CITY COUNCIL Street Painting Policy Adopted: August 12th, 2020 Montpelier Street Painting Policy Statutory Authority: Under 19 V.S.A. § 303, the City Council of Montpelier has general supervision and control over all roads within the City’s limits. This authority is subject to the general power of the Vermont Agency of Transportation’s (VTRANS) general supervision of all transportation functions on State Highways under 19 V.S.A. § 14 and VTRANS’ concurrent jurisdiction over all Class 1 Town Highways, under 19 V.S.A. § 1101. Purpose: The City of Montpelier’s primary obligation is to maintain public roads in a safe manner to allow citizens of the City and the general public to travel safely across and within the City’s geographical boundaries. This maintenance includes plowing, sanding, patching, re- paving, as well as painting and re-painting traffic lines and signals on the pavement in compliance with state and federal standards. In recent years, individuals and groups have requested permission from the City to paint decorative and political displays on various public streets, which are a closed forum that the City strictly controls. Any project painted or installed within a public street is ultimately a piece of public art, controlled by the City, and is a statement of the City’s values, consistent with government speech. The City has historically denied such painting requests and has strictly limited what projects it will accept and allow. To facilitate its review of future installations or requests, the City Council has promulgated and adopted the following policy consistent with this history. Definitions: a) Class 1 Town Highway is any public road or right of way that meets the classification laid out in 19 V.S.A. § 302 (a)(1) b) State Highway is any public road or right of way as defined by 19 V.S.A. § 1 (20). c) DPW means the Montpelier Department of Public Works as well as any employees, designees, or agents assigned to carry out the functions of the Department. d) Motor Vehicles shall include all vehicles propelled or drawn by power other than muscular power, except farm tractors, vehicles running only upon stationary rails or tracks, motorized highway building equipment, road making appliances, snowmobiles, or tracked vehicles or electric personal assistive mobility devices. e) Project shall mean any proposed art, mural, or other installation sought to be painted, installed, or otherwise affixed to a public road or right of way within the City of Montpelier. f) Existing Project shall mean a Project that has received all necessary approval from the City of Montpelier, whether it has or has not been installed. g) VTRANS means the Vermont Agency of Transportation or any subdivision thereof as well as its officers, employees, designees or agents. h) Primary Contact means an individual designated by a third party requesting to install Montpelier City Council Street Painting Policy Adopted: August 12th, 2020: Page 1 of 8 CITY COUNCIL Street Painting Policy Adopted: August 12th, 2020 a street painting or street art Project. This individual shall serve as the primary contact between the group or individuals requesting the Project and all City and State officials and shall be responsible for making representations on behalf of the group or individuals. Section 1. State Authority In the case of a State Highway or Class 1 town highway, the City recognizes the State of Vermont’s authority to review, object, and condition any street painting proposal. If a request is received for painting on a State Highway or Class 1 town highway, the Primary Contact shall be obligated to file a copy with VTRANS for review. The City may facilitate this process. Section 2. Public Safety Prior to any review by the Montpelier City Council, all Projects shall be submitted to the Montpelier Department of Public Works (DPW) and in the case of State Highways and Class 1 Town Highways to VTRANS to determine how the proposed project impacts any traffic or safety issues for motor vehicles or pedestrians. No Project shall be allowed that in the opinion of the DPW or VTRANS (in the case of State Highways and Class 1 town highways) causes an unreasonable degradation of pedestrian or motor vehicle safety. DPW or VTRANS, as applicable, may impose or recommend to the Council conditions on any Project to prevent or mitigate such safety concerns. Section 3 Request Process Any request to install a Project may originate from City Council and shall follow this review process with the City Manager acting as a Primary Contact for the project. If a private group or individual, desires to have a Project considered, it must be sponsored and introduced by one or more members of City Council for review and deliberation. If a private group or individual makes such a request, they must designate an individual to be a Primary Contact as part of the Project request package. The Primary Contact is responsible for submitting any