ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets

FROM:

General Manager of Engineering Services in consultation with the General Manager of Community Services, the General Manager of Corporate Services, and the General Manager of the Park Board

SUBJECT:

Graffiti Management Program

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

A. THAT the Graffiti Management Program be approved as an ongoing program as described in this report with a further report back in one year on resource levels and program strategies.

B. THAT free paint and graffiti removal kits be made available to property and business owners to a maximum of twice per year, and that staff streamline procedures to make these kits more accessible.

C. THAT free graffiti removal services be made available to owners of heritage buildings with masonry surfaces listed on the Vancouver Heritage Register or municipally designated as heritage property under the Vancouver Charter once per year to a maximum of $500 per removal.

D. THAT the temporary Engineering Assistant III staff position be converted to regular full-time.

E. THAT the following temporary staff positions be extended by one year with a report back at that time on ongoing staffing levels

F. THAT Council approve the Graffiti Management Program budget to December 31, 2003 with an addition of $225,900 to Engineering's Budget and $33,300 to Park Board's Budget ($259,200 total), to be funded from Contingency Reserve.

G. THAT Council approve a 2004 Graffiti Management Program Operating Budget of $1,105,400 with previously approved funding of $502,900, and an increase of $602,500 to the 2004 Operating Budget without offset ($527,500 to Engineering and $75,000 to the Park Board).

H. THAT the current contracts for graffiti removal from City property be extended on a month-to-month basis subject to a further report back from the General Manager of Engineering Services and General Manager, Park Board on the issue of alternate service delivery mechanisms.

POLICY

In April of 2002, Council approved an Anti-graffiti Strategy for the City of Vancouver. The goal of the strategy was to substantially eradicate graffiti in Vancouver. The five pronged strategy consists of the following:

A. Leadership
· increased commitment to quick removal of graffiti from City property.
· support for an active and effective Anti-graffiti Task Force which combines and co-ordinates the resources of City departments and outside organizations.
· ongoing measurement of the extent of the graffiti problem.

B. Prevention
· implementation of targeted educational and publicity programs.
· implementation of an expanded mural program.

C. Eradication
· implementation of a process which assists property owners by educating them about graffiti removal options, augmented by a Free Paint Program.

D. Enforcement
· enforcement of the City's Graffiti By-law when property owners fail to take advantage of available graffiti removal options, targeted at commercial and industrial properties.
· enforcement of the Graffiti Bylaw to be carried out against residential properties in response to complaints or obvious problems

E. Community Empowerment
· making graffiti-removal work on certain City buildings available to partnerships of local community non-profit organizations and professional graffiti-removal companies.
· increased support for community paint-outs.
· development of a process which will help local commercial areas organize graffiti-removal contracts for their neighbourhoods.

On June 14, 2001, Council approved a policy which states that, as a condition of continued placement on the City Street Allowance, owners of furniture or amenities (e.g. newsboxes, bus shelters, utility kiosks, hoarding, etc.) be required to remove graffiti within three working days from the 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.

PURPOSE

This report reviews staff experience with the expanded Graffiti Management Program approved by Council in April, 2002 and recommends the approval of resource levels to continue the program.

SUMMARY

Graffiti creates visual blight, reduces public enjoyment of the City's public places and has a direct negative impact on the City's economy. If graffiti is not addressed, it becomes self-perpetuating. Owners of property that is tagged are victims of a crime and must pay for the costs of removal. In response to the problem, Council approved additional resources in April, 2002, including temporary staff, and funding for a graffiti removal contract for public property, educational material, an outreach program, and free paint at a total cost of approximately $1.4 million.

Removal efforts have focussed on three areas; public property, private property, and prevention/education.

On public property, the City contracted with a graffiti removal company to expand removal efforts from City buildings, bridges, light poles, and parks. An enforcement program for removal of graffiti from garbage containers was started, and staff followed up with utility companies and owners of amenities on the streets to ensure follow up on graffiti removal. With respect to private property, the Graffiti Bylaw was amended in 2002 to require property owners to remove graffiti within 10 days of notification from the City. Staff have provided property owners with information on graffiti removal alternatives, free paint, and have organized community paintouts and volunteer recruitment. Some enforcement and removal of graffiti by the City has been required, but overall property owners have been very cooperative. Staff also initiated a number of outreach activities, an education program in the schools, and an expansion of the mural program. The Police Department assigned two officers to their anti-graffiti unit, and have contributed to the education, eradication and enforcement efforts.

