Posted on 02/26/2009 4:03:58 AM PST by Man50D
CLEARWATER, Fla. – It's a fish story that's turning into a whale of a legal tale.
The owners of a Florida bait and tackle shop have filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Clearwater to defend their right to display artwork of marine life on the outside of their business along with a banner of the First Amendment to the Constitution.
The salty dispute started in December 2007 when Herb and Lori Quintero invested their life savings to purchase and renovate a dilapidated building they turned into the Complete Angler, selling fishing accessories such as rods, reels and live and frozen bait.
To help spruce up the building's image, they hired artist Matt Evanson and gave him free rein to paint a giant mural of marine life, thus far depicting images of six local game fish: snook, redfish, tarpon, dolphin, grouper and sailfish. But Evanson has not been able to complete the artwork – which contains no words except for his signature – because the city on Florida's Gulf Coast claims it violates the sign code.
Clearwater officials say they're merely enforcing the strict rule prohibiting murals on businesses that depict a product the business sells. Ironically, the Complete Angler does not sell game fish.
In an e-mail dated Jan. 6, Assistant City Manager Jill Silverboard wrote to Herb Quintero, saying, "By definition of the sign code, what you consider a 'mural' is an attached sign. Displays, such as your 'mural,' which cover useable space on a wall and are designed to convey information, such as the type of business occurring at a particular location ... ."
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
Have we lost all common sense. It’s a mural....A MURAL!!!!!
What do you want to be Jill Silverboard is a recent arrival from well north of the Mason Dixon line?
Cover it with graffiti and it would be folk art.
It’s like a friend that runs a army/navy surplus store here in atlanta, he’s not allowed to put up American Flags on his building because that would be “advertising”.
The public outcry was such that the board had to come up with a way to allow both the student's painting and a local Heritage Day banner (also disallowed).
Lot of that going around lately.
Ummmm
He doesn’t sell fish.
I hope he wins and the city is smacked down so badly. They really need to be reamed hard over this ridiculous abuse of power.
Talk about the perfect example of just how far afield America has gone! And it’s not an isolated example, as indicated by the fact that two of the first posts cite other places and people suffering from the same problem.
I don’t know the answer. There might not be an answer. It’s possible we’ve let government take too much root to be stopped.
Ah, Clearwater, home of Scientology.
I hope this guy wins. If there are protests or anything, I would join in... I’m very close to this location.
This city is run by scientologists. If you google it, it will blow your mind how they imtimidated and harrassed people to take over the town. I am sending that tackle shop a small donation.
Said these very words to my husband last night. I have no answers any more. Not that I probably ever had any answers anyway, but I certainly don't have any in this upside down world.
Read the second amendment, it contains an answer.
Joe Stalin and Mao are down there laughing their asses off. What a freakin' outrage!!
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