City commissions set at odds by council over mural ruling
By Nelson Daily Editor
By Timothy Schafer, The Nelson Daily
On the surface it was a debate about a “controversial” downtown mural, but in reality it was about a contest of wills and who could bend the ear of City council and find their favour.
The existing mural on the wall of Boomtown Sports created a furor in City council when it first appeared in late 2009, with the owner of the sports shop, Dale Arsenault, claiming he was unaware a permit was needed for the painting.
A development permit was needed before the mural could be undertaken, according to City bylaws.
In December of 2009 the City’s Community Heritage Commission was asked to formulate the future of the downtown and the role art plays, creating a broad-based plan for the downtown area. No quorum was obtained.
However, council changed horses in 2010 and also asked the Cultural Development Commission to ‘test drive’ the proposed Procedure for installation of public art in the downtown development permit area. They also re-submitted the application to the CHC for review.
The endeavour ended peacefully, however, with both commissions agreeing on how to move forward — and City council, in turn, agreeing with both of them.
“The potential for conflict between the two council commissions could potentially provide delays for proponents of projects,” read a City staff report.
It never happened. And, although City staff felt the mural did not meet existing design guidelines for the downtown, City council felt the mural should stay, with the following provisions:
• advertising aspects were to be removed from the mural (the .com advertising);
• the mural be contained to the flat back plane to reveal the heritage architectural elements of the building and reduce the impact of the mural on heritage space.
As well, in order to remediate the non-conforming elements of the building, it was recommended that the garage bay door pillars be repainted to match the façade, and all signage be redesigned for consistency.
