ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets

FROM:

General Manager of Engineering Services and the Manager of Community Services

SUBJECT:

ANTI-GRAFFITI INITIATIVES

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

A. THAT Engineering Services be authorized to coordinate a multi-departmental staff group to develop an expanded anti-graffiti initiative as outlined in this report with an expenditure of $405,100 in the current calendar year to be funded from Contingency Reserves. Further that staff report back on the success of the initiative with recommendations for the program before the end of the year.

B. THAT the Director of Legal Services be requested to bring forward amendments to the Graffiti By-law requiring property owners to remove graffiti and providing that, if they fail to do so within ten days, the City may enter the property and remove the graffiti at the cost of the owner.

C. THAT property owners be assisted in removal efforts through a one time only provision of materials at City cost. Further that as a condition of receiving supplies the recipient agree to remove any future graffiti in a timely fashion.

D. THAT, after the Graffiti By-law is amended as discussed in this report, Community Services respond to incidents of graffiti on private property in the following manner:

E. THAT, as a condition of continued placement on City Street Allowance, owners of furniture or amenities (e.g. newsboxes, bus shelters, utility kiosks, garbage containers, hoardings, etc.) be required to remove graffiti within three working days from date of notification by the City unless a weekly inspection and cleaning program, acceptable to the City, is implemented. Further that any offensive or racist graffiti be removed within 24 hours of notification.

F. THAT Engineering Services and Community Services Staff continue graffiti removal outreach by involving community organizations, schools, BIAs, business groups and others in jointly undertaking graffiti removal.

G. THAT the Police Department be requested to assist in these anti-graffiti initiatives through enforcement and problem solving activities that will originate from the Community Policing Centres located in graffiti problem areas. Engineering Services will continue to support the Community Policing Centres with anti-graffiti materials, supplies and expertise to assist local communities in dealing with the impact of graffiti.

COMMENTS

The City Manager RECOMMENDS the foregoing

POLICY

On January 5, 1993, Council authorized the creation of a regular full-time Anti-Graffiti Coordinator position.

On July 23, 1998, Council approved a policy which requires publishers to remove graffiti from newsboxes within 72 hours.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to advise Council of the City's current anti-graffiti activities and to recommend a series of initiatives which will improve the City's response to incidents of graffiti, particularly where such incidents occur on private property. This report also proposes standards for timely graffiti removal from street furniture, utility boxes and other fixtures on City property. Third, this report proposes an expanded anti-graffiti campaign which involves increased efforts related to graffiti removal, inspection and enforcement of graffiti cleanup on private property, identification and prosecution of offenders and support of property owners and community cleanup initiatives.

BACKGROUND

An anti-graffiti program has existed in the City for approximately fourteen years. At the outset, one staff person was hired to carry out a modest program at a time when graffiti was a lesser problem in the City. Over time, the problem has grown and the only change to the program's resources has been the 1998 consolidation of the City's graffiti removal efforts through the acquisition of a graffiti-removal vehicle.

The annual cost of the City's anti-graffiti activities up until 1998 was approximately $160,000. This amount funded the cost of one staff position, provided $30,000 for supplies and program advertising, and included an additional $80,000 per year spent throughout the City by various departments to clean up graffiti from City streets.

In 1998, the City acquired the "Graffiti Busters" vehicle through a combination of donations and reallocations of existing budgets. Graffiti removal on City street allowance which had previously been carried out by a number of different City branches and departments became the primary activity of a two-person graffiti removal crew. This vehicle also became the focal point of community anti-graffiti programs, providing logistical support, materials and basic graffiti removal training to community volunteers. The current annual cost of the City's anti-graffiti activities is $230,000, although approximately $26,000 of this is recovered from corporate sponsors and a further $24,000 is recovered through a contract arrangement with Vancouver Parking Corporation.

DISCUSSION

The graffiti problem is not one for which there is a single solution. Experience throughout North America has proven that an effective anti-graffiti strategy includes:

- Eradication - proactive removal of graffiti from public and private property;
- Enforcement - an organized approach to apprehend and deal with perpetrators;
- Education - raising public awareness - promoting partnerships with community groups, business associations and property owners as well as education programs aimed at potential perpetrators.

In all of the above, City commitment and leadership is essential.

The following discussion provides details on Vancouver's current activities and identifies areas where it is recommended that increased resources and commitments are needed.

