Piscataway restaurant owner says township made him paint over murals before opening
Owner says the artwork delayed the restaurant's opening after officials cited a zoning ordinance.
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A new restaurant in Piscataway painted over thousands of dollars' worth of murals before opening after township officials said the artwork violated a local zoning ordinance.
The owner of Royal Chicken said he did not anticipate any issues because his Somerset location features similar murals.
Before the restaurant opened, much of the building's exterior was covered with colorful murals featuring the Royal Chicken logo and chicken-themed artwork. The owner said he invested thousands of dollars in the murals to help the new location stand out and create a welcoming appearance.
The owner said Piscataway Township notified him in late May that the murals violated a township zoning ordinance. He said the issue also delayed the restaurant's certificate of occupancy, preventing it from opening on schedule.
Rather than challenge the decision, the owner painted over the murals.
"I thought the township would be happy with it and would say, 'Oh, this is something nice and something beautiful,' but unfortunately that wasn't the case," said owner Waris Ahmadi. "They marked it as graffiti, which it wasn't graffiti. It's artwork, it's a mural. It's something to enjoy, something to look at."
Ahmadi said he chose to comply with the township's request so the restaurant could open.
"I didn't want to argue with the township," Ahmadi said. "I just said, 'If you want it yellow, I'm gonna paint it yellow' just to get open, and essentially it's sad. It hurts us. It hurts my artists."
In a statement, the township said it "certainly welcomes new small businesses like Royal Chicken and appreciates all of them being part of our community. While Royal Chicken’s zoning application was approved and included its front sign on a pole, it had no mention of its planned mural featuring its company logo which is in violation, of [a township ordinance]."
