There has been no movement on the owner of a Waterloo Dairy Queen’s battle with city hall over a mural on the outside of his building, but the mural is now attracting attention from another quarter.
Shawn Carnahan, owner of the Dairy Queen on Weber Street, says corporate officials have told him he’ll be receiving paperwork about a branding issue in the near future.
“I have a strong feeling that it will be regarding this (mural),” he tells CTV News.
“I think Dairy Queen has an issue with it because of the media attention that it’s gathered.”
The 60-foot mural was painted over a wall on the outside of the business in July.
It soon ran afoul of city bylaw officers, who said Carnahan needed a permit as the mural contained depictions of ice cream treats, which in their eyes made it an advertisement.
Even if the mural hadn’t been deemed advertising, Carnahan would have required a zone change for it, as murals are currently only allowed in the uptown core.
Carnahan says he’s still deciding what to do, but has received many positive comments about the mural since the controversy first came to light.
“People are out of the blue saying ‘I love the mural, it’s great. I don’t even see what the controversy is,’” he says.
Dairy Queen officials did not immediately return a request for comment.
