| COLUMBUS CITY COUNCIL MEDIA RELEASE For Immediate Release: April 30, 2012 For More Information: John Ivanic, (614) 645-6798 |
Columbus City Council Readies Graffiti Assistance Program
(Columbus)—Columbus residents and business owners will have help to clean their neighborhoods and fight crime thanks to Columbus City Council and a tougher graffiti removal law. Councilmembers Zach M. Klein and Michelle M. Mills are sponsoring ordinance 0811-2012 to create the Graffiti Assistance Program, a comprehensive graffiti removal program that requires property owners to remove graffiti from occupied structures and creates a way for the City to remove the blight, with the owner’s permission. The Department of Development is currently writing rules and preparing the bid specifications to begin the program this summer.
“The key to fighting graffiti is removing it as quickly as possible,” said Councilmember Klein, chair of the Development Committee. “The faster the vandalism is off buildings, the more forceful the message from the neighborhood that this type of criminal activity will not be tolerated.”
Currently, the City requires the removal of graffiti from vacant structures. The new law will require graffiti be removed from occupied structures as well. The ordinance gives property owners 30 days to abate the graffiti. Property owners can grant the City permission to remove the graffiti at the City’s expense. Councilmembers approved a $500,000 General Fund Budget amendment to support the program. If a property owner chooses not to remove the graffiti themselves or with the City’s help, the City can obtain an order from the environmental court to remove the nuisance and charge the property owner for the cost of the removal.
“The last thing City Council wants to do is to punish an innocent victim of graffiti twice,” said Councilmember Mills, chair of the Public Safety and Judiciary Committee. “The removal program will give property owners a fast and easy way to remove the vandalism and help keep our neighborhoods strong and safe.”
During a hearing held in City Council Chambers last spring, one community leader called graffiti a “plague” in Columbus neighborhoods. Early last fall, Councilmember Klein and Mills had begun to formulate a plan to address many of the neighborhood concerns when it comes to graffiti.
City Councilmembers are also drafting separate legislation that will create a process to distribute money that neighborhood and non-profit groups may use to purchase graffiti abatement equipment and materials. The legislation will establish a competitive grant program for the purchase of paint, paint brushes, and the like and also allow for the installation of community murals to prevent graffiti. The total of the grants will not exceed $10,000.
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