Aspen resident challenging local signage enforcement

An Aspen resident has challenged the city’s enforcement of local sign regulations, galvanizing community support with a demonstration planned for 1 p.m. on May 8 at the Hungarian Lodge, 935 E. Cooper Ave.

Participants are encouraged to bring their own signs in defense of free expression and private property rights. 

Mark Tye, a longtime local artist and former gallery owner, is defending the politically-charged yard signs on his property as protected free speech after drawing attention with his colorful a roadside display along Colorado Highway 82 that has become a familiar, if provocative, landmark. 

Some of the signs, including one that reads “Evict Mark Hunt,” prompted a formal complaint to the city from neighbor Dr. Phyllis Bronson, who criticized the signs as “horrific and mean-spirited.” 

In emails to city staff, Bronson wrote, “If you have not seen what he is doing on the property — his signs — and not just about Hunt — it is time.” She described Tye’s art as “so ugly and inappropriate to have to see every time we turn into our home.” 

Her communications requested an “emergency response” to the matter and raised concerns about the safety and influence of the signage on community standards.

The city subsequently issued a notice of violation, citing Tye for exceeding the allowable frequency and duration of temporary signage under Aspen’s municipal code. While the city maintains the content is irrelevant to the citation, it argues Tye’s display violates regulations designed to limit visual clutter and preserve community aesthetics.

He insists the signs are protected speech under the First Amendment and calls them a form of political and artistic expression. 

“When I come home, I am going to sign each piece and number them ‘one of one,’ along with a certificate of authenticity,” he said. “That is what the authenticity of art is, with it being signed, signed, numbered, and authenticated.” 

He added that Aspen’s cultural identity is rooted in expression not conformity. 

“Keep Aspen fun and funky,” reads one of his pieces.

Tye accused Bronson of having a conflict of interest, alleging her son works for Hunt, a developer who has become a lightning rod for criticism in Aspen. Tye asserts that she initially brought her complaints about the signage to Sheriff Michael Buglione, whom he alleges previously worked for Hunt and still maintains relations with the developer.

Residents have expressed growing frustration with Hunt’s alleged sluggish project timelines and perceived role in accelerating gentrification. His stalled developments, according to Tye — including the Buckhorn Arms, Boomerang Lodge, and Park and Midland — have drawn complaints for leaving central Aspen sites in a prolonged state of disrepair. 

Tye remarked, “Forget that he boarded up buildings. He made them dead.”

He and his supporters view the city’s enforcement not just as bureaucratic overreach but as a broader erosion of Aspen’s creative, iconoclastic spirit. 

As one supporter, Shae Singer, wrote in a letter to the editor, “This is an extension of our national government taking away our freedoms and our local government’s attempts to homogenize Aspen.” 

The city, however, stands by its position that the ordinance is content-neutral and necessary to maintain public safety and visual order.

Tye stated that he has no intention of removing his artwork and anticipates that the matter will ultimately be resolved in municipal court.