Fort Lauderdale City Commission Special Meeting - August 29, 2025: Response to FDOT Demand to Remove Rainbow Street Art
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Fort Lauderdale City Commission Special Meeting - August 29, 2025: Response to FDOT Demand to Remove Rainbow Street Art
Mayor Dean Trantalis called the special meeting on August 29, 2025, to address a letter from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) received on August 21, 2025, ordering the city to remove pavement markings at four locations by September 4, 2025, or face state removal at city expense and potential withholding of state transportation funds. The mayor stated the city had not received prior notice of noncompliance. The commission heard staff presentations, extensive public testimony, legal analysis, and voted on next steps.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Supporters of retaining the markings (over 30 speakers): Residents, civic association presidents (Middle River Terrace, Coley Hammock, Central Beach Alliance, Tarpon River, etc.), clergy (Father Richard Vitale, Rev. Aaron Lauer), LGBTQ advocacy groups (Equality Florida, Dolphin Democrats, Prism, Pride Center), elected officials (State Rep. Mitch Rosenwald), and artists (Sister Robin Merrill) spoke in favor of keeping the art. They argued that the markings are safe (citing the 2022 Bloomberg Philanthropies Asphalt Art Safety Study showing reduced crashes), represent LGBTQ+ visibility and inclusion, are an issue of local self-governance, and that the state's action is politically motivated and homophobic. Several noted that two of the four sites are not even crosswalks (the Progress Pride flag on Sebastian Street and the art on Las Olas Boulevard).
- Opponents (2 speakers): Lester Tylevsky argued the markings are deteriorated and were installed without proper state coordination. Ann Wiley stated that streets should be for transit, not for promoting special interests, and that the issue is not about being gay.
Discussion Items
- Staff Presentation: Milos Mastorovich, Director of Transportation and Mobility, presented the four locations: (1) Sebastian Street at A1A (Progress Pride flag, installed 2021/2023), (2) Breakers Avenue at Rio Mar Street (installed 2016), (3) Breakers Avenue at Terramar Street (installed 2016), and (4) Las Olas Boulevard at Almond Avenue (zigzag lines, installed 2019). All are city streets under Broward County traffic jurisdiction. The city had not received prior FDOT notice; an internal FDOT memo dated June 30, 2025 (Engineering and Operations Memorandum 25-01) was forwarded by Vice Mayor Herbst in July. The August 21 letter removed any option for a waiver, unlike the June memo.
- Legal Analysis: City Attorney Paul Bangel outlined options: comply, remove markings except the Pride flag (arguing it is not a traffic control device), challenge all locations via administrative hearing, or do nothing. He noted the statute (FS 316.0745) allows FDOT to direct removal of "purported traffic control devices" after a 14-day notice and hearing. He raised questions about whether the markings are traffic control devices and whether the 2016 Florida Green Book prohibited such art at the time of installation. He recommended pursuing an administrative appeal and potentially filing for injunctive relief and declaratory judgment.
- Commission Deliberation: Commissioners discussed the need to exhaust administrative remedies but also prepare for litigation. Commissioner Glassman emphasized the historic importance of LGBTQ visibility and feared further attacks on other public art. Commissioner Herbst supported the administrative appeal but opposed litigation, citing the city's need for state funding for other projects (e.g., a tunnel). Commissioner Sorensen, Beasley Pittman, and the mayor advocated for a robust legal response. The mayor noted the risk of state self-help actions (citing Orlando's overnight removal of a Pulse crosswalk).
Key Outcomes
- Unanimous vote (5-0) to file an administrative appeal/challenge with FDOT, requesting a hearing on the August 21 letter's demands. The city will not remove the markings while the appeal is pending.
- Vote (4-1, with Vice Mayor Herbst dissenting) to authorize the city attorney to explore all legal remedies (including injunctive relief and declaratory judgment) concurrent with the administrative appeal, and to hire outside counsel Weiss, Sorota, Helfman, Cole & Bierman, P.L. at rates of $575/hour for senior partner, $525/hour for partners, $425/hour for associates, and $175/hour for paralegals. The resolution to retain outside counsel passed 4-1 (Herbst dissenting). The commission directed staff to coordinate with other affected municipalities (Key West, Delray Beach, St. Petersburg) and to report back on legal feasibility by the next regular meeting.
- The meeting concluded with the commission affirming the city's commitment to diversity and local control.
Meeting Transcript
And welcome to the uh Fort Lauderdale City Commission uh special meeting tonight this August 27th. Hello. Shh. Could you turn up the um turn up the volume? How are we? Is that better? Yeah. Okay, thank you. So thank you all for being here tonight. Uh this is a special meeting that uh I called and asked the commission to convene to discuss a single issue, which we will get to. But before we begin the meeting, may I ask you all to please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republics for which it stands one nation under the liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Please be seated. Liberty and justice for all, right? Mr. Clerk, where are you? Would you please call the roll? Vice Mayor Herbst. President. Not logged in yet. Not logged in yet. Yes, I am. Oh, okay. He's coming through. Okay. Present. Commissioner Glossman. Here. Commissioner Beasley Pittman. She's not on yet. Commissioner Sorensen. Here. Mayor Trentals. Here. So we have a quorum. Two of the uh commissioners, the Vice Mayor and uh Commissioner Beasley Pittman had indicated they could not attend in person. But the way the rules allow for that uh for that situation, as long as there are there's a quorum of people sitting here in person. So we have that quorum, and we'll now be able to continue with the meeting. Um I want to uh just take a moment and explain to the uh community why we uh why I called the special meeting. The reason was because last week the city of Fort Lauderdale received a letter from the Florida Department of Transportation indicating that the um that the city needed to take action uh and remove certain markings on the street, which they stated was in violation of uh state statute and uh needed to be remedied. Uh in the letter, which I happen to have right here, um, the letter starts out by saying that we were previously notified of this uh of this need and the need to remediate. I just want to say, just for the record, that no one on our staff remembers or recalls getting any such letter or memorandum. Uh this letter dated August 21st was the first the City of Fort Lauderdale has heard or was notified about the markings on the street that needed to be remediated. Nonetheless, they gave a deadline. And the deadline is September 4th to remove the marks on the street. Now our next scheduled meeting is September 3rd, which is the day before. So even if the City Commission at that time were to decide to take action and re and uh conform with what the state is requesting of us, there would be no time to be able to do that in one day. So it was important that we convene a meeting tonight. It gives us at least a week of time if we're deciding, depending upon what our decision is here tonight, and to be able to decide how we're going to respond to the uh Florida Department of Transportation's letter, which was signed by uh Steve Braun, who's the district for Secretary.
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