For more than a year and half, a wall designed to separate a neighborhood from busy Forest Lane has divided some people in North Dallas, but peace may be in the future.
The mural, which runs from Midway Road to Rosser Road, was first painted in 1976 by students at W.T. White High School in an effort to stop graffiti, according to Brent Herling, a North Dallas resident who has pushed for its revival.
It was restored in 1993 and again in 2014 when a group of those passionate about the mural spent countless hours trying to restore the images to their original form.
“Two reasons: one, because it’s the only landmark in North Dallas. If you drive around, it’s the only one you can spot and say 'oh, that was put there on purpose,'” Herling said. “Two, because for the kids who grew up cruising here, it’s such a big memory for them.”
However, property owner Danny Scott tells NBC 5 at the time he did not want the portion of wall running behind his home restored.
He admits he doesn’t share the same fondness for the mural, and requested his section not be included in the restoration as he weighed what he would like to do with it.
The homeowners refusal led to an argument over who owned the wall to begin with, and Dallas Councilwoman Jennifer Gates looked into the issue, eventually providing homeowners with the letter below in July of 2014.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Dear Homeowner:
The question was recently posed to our office who had the responsibility of maintaining the wall running along Forest Lane between Midway and Rosser. We have done some research and the City Attorney’s office has determined that as an owner of a property abutting the wall, it is your responsibility to maintain the section of the wall that abuts your property in compliance with the Dallas City Code. The City has no obligation to maintain the wall as it was never properly accepted by the city, and is in fact located in the public right of way.
If the neighborhood is interested in possibly shifting the responsibility of maintaining the wall to the homeowners’ association rather than the individual property owners, they can opt to apply for a license to occupy the public right of way through the City of Dallas Real Estate Division. The applicants for the license would need to be the individual abutting property owners, but it could be administered through the HOA, and it could define the responsibility of the HOA as far as maintaining the wall. The license would have to be approved by city council and there are certain fees associated with it.
It is important to note that even if a license were to be granted, private owners are never allowed to enclose a public right of way, so the wall has to remain open at both ends to allow traffic to enter and exit at all times.
Still, the mural behind Scott’s home was repainted last year as part of the restoration without his permission.
Nearly a year later, the mural remained restored and intact, but just months ago in July of 2015, a truck slammed into the same portion of the wall that was previously the point of contention.
Last week, Scott had that damaged portion removed after he says he received a notice from city stating it was a potential danger.
It again sparked a series of questions on social media from those in favor of the restoration last year.
David Smith, an administrator for the Facebook page, Helping to Paint the wall on Forest Lane Mural..Not!, says this time those pushing for that section of the mural to be revived should be more respectful.
“Seems like a really nice guy. I think that is all it boils down to he just wanted respect,” Smith said. “Someone to come and ask him to say 'I own that part of the wall, I’m going to rebuild that part of the wall, that doesn’t mean you can arbitrarily show up in the middle of the night and paint it whatever you want - you need to ask me.' He’s probably going to say paint what you had on it originally. It’s just a matter of doing what’s right, and I think that will happen.”
Scott says he has a better understanding of the fondness people have for the mural thanks to a good friend currently suffering from cancer. Scott tells NBC 5 his friend is one of the reasons he plans to rebuild the section of the wall when he receives a payout from his insurance, and he’ll likely allow those he authorizes to work to restore the artwork. No timeline has been set.
Brent Herling offered an apology Wednesday, hoping to mend fences on the Facebook page promoting the wall’s upkeep and restoration:
“I sincerely hope that Danny and Greg Scott will forgive me for my intense efforts last year to get our mural restored. I know they were not in favor of the mural remaining and I hope we can now 'mend fences' and I hope they will join in the efforts getting the area behind their home back to original.”
