[Admiral Beez]

I'd like to propose a law or by-law that property owners (including the city, plus mail boxes, etc) be responsible for cleaning up grafitti on their property within 48 hours. So, if I own a retail shop and my exterior walls have been tagged, it's my job to clean it up within 48 hours or the city will do it and I receive a fine.

Basically I'm treating grafitti like litter or dumping. If someone dumps garbage in my front lawn, for example, it's my responsibility to clean it up.

So, would you support such a law or by-law? IMO, Canada Post should have a 48 hour system in place now, since their mail boxes are seen every day by their employees, and all that needs to happen is for the employee to report the grafitti and the next day the mail box is repainted.

In this fashion, taggers will likely leave the mail boxes alone, which of course means that everyone needs the same 48 hour clean-up by-law otherwise the taggers will move from mailboxes to other property.

 

[fiendishlibrarian]

In answer to your question, yes. And there already is a provision for this in the Municipal Code:

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/1184_485.pdf

 

[Hydrogen]

I'd like to propose a law or by-law that property owners (including the city, plus mail boxes, etc) be responsible for cleaning up grafitti on their property within 48 hours. So, if I own a retail shop and my exterior walls have been tagged, it's my job to clean it up within 48 hours or the city will do it and I receive a fine.

Basically I'm treating grafitti like litter or dumping. If someone dumps garbage in my front lawn, for example, it's my responsibility to clean it up.

Blame the victim.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Blame the victim.

I agree it's not fair if I dump my garbage in your front lawn, and then the city forces you to clean it up, but that's life. Unless you can make me clean it up, someone has to, and if it's private property, the owner must take responsbility.

 

[notyouagain]

Right now, it takes the city about a month to respond to complaints about grafitti on its property.

 

[Hydrogen]

I agree it's not fair if I dump my garbage in your front lawn, and then the city forces you to clean it up, but that's life.

Okay, first, litter can pose a health risk, and second, it blows in the wind. So comparing litter to grafitti is a category error. Unwanted grafitti is the physical defacement of private or public property.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Right now, it takes the city about a month to respond to complaints about grafitti on its property.

Which is why much of the city is strewn with tags, including lamp posts, street signs, etc. If you want to deal with grafitti, you must do it quickly, so the thrill of seeing your "work" is gone.

 

[rp07]

I'd like to propose a law or by-law that property owners (including the city, plus mail boxes, etc) be responsible for cleaning up grafitti on their property within 48 hours. So, if I own a retail shop and my exterior walls have been tagged, it's my job to clean it up within 48 hours or the city will do it and I receive a fine.

Basically I'm treating grafitti like litter or dumping. If someone dumps garbage in my front lawn, for example, it's my responsibility to clean it up.

So, would you support such a law or by-law? IMO, Canada Post should have a 48 hour system in place now, since their mail boxes are seen every day by their employees, and all that needs to happen is for the employee to report the grafitti and the next day the mail box is repainted.

In this fashion, taggers will likely leave the mail boxes alone, which of course means that everyone needs the same 48 hour clean-up by-law otherwise the taggers will move from mailboxes to other property.

I have a problem with this idea. Why should innocent business and residential owners pay to remove grafitti left my vandals and hoodlums? And what's to say that after cleaning there won't be more grafitti?

 

[Hydrogen]

There will always be more grafitti and there will be more cost to building owners.

Grafitti "artists" and taggers, when caught, should have the choice of paying for a clean-up, or doing the clean-up themselves. The bigger the mess, the higher the price.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

There will always be more grafitti and there will be more cost to building owners.

Grafitti "artists" and taggers, when caught, should have the choice of paying for a clean-up, or doing the clean-up themselves. The bigger the mess, the higher the price.

that sounds reasonable.

 

[scarberiankhatru]

Basically I'm treating grafitti like litter or dumping. If someone dumps garbage in my front lawn, for example, it's my responsibility to clean it up.

If we still had the "evil" emoticon, I'd ask what your address is.

 

[TrickyRicky]

The city already forces building owners to clear graffiti at their own expense. I'm not sure about the time limits but they exist. Basically the city lacks the man-power and effort to enforce the existing by-law. Like all property related by-laws the city relies on complaints to drive enforcement and occasionally (say once every year or couple of years) comes by and does a sweep of the city street by street. For most by-laws regardless of the time limit stated, the city is flexible on completion times because they understand that hard deadlines like the 48hrs mentions by Admiral can be absurd in practice when you must rely on a third party to do the work.

If you are at all interested a year long graffiti removal contract on a say low-rise commercial strip corner building runs about $1800 for a year. A single contract for removing graffiti from a decent sized well tagged wall would run you around $1000-$2000. On the basis of these numbers I think you can appreciate that forcing building owners to foot the bill for graffiti removal is not an insignificant request.

 

[EnviroTO]

Property owners are always the victim of crime and graffiti is no different. When a vandal or thief breaks in, trashes the store, and cleans the place out it is the property owner (or leaseholder) who pays. Perhaps there is a graffiti insurance product or clean up company with fixed rates out there. I guess the good part of this is that the property owner is more likely to have some sort of surveilance or defence if they are constantly hit with graffiti which increases the chances that the offenders will be caught or decreases the criminals change of success (scratch resistant surfaces, smooth surfaces which are more easily cleaned, etc).

 

[spasongs]

I think the taggers should be made to clean it up themselves, plus should be sprayed in the face. These guys are the biggest losers going