Park Ridge city leaders began discussing loosening restrictions on public murals in town, though exactly what may be permitted has yet to be determined.
Community Development Director Drew Awsumb brought the matter up at the Committee of the Whole Meeting of the City Council May 4 simply to see whether any of the elected leaders would support more public art. Several times a year, Awsumb brings up local policies or subjects for general discussion as a way to determine whether any changes are needed to the policy.
At present, city code classifies murals as signs, so they’re restricted to certain sizes and places. However, Awsumb wanted to know whether alderpeople would welcome loosening those restrictions and perhaps bringing murals into the city. He said most communities have a distinction in their codes allowing for murals and painted public art, but Park Ridge doesn’t.
Two alderpeople were absent from the meeting, Kelly Lawrence and Mwende Lefler, so those present agreed to continue the conversation, but the general consensus seemed to be the city could use more murals.
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“I love this idea,” said Alderperson Lauren Rapisand. “I love public art in general. … I do think I would like to see schools included. School pride is something our community is really big on. It would make the city more vibrant, I like it.”
However, Joseph Steinfels and Fred Sanchez worried about maintenance or eventual replacement, especially in the case of defacement.
Awsumb said if the mural were the city’s property, the city would be responsible for maintenance, but the mural could be a private piece paid for by a local business. He also said the mural could have a time limit, and suggested as an example a mural commemorating the 250th birthday of the United States. Essentially, the city could set its own standards and practices.
Steinfels added he is also concerned about community complaints more broadly.
“I can only imagine when murals start if we do go that way, if it creates consternation and concern,” he said. Steinfels said he’d like to talk more to the community before committing to allowing murals.
Awsumb pointed out he wasn’t trying to pigeonhole anyone and wanted to just get a feel for whether the board wanted to make a distinction in the code for murals and signs.
“If there’s no interest then that terminates the project,” he said. “We don’t have to do this. It’s a completely discretionary community decision.”
“I would be on board investigating what a program could look like,” said Sanchez. He said he’d rather wait until the next board meeting until more board members were present before committing to anything more than that.
The next city council meeting will be May 18.
Jesse Wright is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.