Windshield Flyer Ordinance Upheld; Wipers Everywhere Breathe Sigh of Relief

MAPLE COUNTY — The county board has upheld the Windshield Flyer Ordinance, preserving the ban on placing campaign literature under windshield wipers in public parking lots — a victory for wiper blades everywhere and a defeat for what supporters called grassroots outreach and opponents called littering with extra steps.

The ordinance, enacted in 2023 after the Great Flyer Storm of the 2022 midterms — when an estimated 8,000 flyers blew across the courthouse square in a single gusty afternoon — prohibits placing any printed material on vehicles without the owner’s consent. Violations carry a $50 fine, doubled for glossy stock, which the ordinance’s author called needlessly slippery.

Supporters of repeal, organized as Citizens for Windshield Freedom, argued the ban stifles local campaigns that cannot afford mailers. Spokesperson Rick Danner said his city council bid distributed 3,000 flyers by hand in 2024 and met hundreds of voters. Nobody complained, Danner said. Well, one person complained. She had just had her car detailed.

The opposition — an unlikely alliance of the county car wash association, the Audubon-adjacent litter patrol, and 400 residents who signed a petition titled MY WINDSHIELD IS NOT A BULLETIN BOARD — carried the day. Car wash owner Tina Sparrow testified that flyer residue gums up wiper blades and that her shop replaces, on average, six sets of blades per election season. The blades, she said, are the real victims here.

The board’s 4-1 vote keeps the ban intact through the 2026 cycle. Campaigns are reminded that alternatives remain plentiful: door hangers (with consent), the farmers market (with a permit), and the time-honored tradition of standing outside the grocery store with a smile and a palm card, which the ordinance explicitly protects as long as the smiler stays 25 feet from the entrance.

Enforcement will be complaint-driven, as before. The county’s code enforcement officer, who asked not to be named because he is tired of being recognized at parties, said he expects a quiet season. Most campaigns comply once they learn the fine doubles for glossy, he said. Glossy is always the tell. Glossy means they knew.

Danner says he will comply, reluctantly, and has already pivoted to door hangers, which he calls the windshield flyer’s law-abiding cousin. The car wash association celebrated with a two-for-one wiper blade sale, which Sparrow called the most civic-minded promotion in shop history.

The county’s wipers, meanwhile, rest easy — clean, unburdened, and ready for whatever November’s weather, but not its campaigns, may bring.