Concord, NH – A dispute of the first amendment on a brilliant paint that shows rays of sun that shines in a mountain range made Chocolate and Strawberry Donutas covered with sprinkled, A blueberry muffin, a cinnamon roll and other cakes is scheduled to judge on Thursday.
A federal judge In New Hampshire, he will consider whether a city is violating the rights of freedom of expression of the bakery owner that shows the mural about his business.
“I think that the whole city is following this story,” said Sean Young, owner of the Leavitt country bakery in Conway, a community of more than 10,000 people near the white mountains that attracts skiers, nature lovers and buyers. Some residents want regulations to be applied while worrying about excess development in the tourist city.
The mural on the bakery, which was founded more than 45 years ago, is a creation of local high school students. When it rose in June 2022, the painting attracted many compliments and visitors, including one of a city zoning officer.
The zoning board decided that painting was not as much art and advertising. The Board determined that it was a sign, so it could not remain as it is because of its size. With approximately 90 square feet (8.6 square meters), it is four times larger than the local sign code allows.
If the paint did not show what is sold inside, baked products, it would not be considered a signal and could stay, the members of the Board said.
The city’s lawyers say that it has shown that “restricting the size of the signals serves the important interest of the government to preserve the aesthetics of the city, promote security and guarantee the same application,” according to a judicial document.
Young people told him to modify or eliminate paint. Given the possible criminal charges and fines minor crimes after their appeals were rejected, he demanded the city in a federal court in 2023, saying that their rights of freedom of expression were violated.
“Government officials cannot tell people, including businessmen and companies, what they can and cannot paint,” said the Virginia headquarters Institute, which represents Young in a press release at that time. “And no one can say with a serious face that Leavitt’s mural would be a little safer, healthier or more pleasant if he portrayed flowers instead of cakes.”
Young is asking for $ 1 in damage. His lawyers say that the definition of a city sign is too broad and that the city has not shown that something bad happens if the painting continues. It has not been eliminated.
Part of the Conway sign code establishes that the city “has no intention of restricting individual freedom of expression, but the city recognizes its right to impose reasonable restrictions on commercial speech.”
The city has applied its sign code against other businesses. In 2006, for example, he said that the garbage cans of an ice cream, which were shaped like ice cream cones, were signs. The business requested and obtained permission from the city to use cans. In another case, a sporting store agreed to delete window screens with photos of mountain bicycles and skis after the city determined that they were signs.
Young’s demand stopped for a few months in 2023, since residents considered reviewing how the city defines the signals, in a way that would have allowed the painting to remain awake. But that measure was seen as too broad and complex, and could not happen.
Last year, voters A new ordinance passed This requires that applicants comply with art criteria in public and commercial properties, but has not been applied to the case of Young.
By
