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A California homeowner took malicious compliance to a new level after he was ordered by city officials to build a six-foot fence to hide his boat.
Etienne Constable told KSBW that officials from the town of Seaside contacted him last summer and said that his fishing boat was violating municipal code, which requires boats and other large vehicles parked in driveways to be covered by a six-foot fence on the front and side.
He was told to build a fence or face a $100 fine. Constable wasn't happy but agreed to construct the fence as required.
However, he wasn't going to build a regular fence and decided to paint a lifelike picture of his boat on the front of it.
"I'm not a rule-breaker, but I like to make a political statement as necessary as well as a humorous statement and a creative statement," Constable said.
Constable contacted Hanif Panni, an artist who specializes in painting murals, to create a photo of his boat parked in the driveway and paint it on the fence.
Panni told the news outlet he was excited to take on the project because it is a conversation starter.
"I'm a big proponent of public art in spaces," Panni said. "It engages people in ways that reaching out and having conversations doesn't sometimes."
So far, city officials have not said anything about Constable's unique way of complying with the law.