Over the past 9 months, the program has been successful and has resulted in a 47% reduction in graffiti in the main commercial areas of the City. However more work is required to further reduce graffiti levels throughout the City, in the lanes, in park facilities and on certain street furniture. Property owners have asked for increased assistance from the City.

Staff are recommending continuation of the Graffiti Management Program with some additional assistance for property owners. This would involve converting one of the temporary staff resources to regular full-time and continuing the other temporary staff resources for a further year. Staff will report back at that time on these staff resources and the graffiti management strategy. It is also proposed that additional property owner assistance be provided through the provision of free paint twice/yr instead of on a one-time basis, that administrative procedures be streamlined to facilitate pickup of paint, that graffiti removal kits be made available and that free removal services be made available on a limited basis to owners of heritage buildings with masonry surfaces. Additional opportunities will be provided for youth and community involvement. The recommended option will require additional funding for the 2003 Operating Budget and establishment of the 2004 Operating Budget level.

BACKGROUND

Graffiti vandalism is a serious issue in the City of Vancouver and its neighbouring municipalities. The occurrence of graffiti has increased tremendously in the last decade and continues to grow. Graffiti is a behaviour which has victims. Owners of properties which have been targeted with graffiti have to pay to remove the graffiti. They become discouraged and frustrated by the repeated cycle of tagging and removal. Over time, the repeated application and removal of graffiti may damage buildings and reduce the ability to attract tenants.

Graffiti also affects neighbourhoods; it creates visual blight, negatively impacts the value of community space and community property and reduces public enjoyment of the City's beautiful public places. Furthermore, graffiti has a direct negative impact on large parts of the economy, including tourism, retailing and small businesses. Graffiti is often viewed as an intimidating territorial mark of ownership and the elimination of graffiti in the City will return public space to the citizens.

If the problem of graffiti is not properly addressed, the perception is that the behaviour is condoned. "Broken Windows" is a theory developed by James Wilson and George Kelling. They suggest that crime is the inevitable result of disorder. For example, if a window is broken and is left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge. In the meantime, more windows will be broken and the sense of anarchy will spread from the building to the street on which it faces, signalling that anything goes. They also suggest minor problems such as graffiti will lead to more serious crimes.

In response to dealing with the graffiti problem, on April 25, 2002, Council adopted the goal of substantially eradicating graffiti in Vancouver. To achieve this goal, additional resources were provided on a one-year basis including temporary staff resources, expanded graffiti removal , educational materials, publicity and paint at a total cost of approximately $1.4 million including Police Department resources.

The following section details what was done to implement the strategy and reviews our experience over the past year.

DISCUSSION

In implementing the Graffiti Management Program approved by Council last year, staff efforts have focussed on the following three areas:
1. Graffiti Removal on Public Property

In the past two years, the City of Vancouver has demonstrated leadership in addressing the graffiti problem by increasing its efforts to remove graffiti from City property. Two contracts (one for Parks and one for other City property) were awarded in 2002 and have been very successful in reducing the amount of graffiti on City buildings, bridges, seawalls, parks, street light poles, retaining walls, and signs. The contractor performing the work carries out weekly patrols of City property, and is required to remove graffiti within three (3) day's notice from the City. Staff will be reporting separately on the business case for this contract or having this work undertaken by city staff.

In April, 2002, an increase in funding was provided to allow the Park Board to expand its graffiti removal cleaning to deal with the most heavily targeted areas under their responsibility. This included parks and buildings, which in area, represent almost half of the city's park land inventory. However, graffiti removal in those areas not covered by the contract has not been dealt with as effectively.

In consultation with the Special Advisory Committee on Cultural Communities, staff developed guidelines for dealing with hate and offensive graffiti requiring its removal within 24 hours.

Details of the programs to eliminate graffiti on utility company equipment, garbage containers and street amenities are included in Appendix A.

2. Graffiti Removal on Private Property

The Graffiti Bylaw now permits the Property Use inspections Branch to order property owners to remove graffiti within 10 days notification from the City. On failure to remove graffiti, the City has the authority to enter onto private property to remove the graffiti and bill property owners for removal costs. However, the approach taken by License and Inspections staff has been to gain compliance. Initially, the Property Use Inspectors meet with business owners, provide copies of the Graffiti Management Program literature and explain details of the free paint program. If required, this is followed by furtherdiscussion and the issuing of a form letter to the building owner asking for co-operation in removing the Graffiti. Finally, an order is sent to the property owner requiring removal of the graffiti and a contractor is hired to remove the graffiti if necessary.

