Bellflower mural honoring icons like Kobe, Vin Scully, 2Pac getting pushback from LA City
LOS ANGELES - A car window tint shop in Los Angeles County's Bellflower is getting frequent double-takes from folks passing by. And you can't really blame these Angelenos for taking pictures of the shop as the Bellflower business features giant mural honoring local legends like Kobe Bryant, Vin Scully, Snoop Dogg, Oscar de la Hoya, Tupac Shakur and Danny Trejo.
But now, the mural is in danger of being taken down or drawn over by city enforcers.
The pushback from the City of Los Angeles comes shortly after the mural was displayed and the artist, who goes by sloe_motions on social media, shared a time-lapse progress of his artwork.
LA City's reaction to the Bellflower mural is leaving the property owner feeling frustrated.
"I guess [we] broke a code we didn't know about," said Renae Cornejo, the property owner.
Cornejo questions why LA City even needs to enforce the code violation.
"It's our home. We own the property," she said.
For the city enforcers, it appears they're taking the "rules are rules" approach. The shop received a letter from LA City telling them it does not comply with established mural standards in the municipal code.
"We didn't know about the code violation until we got served last week with it. So we're doing our best to work with the city," said owner Robert Cornejo.
Since the pushback, an online petition has been launched by fans of the murals. As of Thursday night, the petition has gained more than 3,700 signatures in hopes of keeping the popular mural up.