Penetanguishene council wants staff to create a bylaw to give town enforcement officials teeth when it comes to handling graffiti around town.
Coun. Brian Cummings brought the issue forward earlier this week and asked staff to report back on how a new graffiti policy for private properties can be created for future use.
"If you want to take pride in your town and business owners should have pride in their businesses ... I feel leaving the graffiti on the wall doesn't show pride in your community," he said.
Cummings said one of the reasons he brought it up was because there wasn't any existing bylaw for graffiti, just that the town would remove it from municipal buildings. For private buildings, it's up to the business or building owners.
"The problem is that it never happens," added Cummings. "The longer it gets left on a building, the more it invites other graffiti to happen elsewhere."
The current policy, said Andrea Betty, director of planning and community development, doesn't give the town authority to remove graffiti from private property.
"We are trying to educate property owners to do it themselves," she said, adding removal isn't easy as it depends on a lot of things from the material that was used to the material it was used on.
Cummings wants staff to not only study what nearby municipalities have as a graffiti bylaw, but he said he liked the bylaw City of Toronto uses.
Bylaw documents reveal that the provincial capital differentiates between graffiti art and graffiti vandalism.
Toronto has a graffiti panel that oversees this bylaw, which defines graffiti art as, "Markings made or affixed to property that are approved by the property owner or occupant, where the markings aesthetically enhance the surface they cover and the general surroundings, having regard to the community character and standards."
While the latter is explained as, "Any deliberate markings made or affixed on property that is not currently exempted or regularized by the graffiti panel, executive director or council and was made or affixed without the permission of the owner; is considered by the executive director to be a tag; for which there are reasonable grounds to believe that it may incite hatred or violence against any person or identifiable group; or contains profane, vulgar or offensive language."
The bylaw also lists a notice to comply: "An officer who finds a contravention of this chapter may give written notice to the owner or occupant of the property, requiring compliance with this chapter within the time period specified in the notice but no sooner than 72 hours after the notice is given."
"If it's not removed with than time, the town would come in and remove it and charge the business owner," said Cummings. "The City of Toronoto works with the business owners and with the people who have been tagged so that they can do it quite quickly by providing the materials in some cases.
Additionally, he said, what he likes about their bylaw is that Toronto has a graffiti committee that will look at different areas in the city where graffiti art is allowed.
"There's some great graffiti art in Toronto but only in designated spots," said Cummings. "Our skateboard park has some really nice graffiti on it and that would be a place for it."
Other places in Penetanguishene, he said, "It's just vandalism and it looks like hell and nothing gets done about it. It tends to stay on a lot longer than it should. The philosophy is the longer it's there the more it invited people to tag it."
There's nothing worse than going around town and seeing graffiti, said Cummings.
"I understand small businesses may not always have the money to get rid of it right away, so a better model may be at looking to work together in sourcing materials to help them remove the graffiti," he said. "Or maybe business owners can check with their insurance companies to see if they would cover the clean up for this."
The upcoming Community Improvement Plan might have some grants included to help businesses take care of graffiti, but that would be a one-time option, Cummings boted.
"I'm not sure how that would on a continuing basis," he said.
Cummings said he hopes staff will come up with a bylaw so the town can work out something that will help clean up the town a little.
Betty said staff is working on a report that would outline the implications, financial and otherwise, if the town comes up with a bylaw. She added a report will be brought to council at a meeting in March.
