25-year-old restaurant.

The case underscores an uneasy balance in Kennebunk and neighboring Kennebunkport between wealthy summer residents and the T-shirt shops, ice cream parlors and clam shacks catering to tourists that jam local roads.

In the summer, umbrellas pop up outside of restaurants and eateries serving those visitors to the quaint towns.

The town’s sign ordinance does not mention umbrellas, but it does mention awnings as an example. Awnings are not covered by the ordinance unless they have a commercial message on them, the ordinance says.

Coles said the whole thing is silly. “What’s next?” he asked, “Fining waiters and waitresses who wear T-shirts with a commercial logo while they serve customers seated outside a restaurant?”

Umbrellas are a sign of summer and there’s no need to regulate them, Coles said.

Most of them, like Bartley’s umbrellas, are given to vendors for free. Bartley said in court documents he couldn’t afford umbrellas, which cost $150 to $170 apiece, so he accepts free ones.