A homeowner instructed by the city to move his boat from his driveway and out of public view came up with a creative and mischievous solution.
Etienne Constable, who lives in Seaside, California, did as he was told to abide by the municipal code stipulating that all large vehicles stored in the driveway, including boats, must be fenced in.
So he made a retaliatory statement and trolled city officials with a 6-foot fence built in the driveway—and painted with a photorealistic mural of the very boat the city deemed an eyesore.
Constable maintained he was not in any violation with the cheeky strike.
He explained on KSBW 8:
"I’m not a rule-breaker but I like to make a political statement as necessary as well as a humorous statement and a creative statement."
He continued:
"I'm all in favor of generating a statement and making people smile."
"The reaction is extremely more than we ever expected," he said of his viral news story.
You can watch a report here.
Man strikes back against Seaside order with boat muralyoutu.be
Constable received a letter from his local code enforcement office informing him that all large vehicles parked in driveways need to be hidden, including his ship, called, "Might As Well."
His initial instinct was to make more noise about the mandate to fence in his ship.
He told the Washington Post:
“I thought, ‘This is ridiculous,’ and my first reaction was to leave a nasty, nasty message at the city hall.”
“And then I thought, well, I might as well build a screen … I’ll do what they want, but I’m not going to do it their way.”
Constable concocted his plan and ran it by his neighbors before enlisting muralist Hanif Panni to paint the photorealistic mural of the ship on his newly constructed driveway fence.
Here are images of the fence shared by @modesthouse on X (formerly Twitter).
@modesthouse
The artists here are hard at work.
@modesthouse
You can't argue the mural doesn't fit in with its surroundings.
@modesthouse
The details of this work of art are impeccable.
@modesthouse
Panni told the news outlet:
“I’m a big proponent of public art in spaces."
“I think it engages people in ways that reaching out and having conversations doesn’t sometimes, or if you're not there kinda inspires conversation."
The news made quite a splash on social media.
Constable's revenge tactic earned a new level of respect.
Some wondered if his victory lap would be short-lived.
As of this writing, the city has not responded to news of the artwork.
But, for now, it's smooth sailing.
