Port Moody property owners looking to paint a mural on exterior walls could soon require a permit from the city.
In a report to be considered by council on Tuesday, staff is recommending the implementation of a $243 permit for new murals. Additional fees could also be charged for access to city property and signage if ladders or scaffolding has to be erected on sidewalks or part of a roadway has to be closed.
However, Devin Jain, the city’s manager of cultural services, said council could elect to reduce or waive those fees altogether to encourage the creation of more murals on private property.
Jain said staff considered the mural policies of 15 other communities, of which nine had established mural policies and four had public art policies that also referenced murals.
“Several public art policies recognized the economic benefits of murals in a community,” he said.
Jain added while some communities had grant programs in place to support the creation of murals, such a program isn’t being recommended for Port Moody just yet as several businesses have already created murals on their own without the need for an incentive. He added another is reportedly in the works for this summer.
Jain said a permit program would help the city keep track of murals being created, allowing them to be added and promoted as part of Port Moody’s inventory of public art to attract visitors to the city.
“In time, as murals are created and public art in Port Moody grows in number, businesses in the community may begin to see some economic benefit,” he said.
A 2018 report from the city’s arts and culture committee said a permitting process would also help ensure the artwork is appropriate to the area as well as allow a review of the mural’s placement on a building, the materials to be used and the method they would be applied to the building.
