Wannabe artists caught with graffiti materials would face a minimum $100 fine under a proposed change to a Denver ordinance.
Under a second proposal, Denver graffiti-removal crews could seek access to private property after three days and charge the owners for cleanup.
A graffiti task force pushing for a comprehensive approach to fight the scrawl made the recommendations.
The Denver City Council would have to approve the changes, which were reviewed by the Public Works Committee on Tuesday.
“There is a lot of frustration out there. People in my district are mad as hell,” said Councilman Charley Brown.
It is illegal for minors to possess cans of spray paint, nozzles, broad- tipped markers and other materials used to deface property, but there are no mandatory fines, said Regina Hurter, a task-force member and head of the city’s crime-prevention and control commission.
“We are striving to streamline these penalties and make them more consistent,” she said.
The city will soon hire an inspector to see whether property owners who have been notified of graffiti have removed it, said Gary Price, Denver’s director of solid-waste management.
The inspector will make it possible to implement another task-force recommendation that would give property owners 72 hours (48 for businesses) to either remove the graffiti or authorize the city to do so at no charge.
The solid-waste division will work with property owners who are willing to cooperate, Price said.
“We are not going to be hard-nosed on this timeline,” he said. “We will attempt to work with them if we can.”
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
Under the abatement measure:
Once graffiti is reported, solid-waste management staff would check a database to see whether the property owner has given prior permission for the city to clean up the property.
If there is no release on file, the staff would send a letter notifying the property owner.
If the property owner didn’t respond within six days, the inspector would first check to see if the graffiti was gone. If it wasn’t, the inspector would notify the property owner of the 72-hour deadline and inform him that the city would clean up the graffiti and assess him for the cost once the deadline passed.