Between Sept 2002 and May 2003 , 1530 buildings were inspected (6000 inspections in total). Of those buildings 1128 have complied and removed the graffiti [931 ( 82%) removed the graffiti either through verbal order or upon issuance of a form letter , 181(16%) received orders before complying and only 16 sites (1.5%) required contractor clean-up]. There are 402 buildings which remain under active enforcement. This indicates that property owners have been very cooperative in dealing with the graffiti problem, noting that in many cases, the graffiti had to be removed several times. However, it can take several removals (3-7 is common) before the problem disappears which can be onerous for property owners especially if heritage surfaces such as brick, or high building walls are tagged repeatedly. Building owners have expressed an interest in receiving additional assistance from the City in removing graffiti and in apprehending perpetrators of graffiti.

As noted earlier in the report the "Broken Window's" theory exists in certain parts of the City. In an effort to target graffiti removal in a more collective method, initially, one area of high graffiti was chosen to see if neighborhood efforts could be co-ordinated to remedy the common problem. (Tech Park area, 1000 Dunlevy Avenue). Because of its success, two additional areas were chosen, Terminal Avenue and Chinatown. (See Appendix A for details)

Part of the strategy has been to encourage property owners to organize themselves through community paint-outs, murals or to enter into graffiti maintenance programs with private contractors. This method seems to be successful as demonstrated by the neighbourhoods which have adopted this approach. Efforts to date have focussed on building fronts. The next phase of the program will be to require removal of graffiti in the lanes.

3. Prevention/Education

This section presents a summary of the City's experience with the program. More detail on this experience is presented in Appendix A.

With respect to education and prevention, staff have initiated a number of outreach activities, an education program in the school system, and an expansion of the mural program. During the past 9 months, staff have assisted in bringing artists and property owners together to complete 21 murals throughout the City. A Graffiti Task force has been established to share information and provide a more coordinated response to the graffiti problem.

An enforcement program was also initiated to require garbage container companies to remove graffiti from their containers in lanes. This program began in April, 2003 due to delays in signing new agreements with the container companies. Experience with this program is limited, but 4 of the 13 container companies have already contracted with graffiti removal companies to clean their containers and have expressed a willingness to cooperate. Staff are following up with all the garbage container companies, utility companies, and other owners of street furniture amenities to ensure that their removal efforts are consistent with the City's.

The Police Department assigned two staff to their Anti-Graffiti Unit in 2002. Accomplishments of the unit include; educating police officers, citizens and community groups about graffiti, increasing the number of charges, forming working partnerships with various agencies, developing a suspect database, liaising with Crown Counsel, installing surveillance equipment, and exploring new restorative justice measures. The Police Department strategy is discussed in more detail in the accompanying report.

PROGRAM EVALUATION

Overall, the Graffiti Management Program and strategy has achieved a significant reduction of graffiti in the City over the past 9 months. Good progress has been made toward achieving the goal of substantial eradication as evidenced by the 47% reduction of graffiti from the fronts of buildings in commercial areas of the City. Property owners have largely done their part to deal with the problem and volunteer efforts have expanded.

On City property, most public facilities are being well looked after. The exception to this is graffiti removal from those park facilities that were not included in the contract for graffiti removal. The Park Board had hoped that removal could be dealt with by their own staff at these facilities. Experience has shown that it has not been possible for staff to maintain the same standard of graffiti removal as for other City facilities covered by the removal contract in addition to carrying out their other maintenance functions.

Appendix B details the results of the graffiti monitoring program and reductions in graffiti levels in each of the main commercial areas of the City. The worst hit areas of the City include the core areas of Chinatown, Gastown, Hastings North and the Downtown Eastside. While property owners have been cooperative, they have expressed concerns about the high costs of removal.

Through the various publicity and education programs developed, information about graffiti and its effects have helped to make the public more aware of the issue.

Efforts to date have focussed on the more visible areas of graffiti such as the front of buildings. Graffiti is still prevalent on building walls in commercial lanes, on garbage containers and on some utility company equipment. The program to deal with graffiti removal from garbage containers was started in April, 2003, and so this program will be evaluated more fully next Spring. Property owners and commercial businesses have been hit financially with removal costs and have asked the City for additional assistance and Police enforcement. Currently no assistance is available for property owners with heritage buildings with masonry surfaces where removal must be accomplished with pressure washing, sandblasting, or other means.

