Most people like murals. And if a mural can help a struggling downtown, so much the better. But in an Orwellian twist in 2008 Vermont, hand-painted murals are being put forth as a serious threat to the beauty of our state.

Interstate highways bypass Vermont’s historic downtowns: meandering from the heart of one river village to the next is antithetical to moving things quickly. Get off an interstate in Vermont, and, hard by the interchange, you’re often faced with the familiar litany of fast food, chain motels, gas stations, car dealerships and convenience stores frantically competing for the traveler’s dollar.

Vermont’s downtowns are generally a couple of miles away, and have struggled since the Interstates arrived. A few, catering to tourists, have become prettified versions of a fantasy Vermont. Most have worked to reinvent themselves, to remain downtowns that work for Vermonters and visitors alike.

I live in Bellows Falls, population 3,500, between I-91 Exits 5 and 6, a solid lunch-bucket town with independent small businesses, a farmers market, an Art Walk, good coffee… It’s a real town, but continually about an eye-blink away from going under. There’s no advertising budget for Vermont’s small downtowns and shoppers crave what gets advertised. It’s often a stretch for our businesses to join both the Chamber of Commerce and The Downtown Development Alliance.

The Designated Downtown program was created in order to encourage the unique character of Vermont’s town centers. Originally, there were grant monies for the program, but now the benefits of being a Designated Downtown are mostly technical assistance and tax credits. To be a “Designated Downtown” one must have an organization like our volunteer-driven Downtown Alliance.

Last September we commissioned Frank Hawkins, a local “old-school brush man,” to paint a mural on the side of a barn where the exit ramp meets Route 5, alerting all those folks heading to Okemo and Killington about our little downtown. It’s cool.

In March we got a letter from the Vermont Agency of Transportation telling us to remove our “illegal sign” as it was “off premise” and “readable primarily from a limited access facility (The (sic) ramp is part of the limited access highway).” After writing the Agency to see if we could work out a solution, we were invited to meet with the “Travel Information Council” in April.

We journeyed to Montpelier to meet the Council at the National Life Building (the one whose sign is readable primarily from the Interstate). They said their hands were tied: we were in violation of the law and the “sign” must be removed. The committee did offer one glimmer of hope—there might be a legislative solution: amend the law to make the “sign” legal. They held out little chance for this, but wished us luck.

Although it was late in the legislative session, through the yeoman work of our state legislators, an amendment was added to the transportation bill: if the selectboard of a township approves, a mural can be commissioned that relates to a Designated Downtown and is within 3 miles of town. It has to be hand-painted directly on the side of a structure that has been in place for at least 25 years (to prevent opportunistic structure-placement), and it can be visible from an Interstate off-ramp. It passed.

Sadly, the Agency of Transportation immediately issued a strangely alarmist statement that Vermont’s Billboard Law was somehow endangered, and that a plague of “these things” might start popping up along roadsides like mushrooms after a rain. Some politicians gleefully attempted to make hay by trumpeting a similar line, deliberately conflating commercial free-standing billboards with hand painted murals. And, quite predictably, we have been the recipients of several anonymous missives from folks decrying our desire to obliterate Vermont’s open spaces.

Just about everybody I know supports Vermont’s “Billboard Law.” We all want to look at scenic beauty unblemished by crass commerciality. It is disingenuous to manipulate frustration with extant visual blight to demonize hand-painted murals attempting to get people to visit our struggling downtowns.

Healthy downtowns mean less sprawl. The amendment strengthens our sign law by giving a boost to our unique downtowns, helping them compete with cookie-cutter corporate America, and does so by fostering art and creativity.

I hope to see you in Bellows Falls soon. Stop by, I’ll buy you a coffee.

Charlie Hunter lives in Bellows Falls, and served as president of the Bellows Falls Downtown Development Alliance from 2007 to 2008.