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Malicious Compliance: Homeowner Comes Up With Genius “Revenge” For City Regulation

Image shows a boat mural on a fence that is an exact replica of the boat parked behind the fence.

When Etienne Constable received a warning notice from Seaside, California, he immediately complied with the city code. The code calls for non-passenger vehicles, such as recreational vehicles and boats, to be parked behind a six-foot-tall privacy fence. Etienne built the required fence and parked his boat behind it. But he wasn’t quite done yet. As a silent protest, he contracted the services of a local artist to paint a boat mural on his new fence. The result is spectacular.

Videos by InspireMore

@nbcnews

A #California man who was ordered to keep his #boat out of sight has had the last laugh, by commissioning a local artist to paint a realistic #mural of the boat on the fence that obscures it.

♬ original sound – nbcnews

Etienne has lived in Seaside for 29 years and has kept his current boat in his driveway for the past four years. Until receiving the notice, he was unaware of the city code. His boat, a 19-foot Arima 19 Sea Ranger, has the appropriate name, “Might as Well.” When Etienne got the idea to paint the mural, we’re sure that thought was in his mind.

Finished image of the boat replica painted on a fence by artist Hanif Panni.
Image from YouTube.

The boat mural is a perfect replica of the Arima 19. When parked behind the fence, portions of the canopy piping line up with the mural, adding realism. The artist did an incredible job on the fence painting, even including the chimney and details of the side of the house. A timelapse video posted on Reddit details the unique boat mural from beginning to glorious end.

A boat owner received a letter from the city stating he needed to build a new fence to hide said vessel from view of the street. After reluctantly building the fence, he had an idea…
byu/Pasivite infunny

The local artist, Hanif Panni, was to create a mural that makes it appear like there is no fence. He did such an amazing job that the boat mural went viral. Other boat owners have been contacting the artist to have their fences painted with his magical “invisible” paintbrush.

The boat mural is so realistic that people smile about it daily. At the time of this writing, Etienne had not heard back from the city.

You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.

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