Involvement of youth has been an important part of the anti-graffiti strategy. Besides the school education component, staff have organized mural contests for youth, a graffiti art contest with the Fringe Festival and have worked with local youth councils to develop and implement community paintouts and cleanups. The program has worked closely with PICS, an agency for employment training program for youths. PICS has painted a number of murals throughout the City with paint and supplies provided through the City's program.

PUBLIC COMMENTS/RESEARCH

1. Business Improvement Associations (BIAs)

Most of the BIAs contacted note that the graffiti management program has been successful in reducing graffiti levels in their area but that tagging can be sporadic and can increase during warmer weather. They note that removal costs can be high. They would like to see the City facilitate easier access to free paint kits by business owners and some would like to see more police enforcement and stiffer fines for taggers.

2. Experience of other cities

To further improve the Graffiti Management Program, staff made site visits to Portland, San Jose, and San Francisco to learn about their anti-graffiti initiatives. Staff met with local program co-ordinators and police departments to gain knowledge. A summary of the elements of their programs is provided in Appendix C. These programs differ from the City's in their emphasis on removal of graffiti on private property through municipal budgets and less emphasis on education, and murals. San Jose has the most effective program based on observations of graffiti levels, but is also the most costly. The San Jose experience highlights the need for a comprehensive strategy that includes volunteer recruitment, public awareness, and education programs.

RECOMMENDED PROGRAM CHANGES

Given the success of the program to date, and the need for a sustained effort to eradicate graffiti, this report recommends that the Graffiti Management Program be continued. The current strategy has been effective, but some additional assistance for property and business owners would help these owners deal with the problem and increase the success of the program.

In order to provide the additional assistance, it is proposed that free paint be made available to property and business owners twice per year instead of on a one-time basis and that procedures be streamlined to make it easier to obtain City approval and pick up paint through retail paint outlets. Graffiti removal kits including a remover in a spray bottle would also be made available for situations that can be removed without the use of paint.

To help owners of heritage buildings with masonry surfaces, it is proposed that a $50,000 budget be established to remove graffiti from these buildings at the City's cost once per year to a maximum of $500 per year. All buildings on the Vancouver Heritage Register and municipally designated as protected heritage property under the Vancouver Charter would be eligible for this assistance.

The Park Board will undertake a detailed evaluation of how graffiti removal in park facilities is done. This evaluation will be concurrent with the General Manager of Engineering Services' review of the current practice of contracting graffiti removal from City facilities and will be reported back to the Park Board and Council.

The program resources described in this report should continue for another year with a report back to Council in the summer of 2004 reviewing the program and recommending further modifications to resource levels and strategies if necessary.

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the program, it is important to continue to monitor the level of graffiti in the City and track other measures of program effectiveness. The goals detailed in Appendix D attempt to quantify what is meant by the substantial eradication of graffiti in the City. The goals set out objectives for maximum levels of graffiti in commercial/industrial areas, desired compliance rates for removal, ongoing removal programs covering commercial and industrial buildings, and community and youth involvement. It is acknowledged that there will always be some graffiti in the City, but if this can be contained to a level at which the graffiti is barely noticeable and is promptly removed when it is found, then the goal of substantial eradication will have been achieved.

Given these proposed goals, graffiti levels in 8 of the 16 Business Improvement Association areas of the City are already within these levels. Staff believe that these goals are realistic given the continuation of the program and based on the results achieved to date with the existing program. A lower standard of graffiti tagging in lanes compared to street fronts is considered acceptable given that graffiti is not as visible in lanes. Container companies and other owners of other equipment and amenities will be expected to maintain a high level of compliance.

The following is a description of the elements of the proposed Graffiti Management Strategy, highlighting modifications to the program and how they differ from the program approved by Council in 2002.

1. Graffiti on Public Property

Continue:
· Removal of graffiti from City-owned facilities
· Inspection/compliance monitoring of the removal effort from all City property and privately-owned equipment on City streets
· Create opportunities for the involvement of community organizations in cleanup of City facilities

Change:
· Encourage utility companies to conduct regular cleanup programs or agree to participate in the City's removal contract
· Review the graffiti removal contract for Park Board facilities

2. Graffiti on Private Property

Continue
· Offer information and assistance to property and business owners on how they can respond to graffiti on their buildings
· Enforce the Graffiti Bylaw
· The free paint program through sponsorship arrangement with a paint supplier (with changes noted below)
· Monitoring of overall graffiti levels in the City
· Coordinating community paintouts

