Why Balk at Chalk?

First lemonade stands and now this...

A Colorado community is trying to stop children from coloring with chalk on sidewalks. Specifically, the neighborhood of Stapleton wants 3-year-old Emerson Cohen (no relation) to stop drawing flowers and rainbows.

Some Stapleton residents believe that Emerson’s chalk art makes the communal area less pleasant for others. The Cohens live on a courtyard and because it's a shared space, anything that offends, disturbs or interferes with the peaceful enjoyment isn’t allowed, according to a “sub-association” of the community association.

Chalk has created controversy before when it was used in the Occupy Wall Street movement to spread the "99%" message, but neighbors complaining about pastel hearts that can be washed away in seconds? How does it offend, disturb or interfere with anyone or anything, except maybe the ants on the particular piece of concrete canvas? The ban will ultimately be approved or rejected by Stapleton neighbors at a future meeting.

Imagine if the creative brilliance of Julian Beever, aka the "Pavement Picasso," had been thwarted by suburban scrooges. The English artist has been creating AMAZING 3D chalk drawings on sidewalks since the mid-1990s and is known all over the world. When asked about what most influenced his work as an artist, he responded, “childhood wonder.”

Will there be a ban on that next?