Some moments at council meetings are technical. Others take a turn you don’t expect.

This one started as a straightforward discussion about retaining wall height—whether to allow flexibility up to 10 feet instead of sticking closer to what was actually planned, around eight.

On its own, it was procedural. A request for margin. A way to avoid coming back later.

Then public comment shifted the tone.

Someone stepped up and referenced “beautiful walls,” a phrase that carries weight well beyond local zoning conversations. It landed somewhere between humor and commentary, depending on how you heard it.

When it was my turn, I stayed with the idea—but nudged it in a different direction.

If we’re going to have walls, especially visible ones, why not make them meaningful?

I spend a lot of time photographing murals around the area. They change how a place feels. They turn blank surfaces into stories. They give identity where there might otherwise just be structure.

A retaining wall is functional. But it doesn’t have to stop there.

It can hold earth—or it can hold attention.