- Dec 14, 2000
- 68,143
- 10
- 81
http://www.dallasnews.com/shar...etfbpaint.3641f66.html
Neon greens, bright pinks, electric blues ? the colors may look dazzling on tropical fish, but some Farmers Branch residents would rather not see them on their neighbors' houses.
When you paint your house some fluorescent or garish color scheme, you negatively affect my [home] value," said Robin Bernier, who with fellow resident Matt Burton has asked the City Council to consider requiring permits and color approval before residents can repaint.
Others, however, bristle at the idea of policing pigments.
"There is no compelling public purpose to infringe on my property rights and freedom of expression," former council member Carol Dingman said.
Alma Salazar, whose burgundy shutters look more like purple to one irritated neighbor, called the request to regulate paint color "just plain stupid."
And business owner Elizabeth Villafranca perceived it as another jab at Hispanics in a city that has targeted illegal immigration.
"We know who has the bright colors," she said after the council meeting. "Latin Americans."
The author Sandra Cisneros, for example, famously painted her historical home in San Antonio periwinkle purple.
But the residents pushing the Farmers Branch paint initiative say their concern is home values and neighborhoods, not ethnicity.
The council listened to both sides last week but gave no indication of whether it might act.
"There has been no discussion ... as to whether we'll take this up, other than asking the attorneys what are the legal parameters," council member David Koch said. Although color enforcement is common among homeowners associations and historical districts, several code enforcement officials in the Dallas area said they hadn't heard of a Texas city doing it.
But Farmers Branch doesn't always follow other cities. In the last year or so, it has implemented some of the area's toughest property maintenance rules. And it was the first U.S. city to put to a public vote a ban on renting to illegal immigrants. (The measure passed easily, but legal challenges have blocked enforcement.)
Around town, opinions vary on the paint color issue. Tom Bohmier, who lives near a house with a bright blue garage, said he didn't want his neighbors "for whatever reason, mental incompetence or poor judgment, to paint their house electric something."
Neighbor Martina De Los Santos, who lives across the street from that house, said she didn't necessarily like the color scheme but didn't think the city should dictate color.
"If they want to do something like that, they should ask the community and make the rules together," she said.
Resident Bill Sheveland voiced concern about how a city would determine appropriate colors "without appearing to come down on a culture that happens to have a different attitude toward color."
Community services director Michael Spicer said the city considered paint rules a couple of years ago but got little encouragement from the city attorney. Carrollton did, too, environmental services director Scott Hudson said, but "there seemed to be so many enforcement questions."
Garland code compliance director Steve Killen said that state law doesn't bar paint color regulation but that his city doesn't do it except to ensure consistency: "If you want to paint your house the most hideous color you can think of, that is allowed. But you can't paint that house a hideous color and then make a repair and paint that white, that one little piece."
Mr. Killen said Garland hasn't gone further because "it's difficult to place any type of prohibition on something that is simply based on a person's personal preference."
Neely Blackman, president of the Code Enforcement Association of Texas, said he knew of no evidence that house color makes a difference in property values. "Now neighbors make a difference," he said, citing issues such as junk cars.
Mr. Blackman said it's usually young white residents who choose bright colors, not Hispanics: "Their homes are no brighter than any other neighborhood's homes."
Daytona Beach Shores, Fla., and Lilburn, Ga., do have permit systems. In the Florida city, anyone who wants to paint his house must select from a palette of several hundred colors.
"Some of the brights are OK," code enforcement supervisor Gwyn Herstein said. "It's some of the fringe colors people might choose to stand out significantly that we were trying to prevent."
Lilburn adopted a palette of 56 colors, mostly earth tones. "You can still paint a house polka dot in our city, but it can only be certain colors," said planning and zoning director Howard Brown.
Some Farmers Branch residents suggested the city should focus not on which colors to allow but on which ones to ban.
Rick Johnson takes issue with three houses in his neighborhood: a pale yellow one with black doors and trim and a red roof, a brick home with bright blue shutters, and a third with trim that, to his eye, appears purple.
Ms. Salazar, who owns the third home, said most other houses in the neighborhood have brown or black trim. "I just don't want to be a copycat," she said.
Council member Koch said regulating color might be tricky.
"I was ... thinking of a house I renovated," he said. "The predominant color was beige; our shutters were a teal, or a dusty greenish blue. Somebody might look at that and say, 'Eww!' Others might look at that and say that's a good combination. It becomes a very subjective benchmark."
whoa! i can understand HOA's but the town trying to force what colors?
