Rolling Mill Hill Residents Association members are upset by images recently spray-painted on a storage building in their Wilkes-Barre neighborhood and dismayed that city officials can’t do anything about it.
Resident association president Linda Joseph describes some of the images as “scary and horrific and bizarre” and says they reflect badly on the neighborhood and the city as a whole.
A few of the images are reminiscent of director James Cameron’s “Terminator” action/sci-fi movie franchise, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the title character.
Two images depict the metal skull of Schwarzenegger’s cyborg character in the original 1984 movie “The Terminator” — one with some artificial flesh missing and the other with no flesh after it had been burned away in an explosion. Other images depict Schwarzenegger’s nemesis in the 1991 sequel “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” — the T-1000 character made of liquid metal who often disguises himself as a police officer — with multiple bullet holes in his face and torso.
There is also an image of a creature with fangs depicted on one section of the wall. Much of the other work is comprised of designs or words in scripts often used in graffiti, ranging from simpler block letters and throw-ups to the more complex wildstyle, which has intricate lettering that makes it difficult for non-graffiti artists to decipher.
Joseph posted photos of the building along with her objections and concerns on the residents’ association and her personal Facebook pages, and it caught the eye of Mayor George C. Brown.
Brown later commented that a city employee reached out to the owner of the building and found that the owner approved the images and designs painted on it.
“After our discussion, the owner said he will have some additional drawings placed on the building that will be more viewer-friendly,” Brown said. “Since the building owner approved the drawings, the City has no authority to have the drawings removed. I know this is not the answer our residents were looking for; however, there is nothing the City can do to demand the drawings are removed.”
City Administrator Charles McCormick said on Thursday that the city attorney reviewed the section of city code pertaining to graffiti and determined that spray painting on a building is only considered graffiti if it’s unauthorized by the building owner.
“We verified it with the owner, advised him and sent pictures of what was up there. He advised our health code officer that he authorized these (images) and that he would be doing some more to soften it a bit,” McCormick said, adding that he wasn’t sure what the owner meant by “softening.”
Attempts to reach the owner for comment were unsuccessful.
Assessment records identify the owner of the building as KBA Realty LLC, a limited liability company formed in New York in 2011 with a Staten Island mailing address. A call to the phone number on a sign on the building for “American Security Storage” was not in service. And McCormick refused to provide the name or phone number of the person responsible for the building, saying the City does not release “personal information.”
Brown said there was graffiti on the building before the owner painted over it and commissioned people to create the paintings currently on the building. He indicated it should keep graffiti off the building because street artists generally “respect each other’s work” and wouldn’t paint over it.
“I, myself, would probably prefer some happy drawings, but that’s not my call,” Brown said.
Joseph noted that a business owner who wants to paint any type of sign on their building must seek zoning approval and obtain a permit.
“So, it seems like we’ve got zoning rules in place, but not something for this,” Joseph said. “My fear is that this will encourage other owners throughout the city that can do the same thing and put whatever they want on a building.”
Joseph said she realizes it’s probably too late to have anything done about the building at Arch and Blackman streets, but she would like city officials to consider amending city code or writing new code to address such issues in the future, and she plans to attend a city council meeting on Thursday to say as much.
“My hope is that something can be initiated, whether by the zoning board, the mayor, the city council, somebody, to prevent something like this happening again,” Joseph said, “because it doesn’t reflect what we should be reflecting to promote our area, our Rolling Mill Hill or any area, any neighborhood in Wilkes Barre.”
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