ERADICATION - REMOVAL OF GRAFFITI

Private Property

The accumulation of graffiti on private property is the most visible and significant graffiti problem in Vancouver. The City's Permits and Licenses department is primarily responsible for dealing with property owners in regards to graffiti on private property as part of its Property Use Inspection function. Generally, the City's property use inspectors become involved in dealing with graffiti issues upon receipt of a complaint from the public. Their response typically involves issuing a letter of by-law violation, with an accompanying directive to the property owner to remove or paint over graffiti within a 60-day time period.

At the present time, the Graffiti By-law authorizes the City to enter private property and remove graffiti at the cost of the owner in limited circumstances and after giving 60 days' notice. However, it has been the general practice to refrain from taking this step in response to concerns expressed by property owners who themselves feel victimized by graffiti. The effectiveness of the property use inspection notice depends on the willingness of the property owner to comply. Initially the response was positive; however, as incidents of graffiti repeatedly occurred, compliance has decreased to the point where an estimated one-third of such notices are currently ignored.

The decrease in compliance by property owners has led to an increasing number of properties which have accumulated years worth of graffiti. These properties become eyesores and offer encouragement to graffiti vandals to extend their activities in the surrounding area. Although property owners often feel that they are the victims of graffiti, staff believe thatthey will continue to be victims as long as they do not take proactive steps to become part of the solution to the problem.

It is recommended, therefore, that a new enforcement practice be adopted in conjunction with amendments to the Graffiti By-law. Staff will identify problem graffiti on private property through an inspection program. It is recommended that the Graffiti By-law be amended to require all property owners to remove graffiti from their property. The amendment should provide that if an owner fails to remove graffiti, the City may enter and remove the graffiti at the cost of the owner. It is recommended that owners be given ten days' notice to remove graffiti, before the City removes it. It is also recommended that the By-law provide that if the cost to the City to remove graffiti from private property is not paid within 30 days after a demand is made, then the cost be added to the property tax roll. These time frames (ie, 10 days' notice to remedy the problem and thirty days to pay the City if the City remedies the problem) are consistent with the time frames currently in the Untidy Premises By-law.

Support for Property Owners

The City does not currently contribute to the cost of removing graffiti from individual properties, but does provide paint and cleaning supplies for community-oriented cleanups, which typically involve graffiti removal from both public and private property. Engineering Services recently became involved in providing a one-time graffiti removal service (labour & materials) to private properties in the Downtown Eastside. Although this initiative was well-received and made a significant improvement to the visual environment, the cost of this approach (approximately $3,000 per block) was very high. The long term effect of this initiative was somewhat disappointing as the graffiti returned within a few months and there was little effort on the part of the property owners for ongoing maintenance.

The City has for a number of years provided materials and supplies to clean-up activities which have an element of community involvement. A new initiative is proposed in this report to extend this support in a limited way to individual property owners or businesses. Anti-graffiti kits including a small amount of paint, cleaning chemicals and other supplies would be given out, on request, on a one time per address basis. The recipient would be required to indicate in writing their intention to continue to remove graffiti in a timely manner.

Furniture and Amenities on City Streets (Privately Owned)

Graffiti which occurs on privately-owned encroachments located on City property, such as newsboxes, transit benches, bus shelters, utility kiosks and pay phones is removed by the owner of each facility. For newsboxes, Council has passed a policy resolution requiring thatgraffiti removal be carried out within three working days. For some amenities, no Council policy has been enacted but language has been included in agreements between the owners and the City which requires graffiti removal within 48 - 72 hours. For utility kiosks, such as transformer kiosks, no specific policies or agreements exist.

It is apparent that there is no consistency of standards and practices related to timeliness of graffiti removal. In the specific case of newsboxes, we have received complaints that the City holds publishers to a higher standard of graffiti removal than the standard which we apply to our own facilities. It would seem appropriate to develop a common graffiti removal standard which applies to owners of all above-ground objects on City rights of way. It is therefore recommended that Council direct staff to require owners of any encroachment, such as street furniture and above-ground utility kiosks, to remove graffiti within three working days from date of notification by the City unless a weekly inspection and cleaning program, acceptable to the City, is implemented.

Furniture and Amenities on City Streets (City Owned)

Most removal of graffiti from City-owned street furniture and amenities is carried out by the City's two-person "Graffiti Busters" crew. Originally they were able to conduct a sweep of the City in under a week, which is a reasonable level of service and generally effective in keeping City amenities relatively free of graffiti. However, as graffiti continues to increase it is becoming more difficult to meet a weekly schedule.

Removal of graffiti from bridges, retaining walls and bus shelters is done by the bridge crews in the course of their other duties. Their schedule varies somewhat depending on work load and the time of year. Generally, bus shelters and highly visible structures are cleaned monthly and other minor structures are cleaned on a periodic basis.

