'Emoji house' prompts frustrated California residents to speak out at city council meeting
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. -- Several residents of Manhattan Beach, California expressed their concerns at a city council meeting regarding a neighborhood home painted pink and decorated with giant emojis.
Neighbors said the bright fuchsia paint and two huge cross-eyed emojis -- one with a zippered mouth -- went up on the house on 39th Street in late May.
Since then, some residents complained their quiet neighborhood has become a tourist attraction.
"We have a lot of pedestrian traffic, car traffic, bikes, people sitting in our driveways, people filming, people FaceTiming," said a person at the meeting.
Manhattan Beach emoji war: House painted bright pink after neighbors report owner
Another frustrated resident called the paint and emojis graffiti.
Kathryn Kidd, the owner of the so-called "emoji house," recently told KABC she used the home as a short-term rental, not realizing that's not allowed in Manhattan Beach.
Neighbors reported her and Kidd was fined $4,000. Shortly after that, neighbors said the paint and emojis went up.
"This was solely about retaliation and meant as a personal attack on my wife, me and our neighbors," said another attendee at the meeting.
Kidd previously told KABC it wasn't a retaliation.
Other residents worry it could lower property value and ask the city to do something.
"This all got started because a neighbor was trying to help the city enforce the rules," Dina Doll said during the meeting. "Again, people have come up to me to say, 'I've been afraid of retaliation as well if I report my neighbor.' Do you want a chilling effect here?"
The city planning commission is expected to take a closer look at a residential mural ordinance later this month.
