On Wednesday the Los Angeles City Council put the citywide mural ban to a vote and voted 13-2 in favor of passing a new ordinance, the Los Angeles Times reports. With a long history of murals and street art, Los Angeles has been waging a war with large-scale public painting in an effort to control content, particularly commercial imagery, consequently impacting its muralists and street artists.

Isabel Rojas-Williams, executive director of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles said,:“We owe it to our next generation to reclaim our legacy as a mural capital of the world.”

With the new mural ordinance, artists would pay a $60 registration fee and be allowed to paint on nonresidential buildings, so long as the content does not include advertising. Individual residential neighborhoods could petition the city to allow works on the walls of homes, something Chris Brown might have found useful before decorating his home with garish graffiti — only to have to remove it after his neighborhood complained to the City Council.

On the neighborhood restrictions, councilman Mike Bonin — who represents several waterfront neighborhoods known for their lively culture and street art — said: ”It’s difficult to strike a balance. We’re a city of murals, but we’re first and foremost a city of neighborhoods.”

— Meredith Caraher

BlouinArtInfo