Hearings commissioner Colin Weatherall is to decide whether a proposed mural on the side of a Liverpool St apartment building will get resource consent following submissions from nearby apartment owners.
One apartment owner said he was opposed to the work, and another, Simon Eddy, whose submission was marked ''neutral'', said he had a ''personal preference for a decline''.
Dunedin Street Art (DSA) spokesman Glen Hazelton told the hearing on Thursday it had been a ''struggle'' to get a mural on the building, and it pulled out of a previous attempt in the face of opposition from Mr Eddy, who thought it was ''too dark''.
The painting of a Haast eagle by Chinese-born artist DALeast was put on a Stafford St building instead, he told the hearing.
Mr Hazelton disputed the suggestion the new proposal, by artist Natalia Rak, entitled Love is in the air, could reduce property values in the area, saying the opposite was true.
''The street art along with the other amenity improvements in the area is making the area the up-and-coming, hip part of town.''
Getting Rak to come to the city was another coup and would improve Dunedin's reputation as a street art destination.
''There is a bit of a surprise around the world ... of just how many really big name artists we are managing to attract to Dunedin.''
Fellow DSA member Justin Cashell presented five letters of support, including three from people who said there had been a reduction in graffiti since murals had been put up.
Dunedin was becoming renowned for its ''world-class'' street art trail, he said.
''We have featured as one of the top five cities in the world for amazing street art pieces. It's put Dunedin up there with Melbourne and London, for example.''
Mr Eddy said he could not make the hearing to speak to his submission, but council planner Sophie Lord read out an email he wrote on Wednesday.
In it, he expressed his ''personal preference'' for the consent to be declined and also his concern about the amount of street art in Dunedin generally, saying 19 murals had gone up in a ''short time''.
''As such, where does this end and who will be responsible for ongoing maintenance?
''We don't want a city full of tatty unmaintained murals in years or decades to come.''
Planner Ms Lord maintained her recommendation to grant the consent, but added a recommendation a graffiti guard be installed on the wall to a height of 3m.
She had previously recommended a provision for the consent holders to maintain the mural.
