Street artists back Rocky's plan

Two dozen street artists came to City Hall on Tuesday to beg the City Council for some mercy.

The artists want the council to scrap its proposed ordinance that would forbid street artists in Pioneer Park, Ninth & Ninth, 15th & 15th and other locations in the city.

Instead, those artists are pushing for a less restrictive ordinance, proposed by Mayor Rocky Anderson, that would allow street artists in most public spaces in the city.

Many artists said the council's plan is unconstitutional because certain restrictions on street art sales run counter to protections afforded in federal court rulings, which have said artists have free speech rights to hawk their wares in public places. If any restrictions are imposed, they have to be narrow in scope and further a public interest, courts have ruled.

"If it's not constitutional, it's not constitutional," local artist Cyrus Tharpe said. "Keep the (Pioneer) park open."

Under the council's plan, street artists would be allowed in the greater downtown area, including The Gateway, at Library Square and in the Sugar House Business District but would have to set up 8 feet from business doors and 150 feet from existing events. Artists also would be allowed in parks "larger than 10 acres," which would include 17 city parks but not the 10-acre Pioneer Park, and would pay a $30 annual registration fee to hawk their wares.

The council's plan also bans the selling of "reproduced art," which is art that can be mass-produced and is not necessarily made by the artists doing the selling. Some have feared allowing reproduced art would lead to Tijuana-style knickknacks being sold all over the streets.

Artists at Pioneer Park have become controversial in recent years as they have battled the Downtown Alliance's Farmers Market. The alliance pays to reserve space at the market while street artists, in the past, have been allowed in the park at little or no cost. The Farmers Market crowd has complained the street artists are mooching off their success and don't have to pay the same costs. Several members of the Farmers Market also showed up at City Hall on Tuesday night and asked the council to adopt the plan to ban street artists from Pioneer Park — at least during times when the Farmers Market is happening.

"Not only do they not pay for entrance fees, they don't pay sales tax, costing the city thousands of dollars," said Ben Behunin, who sells pots at the Farmer Market. Meanwhile, the City Council has hired outside legal help to examine its proposed ordinance to see if it meets constitutional muster.