SAUGUS — The Zoning Board of Appeals has voted to delay a decision to cover up the Cap World mural ahead of a vote that may change the signage laws in the town.
Planning Board member Joseph Vecchione has been pushing for an article to be passed that will allow murals to be installed in the town.
As of now, the town’s zoning laws say that murals and public art are considered signage and are covered by restrictions, including limits on the number of colors used in them. Cap World was ordered to be covered in February.
“A lot of people support that mural and what it depicts and what it adds to the environment,” Vecchione said. “I’m happy that the ZBA voted to extend this because it doesn’t make sense to cover it up if we’re working to change the law.”
The vote will take place during the Town Meeting next month and requires a two-thirds vote to pass.
If passed, it will include a definition called “vintage art murals” that will allow murals that were previously non-compliant to the signage bylaw to be compliant under the new definition of the murals.
“Cap World would fall under that definition,” Vecchione said. “That is a mural, not a sign. It doesn’t have a commercial message or advertisement for a business.”
Vecchione has gained the support of the Cultural Council for this article, which he said he has been working on for a while.
“It’s not only just to pursue public art; it’s to permit public art that’s previously been covered up,” he said.
If passed, the Massachusetts and Saugus Cultural Council can contribute to and provide grants for some public-art projects, so Vecchione has already spoken with the councils about potential opportunities down the road for telling the town’s stories through murals and other forms of public art.
“Painting a wall can provide aesthetic improvements, as well as a little bit of culture in Saugus,” Vecchione said.
If the article passes, the town will begin developing ideas for new murals over the summer and get an artist on board by October.
Vecchione said he is pretty confident about the article passing because it just “makes sense.”
Some of the concerns he’s heard about this article include the possibility of it permitting graffiti, which Vecchione said will not happen because graffiti is outlawed in the town’s bylaws. He said graffiti is considered a public nuisance, so it wouldn’t apply to the mural definition.
“All I’m trying to do is permit public art, which I don’t think is a bad thing,” Vecchione said. “I know people have their certain positions and political affiliations as far as art goes, but my intention is to just focus on a broken bylaw and try to permit public art in Saugus.”