and all forms required by the City Manager’s Office as well as providing additional information upon request by the City Manager’s Office, DPW, or VTRANS. Section 4 Project Locations In general, projects should only be located on local streets that carry less than 10,000 vehicles on an average day. This is for two important reasons: 1) projects on thoroughfares or streets that carry more than 10,000 vehicles per day typically require more complicated traffic control to install, and 2) they typically wear away more quickly than Projects painted on low-volume streets. Projects should be located in a mid-block area away from intersections or markings leading up to an intersection. Projects must be designed to avoid interference with crosswalks and on-street parking spaces. Montpelier City Council Street Painting Policy Adopted: August 12th, 2020: Page 2 of 8 CITY COUNCIL Street Painting Policy Adopted: August 12th, 2020 While Projects are not discouraged from residential neighborhoods, they carry a different impact than Projects proposed for either the designated downtown area or the Capital Complex. Projects proposed for residential neighborhoods must be, in the view of the City Council, consistent with the character of the neighborhood and should have members of the neighborhood as co-sponsors. Section 5 Prohibited Locations City Council may, for any reason, deem certain areas or sections of roadway unsuitable for Projects. The reasons for such designations may include, but are not limited to, public safety, public health or welfare, environmental concerns, issues or problems with Existing Projects at a particular location, potential costs to the City, or any other consideration deemed appropriate by the City Council. Apart from such designations, there are more general locations where Projects are not a good fit because they may obscure, mimic, or confuse traffic control markings or create potential safety concerns. The following types of locations are not permitted for Projects: • Portions of the roadway that include school zone markings or railroad markings; • Approaches to signalized intersections (within 200 feet) as these typically include turn lane arrows, stop bars, etc.; • Crosswalks, bike lanes, and parking spaces, unless the Project can be designed around such features and will not obscure them; • Any other portions of the roadway in which a Project may obscure, mimic, or confuse pavement markings or regulatory devices; and • Any section of roadway or intersection deemed by DPW or VTRANS to be unsuitable or unsafe. Section 6 Design Guidelines and Standards Following a review by DPW and/or VTRANS, Projects shall be reviewed under the following guidelines and standards by the City Council. Compliance with these provisions is in the sole discretion of the City Council’s whose review shall be final. These guidelines and standards are provided for the sake of any requesting party to facilitate what the City Council finds necessary to consider the allowance and adoption of a Project. Any individual or group proposing a project is advised that Projects are not intended to create a forum for public expression. The roads of the City are closed forums. The City Council has and reserves the right to control what is depicted on all public streets within the City’s jurisdiction. The City Council is not bound to grant approval of any Project even if it meets all of these Guidelines and Standards. The City Council retains sole, final, and absolute discretion to grant, deny, or impose any conditions on any proposed Project even if unrelated to these Guidelines Montpelier City Council Street Painting Policy Adopted: August 12th, 2020: Page 3 of 8 CITY COUNCIL Street Painting Policy Adopted: August 12th, 2020 and Standards. A. Guidelines: The following are the Guidelines that every Project must include or address to the satisfaction of the City Council. 1. Enhance community identity, pride, and unity; 2. Provide the highest quality artwork available, promoting excellence and demonstrating diversity and variety of media; 3. Increase public exhibition opportunities for artists and craftspeople who live or work in and around Montpelier; 4. Encourage public participation and interactions with public spaces; 5. Represent a positive interest or value worthy of public recognition; 6. Creating awareness of how surroundings impact experience; 7. Enrich the public environment for both residents and visitors through incorporation of the arts; 8. Strive for diversity; and 9. Reflect the social, ethnic and cultural fabric of the City. B. Standards All Projects must comply with the following Standards: 1. No logos, commercial speech, or advertising are allowed. 2. No living person’s image or likeness shall be featured in a Project without that individual’s express, written permission. 3. Projects shall comply with all copyright laws, the Visual Artists Rights Act, and all intellectual property laws.