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Council signals support for mural placemaking; staff asked to draft policy
Summary
Council directed staff to draft a placemaking policy for murals on private exterior walls and utility boxes, asking for guardrails on advertising, political content, color palettes and a formal call to artists to manage proliferation.
Councilmembers told staff to move forward with drafting a placemaking policy after hearing a presentation on recent mural installations and a growing number of business requests to host murals on private walls.
Amanda described the town's existing utility-box mural program (authorized as an ongoing $25,000 expense) and said requests from businesses and property owners have increased; nine new utility-box murals were recently installed. Staff recommended returning in three to four months with a draft policy and a formal annual call to artists, along with criteria to ensure murals reflect Fountain Hills themes (fountain, dark skies, nature) and to prohibit political messaging or business advertising on tenant walls.
Councilmembers broadly supported the concept but urged careful guidelines: one councilmember suggested desert-muted colors and caps to avoid dilution of signature public-art pieces; another raised First Amendment concerns and asked staff and the town attorney to ensure the policy does not unlawfully censor expression. Council requested the draft policy be reviewed by the town attorney before public release.
Staff will return with proposed guidelines, code edits as needed, and a process for selection and approval of mural art.
