A man’s home is his castle, but Palo Alto homeowners do have limitations on what they can put in front of their “castles.” Residents can’t park RVs in the driveway. They can’t have too many weeds that “bear seeds of a downy or wingy nature.” (PAMC Section 8.08.010) And they can’t leave “garbage strewn around” their front yards.
I contemplated the gray area of these regulations when I drove by artist William D. Iaculla’s Byron Street house.
For example, is it legal to place old, rusted **parts** of RVs in your yard?
Are sculptures of a “downy or wingy nature”, which litter a person’s lawn like weeds, a violation of PAMC Section 8.08.010?
Is one man’s art, another man’s “garbage strewn about”?
These are the kinds of deep, philosophical questions that our city officials and law enforcement officers must ponder every day.
PS: I had a very nice conversation with this colorful and friendly artist. He told me that DePaul Art Museum in Chicago will be holding an exhibit of his work beginning September 24, 2007.
This is a self portrait of the artist: