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Clearwater Officials, Mural Owner's Battle Continues

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

If Complete Angler owner Herb Quintero does not remove the mural from his business by Monday, Clearwater officials say he will be subject to fines of $138 a day.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 6, 2009

CLEARWATER - When code enforcement officers went fishing for violators, they hooked a real lunker named Herb Quintero, owner of the Complete Angler tackle shop.

The result was a months-long battle over a 400-square-foot mural showing an underwater scene flush with game fish. Quintero calls the mural on the side of his business a work of public art. The city calls it an illegal business sign.

The fight landed in court, and Quintero continues to stir public opinion in his last-ditch effort to shake the code enforcement hook.

The controversy has prompted one city official to call for retooling the ordinance.

Quintero said he bought the run-down building, 705 N. Fort Harrison Ave., in December 2007 and invested more than $500,000 in renovation.

"It was an old dilapidated fruit stand," he said. "Now, it's one of the nicest tackle stores around."

Just after opening in February, Quintero commissioned local artist Matt Evanson to paint a mural.

"This is a blighted area of Clearwater," Quintero said. "It's always been a very bad area. I tried to improve it by adding artwork and cleaning the place up in general."

Within a couple of months, city inspectors noticed the mural.

"They came by and cited me for double signage," Quintero said.

The mural's size and content are at issue, a city spokeswoman said.

"It depicts what he's selling and that's considered signage," Joelle Castelli said. "If it was a mural of kids playing in a park, that would be acceptable."

Since being cited, Quintero said, "We've been going back and forth and back and forth. I told them the mural was not going to come down."

In December, Quintero pleaded no contest and was fined $700. The city gave him 30 days to paint over the mural; the deadline is Sunday.

"I'm planning on just leaving it up," he said. "It's not about me keeping the mural. It doesn't bring any business to us. It's just the simple fact that they deem it a sign and therefore it is. That is a dictatorship type of response. This is still the U.S. of A."

Castelli said the city has tried to work out a deal with Quintero, but that he is being difficult.

She said he may be allowed to keep a portion of the mural if he goes through the permitting process. But right now, "the mural is too big," she said. "He refuses to go through the process of getting the mural approved."

Castelli said it's unclear what the city will do if Quintero doesn't comply. It could cite him again.

Clearwater Vice Mayor George Cretekos hopes that doesn't happen.

Concerns about the sign rules surfaced last year when a Jamba Juice opened in downtown.

"At that time, I expressed an opinion that our sign ordinance didn't allow for creativity," Cretekos said today.

In the wake of the Complete Angler case, Cretekos and the Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce will meet Wednesday to discuss forming a committee to review the ordinance.

"You have to reward creativity sometimes," Cretekos said. "When you're driving down Fort Harrison Avenue and you see that mural, it's exciting. It makes you feel good."

Quintero maintains his right to express himself trumps local codes.

"This always has been a First Amendment issue," he said. "They say I can paint anything I want there as long as it is not fish. Now they're dictating content."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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