The Florida Department of Transportation has been cracking down on road markings across the state, including recently removing the rainbow crosswalk in front of Orlando’s former Pulse nightclub in the middle of the night.

And Delray Beach’s upcoming hearing is the first — if not one of the first — where local government officials will meet direc“Will they just sort of summarily dismiss Delray Beach and their arguments, or will they actually listen to them?” Jewett said. “It will show other local governments whether there is any use in trying the same thing, right?

“Even if Delray Beach fails, you may have some others try it, but I will just say, if Delray Beach fails, then it’s a pretty good indication that the state is not going to allow any exceptions.”

Beyond being an issue that many opponents say targets the LGBTQ+ community, city officials also have criticized the state’s actions as an act of government overreach, especially because some of the markings exist on city-owned roads.

“The states have almost all the power,” Jewett said. “Local governments are creatures of the state. The states can create them, the states can abolish them, the states control them, and the local governments only have as much discretion and choice as the state allows. And thus that’s a long way of saying that if the state is determined that we are not going to have art in crosswalks, then they are likely to be able to get their way.”

This is despite Florida having a history of moving toward home rule and allowing local government officials to make their own decisions, Jewett said.

“Republicans in particular used to really stress that as part of their overall ideology that the lower levels of government, local governments, should have more discretion, but we have seen that sort of change in the last five to 10 years,” Jewett said. “This is one more instance. … This seems like a pretty picky and petty thing to be coming after.”

If the state does not rule in Delray Beach’s favor, city spokesperson Gina Carter wrote in an email that all administrative remedies will be exhausted.

“If the city does not prevail, the City Commission will determine if the city will proceed to the next step, which is litigation,” Carter wrote.

On Thursday, attorney Howard Dubosar, Delray Beach’s outside counsel — whose firm also represents Fort Lauderdale and Key West — sent an email to the Florida Department of Transportation district secretary Steven Braun requesting a formal hearing to replace the informal hearing taking place on Tuesday. But Tuesday’s hearing is expected to move forward as originally planned.

The informal hearing is “simply an opportunity to present a legal argument,” Carter wrote, whereas a formal hearing would have allowed Delray Beach to present witnesses and testimony “to assist the decision-maker in resolving factual disputes, much like a trial before a judge in a courtroom.”

“The city believes that there are factual issues in dispute that warrant a formal hearing,” Carter wrote. “City leaders strongly believe in the concepts of due process and fairness.

“Even though this process will not occur in a formal courtroom, those basic principles should always be present in all facets of government, whether in an administrative hearing or in a case being argued before the Supreme Court.”