On Sept. 24, the Pagosa Springs Planning Commission determined that a proposed mural project, planned for 511 San Juan St., which is home to the Bootlegger liquor store, qualifies as public art, rather than as a commercial advertising sign.
The determination was made after the commission motioned to require the owners to remove text of the business’s name as well as signage giving directions to the business storefront.
Community Development Director James Dickhoff told the planning commission that the mural would be installed on the “east side of the building, facing east,” and the artwork aims to “beautify the back of the building.”
Dickhoff explained that the purpose of the meeting was for the commission to set a precedent about the “fine line” between public art and an advertising sign.
“At what point does a mural become a sign?” he asked the commissioners.
He explained that if the commission decided that the artwork is a business sign, then it would need to abide by the town’s Land Use and Development Code (LUDC) rules for business signage, which allows for 75 square feet of business signage on a wall.
But if it was deemed public art, then the entirety of the wall could be utilized for the mural, according to the LUDC.
“We want to make sure that we don’t have a loophole that would allow businesses to use a mural in place of their sign without it being considered a sign for size allowances,” Dickhoff said, thinking that “once you put the business name on that mural, it becomes a sign.”
“This would be one of the first murals out there, that I’m aware of, that would have some indication of what is being sold at the business,” he said.
The commissioners faced two main choices — to approve the mural with the business name or approve it without the name — but Dickhoff also suggested that the commission could come up with its own decision outside of these two choices.
Mark Zeigler, representing the applicants at the meeting, said he would be “absolutely OK” with removing the Bootlegger text from the mural.
Planning commissioner David Pribble suggested that the language around signage and public art in the LUDC should be revisited when the code is updated.
When a motion was made to approve the mural without the business signage and the directional arrow, it was passed unanimously by the commission.
derek@pagosasun.com
