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Board debates whether murals with commercial text should count as signage; staff cites sign code
Summary
Board members examined whether a small commercial message inside a mural should trigger counting the whole wall as signage; staff read the code language and said murals with commercial messaging are treated as signs, while the board asked staff to explore precedent and possible code changes.
Board discussion on March 4 focused on how the city’s sign code treats murals that include commercial messaging. During the presentation Associate Planner Tia Villegas read the relevant provision aloud, noting the code treats a mural that contains printed commercial messages as part of the allowable signage area.
"If permitted commercial messages are included in a mural, the entire mural shall be considered part of the allowable part of the overall allowable signage permitted by code," Villegas read from the staff material. Several board members said that, in practice, previous approvals (one referenced as the Bohemian case) had allowed staff and the board to delineate artwork from lettering; they asked staff to revisit that precedent and recommended code cleanup so small lettering does not force wholesale repainting of large artworks.
Staff said any retained commercial messaging will be handled through the building permit or sign-permit processes and that a text amendment to separate murals and sculptures from the sign code is already in progress but not yet approved. The board endorsed approving the murals themselves while directing staff to explore whether the west-facade lettering can be isolated as signage rather than requiring repainting of the full mural.
