Planning commission orders removal of mural on North Dakota Vision Services building

The Grand Forks Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6–2 on July 9 to require removal of a mural recently painted on the North Dakota Vision Services School for the Blind at 500 Stanford Road, concluding the work was installed without the required approvals for a mural that abuts a public right-of-way.

Commissioners and members of the public spent more than two hours debating whether the mural should remain while the city’s ordinance and permitting practices were reviewed. The commission’s decision followed public comment both for and against the artwork and a staff presentation that described how the current code governs murals in residential/university districts.

The mural was painted this spring by a contracted artist. City planning staff told the commission the mural was not permitted under the version of the code that applied prior to a 2023 amendment; that amendment later allowed murals on some schools and churches but required Planning and Zoning and City Council review…