Miami Springs City Council votes to ban murals

The Miami Springs City Council on Monday voted 3-2 to ban murals in the three-square-mile city of 14,000 just north of Miami International Airport.

“I am not against murals,” said Miami Springs City Councilwoman Jackie Bravo. “I am against art that can hurt people or have distaste.”

Miami Springs is a “very family, conservative neighborhood,” Bravo said.

“I would be in favor of just disallowing murals to close kind of the loophole that was taken advantage of by the UTD,” Miami Springs Councilman Walter Fajet said.

In March, the Miami Springs Board of Adjustments ruled that United Teachers of Dade’s union headquarters at 5553 NW 36th Street had failed to comply with the color palette and recommended the mural be taken down. The union appealed.

The City Council held a special meeting last month and voted 3-2 to allow UTD’s mural. Fajet, a school administrator, cast a yes vote.

“Even in the media, they’re reporting that the UTD, it’s the big guy sticking it to the little guy, and they like to bring up the tattoo parlor,” Fajet said.

Back in 2010, Miami Springs code agents levied a “civil infraction notice” against Dharma Tattoo, at 38 Curtiss Parkway, for artwork placed in an alley, according to documents obtained by the Herald through a public records request.

“They [the tattoo parlor] did not bring down their artwork because it was a mural,” Fajet said. “It was brought down because it was a commercial sign.”

Archived minutes from a 2010 meeting state the Miami Springs City Council discussed “the art mural on the tattoo parlor.” The mural was removed.

Twelve years later, murals continue to strike the wrong tone with city leaders.

Miami Springs Mayor Maria Mitchell shared photos that she took in the City of Hialeah’s “Leah Arts District,” including a bare-bottomed woman soaking up the sun.

“Imagine seeing that on the side of one of our buildings,” Mitchell said. “I have nothing against that art, it’s fun to look at, certainly, I don’t think that that’s what our residents are wanting.”

Mitchell, Bravo and Fajet voted for a citywide ban on murals.

Officials did not say when the proposed Miami Springs’ ordinance banning murals would have its first reading.

The next Miami Springs City Council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on May 9 at 201 Westward Drive.

Theo Karantsalis can be reached at karantsalis@bellsouth.net.

This story was originally published April 28, 2022 at 9:00 AM.