Old Ellicott City’s eggplant and peach sculptures went to court. They won.

The colorful and perhaps suggestive peach and eggplant sculptures located along Main Street in Old Ellicott City are here to stay.

Nearly a year after several anonymous complaints sought the removal of the sculptures, Senior Circuit Court Judge Harry Storm ruled Thursday that there were no grounds for a local commission’s decision to order the removal of the sculptures.

Many view the sculptures, located at The Wine Bin and Georgia Grace Cafe, as representative of the whimsical and charming nature of Old Ellicott City’s Main Street. But others associate the sculptures with phallic and derrière references and found their presence unseemly.

After reviewing county code and the Historic Preservation Commission’s guidelines, Storm said during a virtual hearing Thursday that the commission’s authority “does not, in my view, extend to making determination about works of public art.”

However, the retired judge said, “that’s not to say it could not perhaps be granted that authority.”

But until such authority is granted, the aubergine will remain tucked under The Wine Bin’s awning and the peach will continue to greet diners heading into the Georgia Grace Cafe.

“My work is meant to give joy, not cause controversy,” Jan Kirsch, the artist and landscape designer who made both sculptures and other fruit and vegetable sculptures featured all over Howard County, previously told The Banner.

Last spring, Don Reuwer, president of the Waverly Real Estate Group, commissioned Kirsch to sculpt the peach.

The eggplant was Kirsch’s second aubergine. The original stood in front of the Howard County Welcome Center on Ellicott City’s Main Street, but is no longer there. The Fund for Art in Ellicott City asked her to sculpt another, saying that the community missed it.

After the sculpture controversy erupted, Reuwer, who also owns The Wine Bin’s building and others in the historic district, filed retroactive applications with the Historic Preservation Commission to allow them to remain.

Even after Reuwer amended his application to only display the artworks at their Main Street locations for 12 months, the commission decided to allow the eggplant to stay for another year — but not the peach.

“As a National Register historic district, we found that it did not comply with the current guidelines or county code,” said Julie Danna, the commission’s chair, of the peach in an interview last year.

The commission’s decision was appealed to the court for judicial review.

No representatives from the Historic Preservation Commission attended Thursday’s 20-minute hearing.

After Thursday’s hearing, Danna said in an email that she was out of the country and had not reviewed the case.