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Thursday, April 21, 2005

Pastor Wants Nob Hill Shop Mural Covered

By Lloyd Jojola
Journal Staff Writer
    Followers of a foothills area church have come down from the mountain in an attempt to remove a bare-breasted, nipple-pierced woman from Nob Hill.
    More specifically, they're trying to cleanse that image from a mural atop Snob Hill, a Central Avenue body jewelry shop.
    "Morality and decency are the key issues here," said Rob Kurz, senior pastor of The Foothills, a "family-oriented," conservative-Baptist church at Tramway and Candelaria. "And since it's illegal for a woman to walk around bare-chested, we feel it also ought to be illegal to display those things publicly."
    While she said they're entitled to their opinion, Snob Hill owner, Renee Sachs, called it "ridiculous."

See and Comment on the Mural

    "We're talking about breasts here, and they keep saying she's naked and she's not naked," Sachs said. "She has a skirt on. She's enjoying a glass of wine, having a cigarette. She's not doing anything rude or crude.
    "She's just laying there enjoying what any man would be able to enjoy."
    A team from The Foothills recently distributed fliers in Nob Hill. It shows the mural and poses the questions, "Do you want this obscenity removed from the neighborhood? Does this give a positive impression of Nob Hill on Historic Route 66?"
    The flier goes on to cite city ordinance that defines obscene, which in part states "the matter describes or depicts violence or simulated violence ..."
    "Notice nipples violently pierced with jewelry," the flier tells readers.
    Snob Hill manager Lisa Detwiler said the store has gotten "an outpouring of support" since the fliers began circulating.
    "A lot of people said, whether or not this is their favorite thing in the world, they still view it as our right to display it," Detwiler said.
    The Foothills flier contends the mural "sets a dangerous precedent for public display of nudity." Those who agree with their view are asked to sign the flier and return it to the church's address. Kurz said the petitions eventually will be taken to city leaders.
    The church has taken up the subject with the city before.
    In January, church leaders wrote to the City Council and Mayor Martin Chávez calling for the mural's removal.
    After a review by city legal and zoning staff, it was "determined that the painting in question is not a business sign and is therefore not covered under the zoning code," states a response letter from city Planning Director Richard Dineen.
    "From our experience in similar situations, the courts have ruled that such paintings on buildings are neither signs nor part of a sign."
    Dineen suggested concerns about the painting be addressed under the obscenity ordinance, which is enforced by the police department.
    The church also received a written response from area City Councilor Martin Heinrich.
    "I agree that this particular sign is in very poor taste and as you can imagine it is not exactly indicative of the kind of thriving, family friendly, business atmosphere for which I want Nob Hill to be known," Heinrich's letter states.
    Heinrich discussed the church's position with the city attorney and Council Services director and it was concluded the city would not be able to successfully enforce the obscene material ordinance against the business.
    "Though you raised several compelling points about the ordinance's definition of 'obscene,' the third requirement (that the matter depicts, 'in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct') and the fourth requirement (that the matter 'describes or depicts violence or simulated violence ...') are not met by the sign in question," the letter reads.
    In an interview, Heinrich described the artwork as a cheap publicity stunt.
    "My position is, it's a tacky mural, but it's not in violation of the law," he said. "I think this is just sort of a ploy by this company to garner free media for themselves."
    "If he (Heinrich) was a woman, he might feel differently; if he had some breasts and fed his child," Sachs said.
    Painted by Dave Briggs, the mural has existed for about four years, Sachs said.
    "This is not about breasts," she said. "This is about equal rights. I put that there because I wanted to make a statement about men ... getting the right to show their nipples, and I believe we should have the same rights."
    Unless one looks for it, the image is not too noticeable when walking by.
    After it first appeared, someone kept climbing to it and painting a top on the woman.
    "So I had the artist come back and I made the breasts bigger," Sachs said. "We've done that three times. Her breasts are three times bigger than what they were."
    Sachs isn't new to this type of controversy. In 2000, she was cited by police for displaying "anatomically correct" teddy bears in the window of her store "Sachs." In 2002, she was convicted of violating the city's law banning public nudity after a woman got a nipple-piercing in the Sachs window.