By KEVIN TURNER
kevin.turner@mynassausun.com

FERNANDINA BEACH — After more than $50,000 in fines for neon signs in their front windows and years of complaints about noise from a bar next door, the owners of the historic Florida House Inn bed and breakfast have filed a lawsuit against the city, its code enforcement board and one of its code enforcement officers.

As of Wednesday, city officials had not been served with the suit, City Clerk Mary Mercer said.

The lawsuit, filed in the U. S. District Court in Jacksonville last week , says the city has harassed, intimidated and unfairly treated inn owners Joe and Diane Warwick and has violated their First Amendment constitutional rights with its sign code that restricts neon signs in the city’s historic district.

Cincinnati attorney Jennifer Kinsley , who represents the inn, said Wednesday the city’s sign code is tantamount to censorship.

More on this story in tomorrow's Florida Times-Union and Saturday's My Nassau Sun.