Free speech: Priceless. Restricting free speech in Taylorsville: $15,800. The city has paid that amount to settle a lawsuit filed by animal rights activists who were limited to a "free-speech zone" when they tried to pass out brochures at the annual Taylorsville Dayzz festival, according to Brian Barnard, their Salt Lake City attorney. An order dismissing the suit was signed Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins. The out-of-court settlement tied up the loose ends of the dispute, which began in June when several members of the Utah Animal Rights Coalition were restricted by city officials to an area marked off by yellow tape near the parking lot of Valley Regional Park. The activists were warned by police that they would receive citations if they failed to stay in the zone while handing out leaflets promoting animal rights to festival attendees at the park, 5700 South and 2700 West. The restriction was ordered by Taylorsville Mayor Russ Wall, who was given the power to create free speech zones during city events as part of an ordinance passed by the City Council earlier this year. The ordinance requires only a finding by the mayor that such a zone "would serve a substantial governmental interest such as traffic flow, crowd control or public safety on public property." The UARC members, saying their group has no history of violence, filed suit alleging their free speech rights had been violated and obtained an emergency hearing on the second day of the four-day festival. Jenkins ruled in their favor and issued a temporary restraining order halting use of the free speech zone for the rest of the festival. - Pamela Manson