{"id":436787,"date":"2026-09-15T17:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T17:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/436787\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T17:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T17:00:14","slug":"dallas-leaders-consider-changing-city-code-to-permit-public-art-on-sidewalks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/436787\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas leaders consider changing city code to permit \u2018public art\u2019 on sidewalks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some Dallas leaders want to change the city\u2019s policy on sidewalk markings so residents can paint the town again \u2013 months after a state directive banned and erased \u201cpolitical\u201d signage from crosswalks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During a committee meeting Monday, council members discussed updating the city\u2019s code on sidewalks \u2014 which currently doesn\u2019t allow any kind of public art \u2014 to allow for \u201ctemporary\u201d markings that could recognize a neighborhood\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been an issue in my district, along the Cedar Springs corridor where the rainbow crosswalks were eliminated under state mandate,\u201d said District 14 council member Paul Ridley, who chairs the transportation and infrastructure committee.<\/p>\n

Ridley said the Cedar Springs Merchant Association \u2014 which represents businesses along the main business strip in Dallas’ historically LGBTQ+ Oak Lawn neighborhood<\/a> \u2014 requested the ordinance be amended to allow the city\u2019s director of transportation and public works to grant a permit for artwork on sidewalks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have been looking at alternatives to identify the district and provide local content, without doing so in the street right of way,\u201d Ridley said. \u201cOne of the areas that they’ve looked at is sidewalks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s mandate last year banned any public art or decorative signs, including roadway murals, on crosswalks in the state. <\/p>\n

Neighborhood groups protested the removals as cities complied, but some have responded by installing rainbow-colored sidewalks, bike racks and other artwork to recognize neighborhood identity in Dallas<\/a> and other cities.<\/p>\n

The City of Dallas began removing rainbow crosswalks in the historically gay neighborhood of Oak Lawn on Monday.<\/p>\n

Dallas transportation director Gus Khankarli said safety is his top priority for projects involving city-funded sidewalks. As for approving them based on the content, he said that\u2019s not up to transportation staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s concerning when that type of approval is in the hands of a director without some sort of a policy from the body,\u201d Khankarli told city leaders.<\/p>\n

Some council members supported the idea of creating a program between the city\u2019s Office of Arts and Culture and Transportation and Public Works that could designate permits for sidewalk art based on certain criteria.<\/p>\n

Cara Mendelsohn, who represents District 12, said the conversation on public art has advanced further when it comes to trails and parks. Residents in her Far North Dallas district want to draw stencils on the Preston Ridge Trail.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stencils we’re looking at using are all uniform childhood stencils, hopscotch, you know, dinosaur alphabet, that sort of thing,\u201d she said. \u201cI could imagine a scenario where somebody could put a swastika in front of their business, and then you start talking about these First Amendment rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Council member William Roth, who represents District 11, shot down the idea entirely. He said the city shouldn\u2019t be in the business of permitting art on the city\u2019s right-of-way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really think that it’s not appropriate for us to be legislating or allowing folks to be dealing with our projects on our sidewalks and on our streets,\u201d Roth said.<\/p>\n

Chair Ridley asked city staff to follow up with the transportation committee on the legal implications of changing the code.<\/p>\n

Pablo Arauz Pe\u00f1a is KERA\u2019s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today<\/a>. Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some Dallas leaders want to change the city\u2019s policy on sidewalk markings so residents can paint the town…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":["post-436787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}