Change:
· Free paint program - increase the availability of free paint to property/business owners to twice/yr (currently provided on a one-time basis only) and make graffiti removal kits with spray remover available as an alternative
· Free paint program - streamline the accessibility to free paint and graffiti removal kits by making it easier for business owners to get free paint and by making free paint available through retail paint outlets
· Graffiti removal from heritage buildings - Provide free removal services to owners of heritage buildings with masonry surfaces once per year to a maximum of $500 per removal
· Expanded volunteer recruitment throughout the City
· Work more with non-profit and community groups to help them establish graffiti removal capabilities with training and support provided by the City
· More enforcement of graffiti removal on building walls in the lanes

3. Prevention/Education

Continue
· Mural Program
· Promotional & outreach activities
· Anti-Graffiti Task Force
· Education in schools through in-room class presentations, inclusion of graffiti education as part of the school curriculum, education through school liaison officers and other youth programs

Change
· Provide more opportunities for youth involvement in paintouts
· Increase opportunities for creative outlets for youth. This would involve youth in mural competitions and graffiti art competitions

GRAFFITI REMOVAL ON PUBLIC PROPERTY (CONTRACTING VS USE OF CITY FORCES)

The current contracts for removal of graffiti from City property expire in August, 2003. Representative of CUPE 1004 have requested that this work be carried out by City forces, and the General Manager of Engineering Services and General Manager, Park Board have agreed to review this. This review is currently underway, and will involve discussions with the union, but has not been completed at the time of the writing of this report. Therefore, it is recommended that the current contracts be continued on a month-to-month basis pending a report back from the General Manager of Engineering Services and General Manager, Park Board.

PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS

In April, 2002 Council approved one regular part-time position (funded from garbage container license fees and 6 temporary full time (one-year) positions in addition to the existing Graffiti Coordinator position (total of 1.5 regular + 6 temporary) as detailed in Appendix E.

The continuation of the program, regardless of the level of graffiti, will require a minimum level of staff resources. It is felt that the coordinator position plus one of the new staff resources are the minimum ongoing level required to continue the program activities (outreach, education, mural program, free paint, community paintouts, contract administration and monitoring activities). Therefore, it is recommended that one of the six temporary staff resources be converted to regular full-time. The ongoing requirement for the additional Engineering and Inspections and support staff is still not clear as the program has not been in effect for one full year and the lane program is just underway.

There is still a concerted effort required to educate property owners and the public about graffiti and the need to deal with it. Therefore, this report recommends continuing the other temporary staff resources for at least one more year. The status of these positions will be reported back to Council in another year. Over time, it is expected that more property owners, utility companies, and other companies with amenities on the street will establish ongoing programs to clean graffiti from their facilities. When that happens, the program will become more self-sustaining and the ongoing resource needs for the program may decline.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Based on the proposed program changes outlined in the recommended strategy above, the annual budget for this revised program is $ 1,105,400 This is slightly lower than the funding level approved by Council in April, 2002 based on the lower costs of the graffiti removal contracts entered into by the City offset by an increase in assistance provided to property owners.

Given the current 2003 budget provides for only a partial year's funding of the expanded program, continuation of the Graffiti Management program to December 31, 2003 requires an additional $259,200 ($225,900 to the 2003 Engineering Operating Budget and $33,300 to Park Board 2003 Operating Budget). It is recommended that the increase be funded from Contingency Reserve.

In order to provide for the ongoing program at a cost of $1,105,400, funding will need to be added to the 2004 Operating Budget. As funding of $502,900 is available within existing departmental budgets for Graffiti Management, the incremental increase required in the 2004 Operating budget is $602,500 ($527,500 to the Engineering Operating Budget and $75,000 to the Park Board budget), without offset.

The main changes in the proposed budget from the budget approved by Council in April, 2002 are:

· Lower contract costs based on actual costs
· Addition of graffiti removal kits
· Free paint being made available twice/year instead of on a one-time only basis offset by a lower usage rate than expected based on experience
· Assistance with graffiti removal services to owners of heritage buildings with masonry surfaces once per year
· An increase in the mural program based on property owner interest
· An increase in the community paintout program to support increased volunteer and community involvement

CONCLUSION

Based on the impacts of graffiti on business owners, the public and the City's economy, this report recommends the continuation of the Graffiti Management Program. Based on experience with the program and success to date, the current strategy is working, but needs to be fine-tuned to improve the result. This includes providing additional assistance to property owners, dealing with graffiti in lanes, and providing more opportunity for youth and community involvement in the effort. It is expected that these adjustments to the program should largely achieve the goal of substantial eradication of graffiti in the City. The results of the modified program will be reported back to Council in one year.

