Store Owners Win Round in Painting Sidewalk

Two store owners who sought to enliven a dreary section of eastern Melrose Avenue with sidewalk paintings have won a round in their struggle with the city bureaucracy when Mayor Tom Bradley took up their cause.

Bradley on Friday urged the Board of Public Works to find a “positive and creative resolution” to a situation that has left Rae Chavira and Wayne Hennis facing $1,000 fines for breaking the law.

The mayor said he was “certain” that the board and the Cultural Affairs Commission could find a way to allow such public art projects as long as they are safe. The shopkeepers were cited for defacing city property.

“It makes me feel very hopeful,” said Chavira, owner of a boutique called Y Que. She said she plans to coat the Navajo rug painted outside her store with non-skid paint.