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Council adopts downtown chalking cleanup ordinance, city to require removal by sundown
Summary
The Walla Walla City Council adopted a content-neutral ordinance Feb. 12 requiring chalk messages on sidewalks in the downtown core to be removed by sundown the same day (or by the next sundown if applied after dark).
The Walla Walla City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance on Feb. 12 that requires individuals who place chalk messages on sidewalks in the city's downtown core to remove those markings by sundown the same day, or by the following sundown if the chalking occurred after dark.
City attorney staff told council that courts have consistently held that sidewalk chalking is constitutionally protected speech, so the city cannot regulate content. The ordinance is therefore written as content-neutral regulation focused on maintenance and cleanup: it preserves the right to chalk while requiring the person who applied the chalk to remove it within the time window.
Why it matters: City staff and business owners said downtown has seen…
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