It is recommended, as part of the proposed expanded anti-graffiti campaign, to increase staff and equipment resources as outlined in this report, in order to consistently provide an acceptable level of service and match requirements being placed on private owners.

ENFORCEMENT

Police Initiatives

The Police Department recognizes the impact of graffiti on the community and will continue to support the Community Policing Centres in dealing with the issue. Neighbourhood Police Officers working in the Community Policing Centres will be assigned the issue of graffiti and will engage in active problem solving that will include enforcement initiatives.

Spray Paint Restrictions

Many graffiti vandals are minors, and in some jurisdictions in the United States, such as Phoenix and San Jose, an effective approach has been to make it more difficult for minors to get access to their "tools of the trade" by banning the sale of spray paint to minors, and by requiring businesses to keep spray paint products in locked enclosures. However, prohibiting the sale of spray paint to minors in Vancouver raises significant legal issues, both in relation to the powers conferred on the City under the Vancouver Charter and in relation to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As well, requiring that spray paint be kept in locked enclosures could have potential cost implications to businesses selling this product. Should Council wish to consider initiatives such as these, staff will report back on the legal implications and the possible cost implications after consultation with the business community.

EDUCATION - RAISING PUBLIC AWARENESS

Community Partnerships and Public Involvement

The City supports community involvement in solving the graffiti problem by providing cleaning supplies, training and logistical support to a number of neighbourhood graffiti abatement projects, including Kerrisdale, Cedar Cottage, Grandview Woodlands, Mt. Pleasant and Dunbar-Southlands. These have tended to take place as annual or semi-annual neighbourhood paint-outs, many in conjunction with Keep Vancouver Spectacular. In addition, the City has developed an ongoing working arrangement with the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association whereby the DVBIA provides a very fast cleanup response to incidents of graffiti on public property in the downtown area through a street youth program, and the City supports this by providing the required cleaning supplies and paint.

It is believed that significant improvements could be achieved through a higher profile community partnership process. Recently, for example, the Gastown BIA has been seeking City support for their anti-graffiti initiatives. Other BIA's and community groups would likely be interested in a partnership arrangement if they had a clear indication as to the extent to which City support could be provided. It is recommended that Council continue to
provide support to community-oriented clean-up initiatives by paying the cost of the necessary cleaning materials, supplies and paint. It is further recommended that an additional staff person be hired on a temporary basis to actively promote partnership opportunities and to increase community participation. Special focus could be placed on communities not previously involved and on increasing school participation.

Hot Line and Web Site

The City has two main lines of communication between its anti-graffiti program and individual members of the public. The Graffiti Hot Line is available to accept calls on all matters related to graffiti - these calls range from requests for cleaning advice, to complaints about individual graffiti tags, and to general policy enquiries. The City's web-site is also a useful tool for disseminating information and for gathering feedback from the public. The Service Request feature on the Engineering Services web page has been used extensively to gather reports of graffiti on City property.

PROPOSED EXPANDED ANTI-GRAFFITI INITIATIVE

City Commitment and Leadership

It is recommended that the City demonstrate a strong commitment to graffiti abatement by funding an aggressive anti-graffiti initiative.

In previous sections, this report describes a range of initiatives which could be undertaken as part of an Expanded Anti-Graffiti Program. This section pulls together those components and provides a costing of the various elements. The proposals discussed in this section are additional to the existing Anti-Graffiti Program.

The Team

It is recommended that a graffiti abatement team be established, consisting of:

A Team Leader to oversee the program and work with members of the general public, community groups, the School Board, business/property owners, police, other organizations and the media in coordinating the City's anti-graffiti programs.

2 Property Use Inspectors to identify incidents of graffiti, issue removal orders, arrange for removals and bill owners when necessary;

A Street Use Inspector to respond to enquiries from the public, produce pamphlets, brochures and other publicity material and to organize distribution of supplies and materials;

A Clerical Support Staff to perform a variety of duties including word processing, reception, telephones, data entry and deal with invoices and removal contracts

3 Operations Staff to ensure the established cleaning schedules for City property aremet and to provide seven day a week coverage;

The team should be housed in centrally located office space which is accessible to the public and convenient for distributing supplies and materials.

Graffiti Free Zones

As part of the Expanded Anti-Graffiti Initiative, it is suggested that a strategy, based on the successes achieved through "zero tolerance zones" in the City of Portland, be adopted.

This strategy would see the proposed team identify four areas of the City (two downtown, one east side and one west side) to be designated graffiti free zones. These areas would be inspected daily; City owned street furniture, amenities and structures would be cleaned and notices would be issued to the owners of private property or privately owned street furniture within 24 hours of the appearance of graffiti.