- - - - -

 

APPENDIX A

CITY OF VANCOUVER GRAFFITI REMOVAL EXPERIENCE
SEPTEMBER, 2002 TO JUNE, 2003

1. Graffiti Removal from other Structures on Public Property

The following provides details of the programs to deal with graffiti on other structures and services on City property:

Utility company equipment - Staff have had discussions with the BNR, BCHydro and Telus about implementing ongoing cleaning programs to remove graffiti from their equipment boxes located throughout the City. Given the City's cleanup efforts, the graffiti on these boxes is starting to stand out more and is becoming more of an issue. Staff are having discussions with the BNR and BCHydro about their facilities being covered by the City's contractor. Telus already has an in-house cleaning program to remove graffiti from its facilities.

Garbage Container companies - As part of the strategy approved by Council in April, 2002, a half-time inspection position was approved to monitor and enforce the removal of graffiti from garbage containers on City property. This was funded through a $14 increase in the annual garbage container lane permit fees. Because of the delay in having container companies sign new agreements, this position was not filled until April, 2003. The new agreements require container companies to remove graffiti within 10 days of notification. To date, container companies have been informed of the City's policy and enforcement of the removal requirement began in June, 2003. As of the writing of this report, 4 of the 13 container companies have established programs to remove graffiti from their containers including the hiring of local graffiti removal contractors to provide this service.

Street amenities - Companies that own and maintain street amenities such as bus shelters, newsboxes, and telephone booths are required to remove graffiti from these amenities. In the new street furniture contract with Viacom/Decaux, this company will take over maintenance and graffiti removal from most street furniture amenities including bus shelters, benches, bike racks, and multiple publication newsracks. A high level of maintenance and graffiti removal is required under this contract.

2. Graffiti Removal from Private Property

In an effort to target graffiti removal on a more comprehensive basis, areas of high graffiti was chosen to see if neighbourhood efforts could be co-ordinated to remedy the common problem. The areas targeted to date include:

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Tech Park (1000 Dunlevy)
The Tech Park area includes the 900-1000 blocks of Main Street, the 1000 Blk of Station Street and the vacant Tech Park site located at 1000 Dunlevy Avenue.
In November 2002, the area was surveyed and 13 properties were observed to contain unsightly graffiti. Property owners and managers were contacted and advised of the City's direction on eradication and removal of graffiti. The result was by the end of January 2003, a substantial amount of graffiti had been removed. In addition, the Property Manager for the Tech Park site (1000 Dunlevy Street) made a major commitment to remove and replace a graffiti-covered wooden fence with a chain link fence at a cost of approximately $30,000. The site was cleared of all overgrowth and debris, and the squatters who were living there moved on. Also, Engineering Services provided concrete curbs along Station Street to prevent vehicles from damaging the new chain link fence. This was done based on the cooperative efforts of the property owners/managers and to offer help and resources where possible.

Terminal Area (200-800 Terminal Ave & 600-700 Evans Ave.)
The second area chosen was along Terminal Ave. In mid-December 2002, thirteen(13) properties were identified which contained unsightly graffiti, and property owners were contacted and advised of the City's Graffiti Management Program. In addition, they were encouraged to provide weekly maintenance after the initial removal and were offered City assistance in seeking discounted rates with graffiti removal contractors due to the large volume of work required in this area. After obtaining multiple discounted estimates these were faxes to all interested parties in the area. Property owners and managers were to contact the graffiti removal professional for further information and/or negotiations. Although not all interested parties signed up for the discounted monthly contracts, the discussions and awareness have encouraged the property owners and managers to develop a maintenance strategy for timely removal of graffiti and of the City's expectations in this regard. By February, a substantial reduction of graffiti was noted in this neighbourhood. The Police officers of the Graffiti Management Team were then contacted to ask the patrol units to be aware of the cleanup efforts and to look for possible violators.

