Illinois family won't have to repaint rainbow-striped house

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) - Officials in a western Illinois city have told a homeowner that the vibrant colors on her family's rainbow-striped house can stay despite an earlier order that she repaint the residence.

Moline city officials said Thursday in a hand-delivered letter to Taylor Berg that she does not have to paint over the broad purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red horizontal stripes that run top to bottom down her two-story wood-frame house, the Quad-City Times reported.

The same colors are vertical on the home's picket fence.

The city told Berg earlier this month that she had until July 21 to repaint her house a color similar to other houses on the block or face a fine of up to $750 a day.

Berg created an online petition for support which went viral. By Thursday afternoon, the petition had nearly 17,000 signatures, some from countries as far away as Malaysia and Australia, according to the newspaper.

Moline Mayor Mayor Stephanie Acri said Friday that the code Berg was cited for was meant for development of new homes, not existing structures.

Berg said she didn't think the colors would offend anyone. She has two sons, ages 5 and 10, who helped paint the house. Her 10-year-old son has cerebral palsy, is non-verbal and deaf.

'œIf I had to repaint and cover up what he did, that would have really upset him,'ť Berg said. 'œHe was so happy to paint it all those colors.'ť

'œI always stress to my kids that it's OK to be different and to accept people who are different,'ť she added. 'œVariety is the spice of life. What a dull world it would be if we all looked the same.'ť