Program Goals

To establish a one day response time within the graffiti free zones. Both public and private property would be inspected and action taken daily. Graffiti on street allowance would be removed and on private property removal notices issued.

To expand the graffiti free zones to encompass larger areas.

To maximize use of existing legislation in terms of arrest and prosecution of perpetrators and to claim restitution from vandals where possible.

To develop community partnerships in areas that have not participated in the past and to increase involvement with high schools.

PROJECTED COSTS

DESCRIPTION

YEAR 2001
(7 months)

PER ANNUM

STAFF

    

2 Property Use Inspectors

$61,600

$105,550

1 Street Use Inspector

26,150

44,830

1 Project Manager

36,300

62,280

1 Clerical Staff

22,300

38,200

3 Operations Staff

101,250

173,370

Sub total

$247,600

$424,230

EQUIPMENT

    

Auto Allowance for 3 staff members

$10,500

$18,000

Lease Truck

4,200

6,000

Soda Blaster

12,000

0

2 Paint Sprayers

14,800

0

Sub Total

$41,500

$24,000

SUPPLIES

    

Paint, chemical cleaners, rollers, brushes, drop cloths, rubber gloves, paint trays and other materials as needed in support of property owners

$40,000

$80,000

Contractors for specialized removals

$20,000

$40,000

Sub Total

$60,000

$120,000

FACILITIES

    

Office Space

$21,000

$36,000

Computers, Furniture, Phone & Utility Installations, etc.

$35,000

0

Sub Total

$56,000

$36,000

Total Costs

$405,100

$604,230

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The anti-graffiti program includes the formation of an inspection and enforcement team and applies a higher cleanup standard on property owners. This initiative will have impacts on both the operating budget and individual property owners.

Funding

The program budget detailed in the report is in addition to existing funding provided for anti-graffiti expenditures. The current budget is $230,000, which provides for one staff position, a two person crew, and supplies/program costs. Expansion of the anti-graffiti campaign requires an additional $405,100 for 7 months in 2001. This will provide funding for an additional 8 staff plus facilities costs of $303,600 and equipment and supplies costs of $101,500. Funding for 2001 would come from Contingency Reserve, however ongoing program costs would be included in future years' operating budgets, subject to Council approval.

If Council approves the funding as requested, the total for this program will be $635,100 for 2001 or $834,200 on an annual basis

Impact on Property Owners

Enforcement of the Graffiti By-law as recommended in this report will require many property owners to pay additional costs to remove graffiti from their properties. Contractors perform graffiti removal on private property at callout rates starting at approximately $150 per incident. Depending upon the amount of graffiti on each site, costs can be significantly higher than this amount. Ongoing enforcement will likely entail multiple cleanups for some property owners throughout the year. Consequently, some property owners could face graffiti removal expenses of several hundred dollars per year. These costs could potentially generate economic hardships to some.

We currently do not have sufficient information to accurately project the total cost of graffiti removal from private property. This report recommends that property owners should be responsible for graffiti removal costs, based upon a principle that owners are expected to be responsible for all maintenance costs related to their property. However, should Council wish to lessen the financial impact on those owners whose property has been affected by graffiti , staff could report back on options such as:
- cost sharing arrangements with property owners
- provision of a City-operated graffiti removal service for private property which operates on an "at cost" basis.

The experience gained in the next seven months will allow us to better measure the ongoing cost implications for property owners. In addition, we expect that the increased volume of graffiti removal work caused by the proposed initiative will create more competition and opportunities to generate efficiencies amongst the graffiti removal contractors. If Council wishes to investigate cost-sharing options, it is suggested that these options be reported back to Council at the end of this year as part of an overall evaluation of the effectiveness of the initiative.

CONCLUSION

The increase in graffiti vandalism in the past few years needs to be met with a more proactive and intensive approach than was used in the past. Although certain parts of the existing anti-graffiti program have worked, more needs to be done. This report identifies several recommended actions for Council approval. The actions proposed include: improved removal of graffiti from public and private property, increased enforcement and improved strategies for dealing with graffiti vandals, improved public liaison with individuals, business groups and community groups, and better coordination of City staff resources in Police, Engineering Services, Legal Services and Community Services.

If Council approves the recommendations of this report, the City's resources dedicated to the removal of graffiti would consist of three crews, two of which would be removing graffiti from public property; the other crew would be providing support to property owners and community groups.

This report has been forwarded to CUPE Locals 15 and 1004.

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