Chinatown Area - In progress
The most recent area is the Chinatown area, chosen because of its heritage significance and of the amount of highly visible graffiti on numerous buildings. In early April, contact was made with the manager of the Vancouver Chinatown BIA and a meeting was then held with representatives of the BIA, Chinese Community Police Policing Center (CPPC) and the Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Association. The program was discussed and

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presented to the attendees. It was agreed that the BIA and CCPC would advise the Chinatown merchants of the Graffiti Management Program before enforcement action was undertaken. Program information and advisement letters were translated into Chinese to ease any language barriers. In addition program information was advertised in the local Chinese newspaper to inform the community. In the meantime a Community paint out was organized by the CPPC for May 24th of this year. The BIA was also encouraged to obtain the services of a graffiti removal professional for a maintenance contract. At the end of April 2003, inspections were carried out in the area and information letters were sent to approximately 120 properties, to encourage voluntary removal of all graffiti on their buildings. Follow-up inspections and clean up is in progress.

Free Paint Program - The free paint program was implemented to assist property owners in eradicating graffiti from their buildings. Through a sponsorship contract with ICI paints, the City is getting a discount on paint costs. Paint is available to all property owners at no charge on a one-time basis. To date, the City has assisted approximately 300 property owners. The program has not been used to the extent anticipated. Staff have heard from property and business owners that the requirement to come to City Hall and obtaining property owner authorization are somewhat onerous. Staff have begun to offer graffiti removal spray to assist property owners with removal where painting is not desirable or effective.

Community Paint-Outs - The goal of Community Paint-Outs is to instill pride and a sense of ownership. Program staff work with community organizations and volunteers to paint out graffiti. Since September 2002, the Graffiti Management Program has held more than twenty Community Paint-Outs.

Community paint-outs have proven to be an effective alternative for property owners who have graffiti on their buildings. The paint-outs assist property owners who have been targeted by graffiti writers on an ongoing basis. They have also been an avenue to recruit volunteers to "take back" their neighbourhoods and restore community pride. Eight BIAs are currently funding their graffiti removal programs through their BIA budget and four are doing regular removals through volunteer paintouts.

Charter Revision - In March, 2003, the City was successful in obtaining a Charter revision that permits BIAs to include the costs of private property graffiti removal in their budgets. This provides an additional funding option for BIAs.

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Volunteer Recruitment - The Graffiti Management Program has actively recruited community groups, business groups, and members of the public to eradicate graffiti. In the 900 to 1000 block of Main Street, the Graffiti Management Program provides paint and supplies to volunteers on a regular basis to combat graffiti. Also, the program works closely with community groups and community policing offices to conduct paintouts on a regular basis. Currently, the Graffiti Management Program is recruiting volunteers to eradicate graffiti within their community. Volunteers are provided graffiti removal kits and a gift as a token of our appreciation. Staff recruited over 100 volunteers in the past month to assist in the effort of combatting graffiti in their neighbourhoods.

Monitoring Program - The problem of graffiti on private property is best measured by counting the number of buildings which have graffiti on them. Staff have been conducting regular surveys of commercial areas of the City. The number of buildings tagged and the percentage of buildings tagged in each area are tracked. Monitoring of graffiti on containers has also begun recently, and the level of graffiti in lanes will also be tracked following the Council's consideration of the recommendations in this report.

3. Prevention/Education

The following represents a summary of those programs related to prevention and outreach into the community:

Outreach - The Graffiti Management Program engaged in an aggressive outreach program to raise awareness regarding graffiti on public and private property. Staff attended meetings with business improvement associations, business associations, community groups, open houses and special events. The Graffiti Management Program also advertised in local papers, magazines, ethnic media, and developed and distributed program pamphlets. In August 2002, staff were interviewed by various television and radio outlets regarding the program.

The Graffiti Management Program website has been instrumental in relaying information about the program. The website offers the ability to report graffiti online or comments for staff. In addition, the public can also call the graffiti hotline to report graffiti.

Mural Program - The goal of the Mural Program is to deter further graffiti at a location where tagging has been a problem. Murals that are painted rarely get tagged thus solving

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the graffiti problem at that location. The Graffiti Management Program has completed 21 murals in locations that had been targeted by graffiti writers in the past and has involved more than 30 artists. There has been only one instance in which a City sponsored mural has been the target of graffiti. Currently, the Graffiti Management Program has another 27 property owners that are interested in getting a mural on their buildings. By continuing to paint murals at high incident graffiti locations, tagging will become less of an issue for these property owners.

Staff have had some limited experience with the use of free walls, which are walls made available for the unregulated application of tags by graffiti taggers. In the Hastings Tunnel, which was set up as a skateboard park managed and used by youth, graffiti in the tunnel has been permitted on a trial basis. Despite communication with the organizers of this facility, graffiti has spread outside the tunnel into adjacent residential areas resulting in complaints from neighbours. In some skateboard parks, Park Board staff have allowed graffiti to be applied to skateboard bowls. On a number of occasions, graffiti has spread to walls of nearby residential neighbours.

