State now orders Fort Lauderdale to remove even more street art designs

Two days after Fort Lauderdale agreed to fight a state order to remove a rainbow pride flag and three other artsy designs painted on a local street, the state fired off a letter listing seven more sites that need to be removed.

The letter, sent Friday at 6:32 p.m. and signed by Florida Department of Transportation District Secretary Steven Braun, gives the city a hearing date of Sept. 15 to make its case for keeping the street art, but warns there will be no change of heart.

Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Steve Glassman suggested the state find better things to do than crack down on street art.

“That FDOT would send an emailed letter at 6:32 p.m. on a Friday night of a holiday weekend tells you all you need to know,” he said. “Every resident should be saddened and outraged at this state overreach. The state should be working every day on behalf of cities, not wasting staff time, resources and energy on being punitive.”

Delray Beach is fighting a similar state order and has been given a hearing date of Sept. 2.

Some cities, including Boynton Beach and West Palm Beach, have agreed to remove their LGBTQ+ rainbow markings after getting ordered to by the state.

“The vast majority of Florida’s cities and counties have worked expeditiously to remedy any noncompliance in their respective areas,” Braun wrote in his letter to Fort Lauderdale. “Unfortunately, we have learned that the city of Fort Lauderdale has publicly stated that it does not intend to comply.”

The state had already identified four street art locations in Fort Lauderdale it wants removed in a letter dated Aug. 21: Sebastian Street near A1A, the location of the pride flag street art; Breakers Avenue and Riomar Street; Breakers Avenue and Terramar Street; East Las Olas Boulevard and Almond Avenue.

The latest letter sent Friday adds seven sites to the list: NE Fourth Avenue and North Flagler Drive; SE 15th Street and Miami Road; SE 15th Street and SE 10th Avenue; East Las Olas Boulevard and SE Third Avenue; NE 15th Avenue and NE 11th Street; NE 15th Avenue and NE 12th Street; and NE 15th Avenue and NE 13th Street.

Fort Lauderdale’s hearing will take place on Sept. 15 at 10 a.m. at the Florida Turnpike Enterprise’s offices in Orlando.

“More details will be provided should you elect to proceed with a hearing,” Braun wrote. “Please be advised that the hearing will not involve a request for an exception or waiver to permit the nonconforming pavement markings to remain in place. The Department has already reviewed the pavement markings at the locations mentioned above and determined that the pavement markings will not be allowed.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis defended the statewide order, declaring that cities will be forced to heed the order in an effort to make roads safer and free of distractions. He also warned against allowing “state roads to be commandeered for political purposes.”

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis presided over a packed emergency meeting he called Wednesday night to debate whether the city should cave to the state’s demand or fight it.

More than 40 people spoke at the meeting, urging the city to stand up to the state.

After more than three hours of spirited discussion, the commission voted 5-0 to request a hearing before the state.

During the meeting, the mayor made it clear the city had gotten approval from the state before it painted a pride flag on a city street near the beach two years ago.

“It’s not like we went out there willy-nilly in the middle of the night and started painting streets,” Trantalis said. “It’s kind of a little draconian to take this approach that all of sudden the streets are not safe. But it is what it is. It’s politics, right folks.”

Susannah Bryan can be reached at moc.lenitnesnus@nayrbs. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan