When customers pull off the White Mountain Highway in New Hampshire into Leavitt’s Country Bakery in North Conway, they are greeted by a large painting of the sun rising over a mountain range of colorful pastries. It’s a preview of the array of freshly baked goods — raspberry turnovers, warm cinnamon rolls, and a wide variety of doughnuts — waiting inside.
But the whimsical mural, painted by local high school students last spring, has sparked a bureaucratic controversy that seems decidedly out of place in the Live Free or Die state. Local officials declared that the painting, at more than 90 square feet, violates the town’s sign ordinance, and the bakery’s owner later sued in response, claiming the bylaw violates their right to free speech.
A popular outlet shopping center called Settlers Green also joined the campaign against the sign ordinance, hoping to protect its well-known “Welcome to North Conway” mural and other pieces of public art that have come under town scrutiny.
All the while, the debate swirls over the definition — and suitable dimensions — of a wall sign, leaving many residents baffled by the idea of removing what they consider a piece of community art.
“It’s a topic everywhere I go,” said Sean Young, 51, who owns the bakery. He bought the store in 2021 from Beth and Ray Leavitt, a couple who for nearly a half-century ran the only shop in town that makes handmade doughnuts.
Last spring, a friend introduced Young to an art teacher at the local high school who told him that her students were doing a class project but needed a blank backdrop to paint on. Young agreed they could use the shop’s shingled facade as their canvas.
As the teenagers sketched out a design and toiled away with their paintbrushes for six weeks, Young said he stepped aside, leaving the project in their hands. When it came time for the unveiling in June, local news outlets and throngs of residents were on hand, brimming with excitement over the tribute to the White Mountains in the form of doughnuts and muffins.
“Tons of people showed up and everyone thought it was great,” Young said, himself included.
But about a week later, the town code enforcement officer showed up at the door. The mural was four times larger than the town’s sign code allows, he was told. And because the painting displayed pastries, which the bakery sells, the mural fell under the town’s definition of a sign, even though it had no words or logos and was not a commissioned advertisement, Young said.
In August, Young voiced his displeasure about the situation on Facebook, writing, “We do not believe it is a sign. We believe This is ART.” Many residents supported the bakery, with one commenter calling the town’s actions “the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard as a resident here.”
“There’s a lot of fights going on within the town boards and the locals,” Young said. “People are already annoyed and fed up with a lot of things, and this is pushing people over the top. Like really, now the high school kids?”
Town officials were unconvinced. In August, the zoning board upheld the original finding that the mural violated regulations. In September, Young requested a variance for the mural and was denied. In November, Young appealed that decision and was again denied.
At the end of December, Young was told he could either bring the painting into compliance with the sign code or face enforcement proceedings and fines of $275 per day, he said.
The next month, tensions reached a boiling point when Young, represented by The Institute for Justice, a nonprofit libertarian law firm, filed a lawsuit against the town, claiming its regulations violate the First Amendment.
The lawsuit alleges that Conway officials are “unconstitutionally discriminating against the Leavitt’s Country Bakery mural, based on the content of the mural and the speaker being Leavitt’s or Sean [Young],” said Betsy Sanz, a litigation fellow with the firm.
“The Town’s zoning code makes no mention of ‘murals’ but in practice the Town allows them, unregulated,” the lawsuit states. “As Conway officials have confirmed, the Town does not consider a painting to be a ‘sign’ if it does not convey what Town officials perceive to be a commercial message. But the Town’s perception is that any mural depicting anything related to a business is a ‘sign.’”
Local officials referred questions about the lawsuit to the town’s attorney, Jason Dennis, who said the town maintains that “the painted plywood affixed to the building fits within the Town’s definition of sign.”
“The Town does not agree that the ordinance, as was voted in by the voting public, violates the Constitution,” he said by e-mail. “The Town believes that its ordinance is lawful.”
The town had been in talks with the bakery, Dennis said, when the lawsuit was filed.
“The Town had been discussing possible solutions with Leavitt’s, and counsel for Leavitt’s indicated that he would speak with his client and get back to me,” he said. “Instead, Leavitt’s filed a lawsuit and scheduled a press conference to announce its lawsuit.”
Earlier this month, both parties agreed to stay the lawsuit until April, when Town Meeting will vote on a measure, brought forward by Settlers Green, to exempt “murals, paintings, and works of art which do not expressly advertise products or services,” from current sign regulations. That would potentially allow both murals to remain, Sanz said.
If Town Meeting does not resolve the case, it will be decided in court, Dennis and Sanz agreed.
“If something is safe for the public, then that’s not their job to play art critic — it’s not their job to censor one speaker over another,” Sanz said of town officials.
One student who helped paint the bakery mural said she would be heartbroken if the project was taken down and that it was a shame it had created such a fuss.
“All the memories that went into it made me so happy. It’s a really big part of my high school life,” said Emma-Rose Gallant, 17. “It just kind of feels like a kick for the town just to take it down because it has doughnuts on it.”
Shannon Larson can be reached at shannon.larson@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @shannonlarson98.
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