The Public Administration Committee voted unanimously July 20 to direct the city attorney to draft an amendment to Dallas City Code section 8.91 to remove a reference to obtaining a permit for original art on buildings. Brian, a city staff member who presented the item, said the change is intended as a technical cleanup that preserves the existing standards.

Committee members said the code was revised earlier to remove a permitting requirement for murals and the stray language left an unintended reference. "Staff's recommendation is just to remove that reference, you know, from that code so that the standards still all apply," Brian said during the discussion.

Under the current code, staff explained, murals may be placed so long as they meet the city's standards; the amendment would delete the clause reading "having received approval of a permit as described in this chapter," which staff said implies a review process that no longer exists. Brian described the proposed change as "really just clean up." The committee moved and seconded the motion to direct the city attorney and then voted "aye" unanimously.

The committee did not change the standards themselves. Presenters and members discussed that, under the existing approach, murals that do not comply with the standards would remain subject to code enforcement action after they are created rather than requiring pre-approval. The committee chair signaled the item will be forwarded for the city attorney to draft language for review by the full council.

The action does not itself amend the code; it directs staff to prepare draft ordinance language for future council consideration.