Im not sure on the race issue. but i would be pissed off if they tried to say what color i can or couldnt have.
not to mention i think the law would get struck down.
Neon greens, bright pinks, electric blues ? the colors may look dazzling on tropical fish, but some Farmers Branch residents would rather not see them on their neighbors' houses.
When you paint your house some fluorescent or garish color scheme, you negatively affect my [home] value," said Robin Bernier, who with fellow resident Matt Burton has asked the City Council to consider requiring permits and color approval before residents can repaint.
Others, however, bristle at the idea of policing pigments.
"There is no compelling public purpose to infringe on my property rights and freedom of expression," former council member Carol Dingman said.
Alma Salazar, whose burgundy shutters look more like purple to one irritated neighbor, called the request to regulate paint color "just plain stupid."
And business owner Elizabeth Villafranca perceived it as another jab at Hispanics in a city that has targeted illegal immigration.
"We know who has the bright colors," she said after the council meeting. "Latin Americans."
The author Sandra Cisneros, for example, famously painted her historical home in San Antonio periwinkle purple.
But the residents pushing the Farmers Branch paint initiative say their concern is home values and neighborhoods, not ethnicity.
The council listened to both sides last week but gave no indication of whether it might act.
"There has been no discussion ... as to whether we'll take this up, other than asking the attorneys what are the legal parameters," council member David Koch said. Although color enforcement is common among homeowners associations and historical districts, several code enforcement officials in the Dallas area said they hadn't heard of a Texas city doing it.
But Farmers Branch doesn't always follow other cities. In the last year or so, it has implemented some of the area's toughest property maintenance rules. And it was the first U.S. city to put to a public vote a ban on renting to illegal immigrants. (The measure passed easily, but legal challenges have blocked enforcement.)
Around town, opinions vary on the paint color issue. Tom Bohmier, who lives near a house with a bright blue garage, said he didn't want his neighbors "for whatever reason, mental incompetence or poor judgment, to paint their house electric something."
Neighbor Martina De Los Santos, who lives across the street from that house, said she didn't necessarily like the color scheme but didn't think the city should dictate color.
"If they want to do something like that, they should ask the community and make the rules together," she said.
Resident Bill Sheveland voiced concern about how a city would determine appropriate colors "without appearing to come down on a culture that happens to have a different attitude toward color."
Community services director Michael Spicer said the city considered paint rules a couple of years ago but got little encouragement from the city attorney. Carrollton did, too, environmental services director Scott Hudson said, but "there seemed to be so many enforcement questions."
Garland code compliance director Steve Killen said that state law doesn't bar paint color regulation but that his city doesn't do it except to ensure consistency: "If you want to paint your house the most hideous color you can think of, that is allowed. But you can't paint that house a hideous color and then make a repair and paint that white, that one little piece."
Mr. Killen said Garland hasn't gone further because "it's difficult to place any type of prohibition on something that is simply based on a person's personal preference."
Neely Blackman, president of the Code Enforcement Association of Texas, said he knew of no evidence that house color makes a difference in property values. "Now neighbors make a difference," he said, citing issues such as junk cars.
Mr. Blackman said it's usually young white residents who choose bright colors, not Hispanics: "Their homes are no brighter than any other neighborhood's homes."
Daytona Beach Shores, Fla., and Lilburn, Ga., do have permit systems. In the Florida city, anyone who wants to paint his house must select from a palette of several hundred colors.
"Some of the brights are OK," code enforcement supervisor Gwyn Herstein said. "It's some of the fringe colors people might choose to stand out significantly that we were trying to prevent."
Lilburn adopted a palette of 56 colors, mostly earth tones. "You can still paint a house polka dot in our city, but it can only be certain colors," said planning and zoning director Howard Brown.
Some Farmers Branch residents suggested the city should focus not on which colors to allow but on which ones to ban.
Rick Johnson takes issue with three houses in his neighborhood: a pale yellow one with black doors and trim and a red roof, a brick home with bright blue shutters, and a third with trim that, to his eye, appears purple.
Ms. Salazar, who owns the third home, said most other houses in the neighborhood have brown or black trim. "I just don't want to be a copycat," she said.
Council member Koch said regulating color might be tricky.
"I was ... thinking of a house I renovated," he said. "The predominant color was beige; our shutters were a teal, or a dusty greenish blue. Somebody might look at that and say, 'Eww!' Others might look at that and say that's a good combination. It becomes a very subjective benchmark."
whoa! i can understand HOA's but the town trying to force what colors?
Im not sure on the race issue. but i would be pissed off if they tried to say what color i can or couldnt have.
not to mention i think the law would get struck down.
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