Education in Schools - Materials for school classrooms were developed in September and October 2002, targeting grades 6 and 7 at the elementary level and grades 8 through 10 at the secondary level. The key questions raised and discussed with students were;

-identifying graffiti, what is it?
-what is the difference between art and graffiti?
-how does graffiti affect you, your school and your neighbourhood?
-who has to pay to have graffiti removed?
-what happens if you are caught doing graffiti?
-what should you do if you see someone doing graffiti or you see graffiti that should be removed?
-alternatives to graffiti

From November 2002 to June 2003 presentations were made to more than one hundred classes in thirty elementary schools and more then 20 classes in ten secondary schools. Feed back from teachers has been positive and students indicated that they are now more aware of what graffiti is and the impacts it has on them and their community. Staff from

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the City's Civic Youth Strategy program were involved in developing and delivering classes.
In addition, the "Clean up your Act" school play sponsored by the Keep Vancouver Spectacular Program, which has an anti-graffiti education component, played in 66 schools to several thousand elementary school children in the Spring of 2003.
Anti-Graffiti Task Force - the anti-graffiti task force was established in March, 2003 and has met 5 times. The purpose of this Task Force is to bring together the various groups, agencies and departments with a role in dealing with the problem to coordinate their efforts, and to provide advice and feedback on anti-graffiti strategies to the Graffiti Management Program. The membership of the task force includes staff from various City departments, the Vancouver Police Department, Business Improvement Associations, BCHydro, the Vancouver School Board, Translink and the City's street furniture contractor, Viacom/Decaux. The Task Force has shared ideas about the graffiti problem and discussed the graffiti management strategy. The Task Force has reviewed this report and provided input into the strategy.

LINK TO APPENDIX B

APPENDIX C

GRAFFITI MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS OF OTHER CITIES

City

Program Cost

Private Property Enforcement

Free Paint

City Removal from private property

Mural Program

Anti-graffiti Task Force

Volunteer recruitment program

School Education Program

Portland

$600,000

Yes

No

-Yes - on a complaint basis,
-Core industrial area is a zero tolerance area (cleaned frequently by the City)

No

Yes

Some

No

San Jose

$3,000,000

Yes

Twice/yr

2 times a year

Considering

Yes

Yes

Limited

San Francisco

$1,500,000

Considering

No

Yes - respond to complaints plus regular patrols

No

Yes

No

No

APPENDIX D

PROPOSED GRAFFITI MANAGEMENT PROGRAM GOALS

1. Graffiti Levels on Private Property

    a. Building Fronts

No more than 4% of buildings tagged in any commercial business area of the City

    b. Building Backs

No more than 10% of buildings tagged in any commercial business area of the City

2. Compliance with Removal Requests

    a. Public property (City contractor)

95% compliance rate (within 3 days of removal order)

    b. Utility company equipment and private street furniture and amenities

95% compliance rate (within 3 days of removal order)

    c. Private property and garbage containers

95% compliance rate (within 10 days of removal order)

    d. Hate/racist graffiti

100% compliance rate (within 24 hours of removal order)

3. Removal effort

    a. Commercial/industrial properties

Increase the number of commercial and industrial buildings in the City covered by removal contracts or by ongoing organized cleanup efforts

4. Community Involvement

    a. Youth

Provide more alternate creative outlets for youth

    b. Community organizations

Provide more opportunities for community organizations to participate in graffiti removal through paintouts and volunteer programs

APPENDIX E

EXISTING AND PROPOSED STAFFING RESOURCES

 

Status

Duties

Cost

Recommended Change

Graffiti Coordinator

Regular Full-Time

Overall coordination/supervision

$55,100

No change

Engineering Asst. II (½ time)

Regular Part-time

Inspection of graffiti on containers

$18,400

No change

Engineering Asst. III

Temp. Full-Time (1 yr.)

Organize paintouts, mural program, education

$48,800

Convert to regular full-time

Engineering Tech.

Temp. Full-Time (1 yr.)

Monitor contractor compliance, monitoring program

$54,600

Extend for one more year

Clerk III (Engineering)

Temp. Full-Time (1 yr.)

Free Paint program, Graffiti hotline, office clerical

$45,000

Extend for one more year

Property Use Inspector (Community Services Group)

Temp. Full-Time (1 yr.)

Private property education, assistance & enforcement

$55,100

Extend for one more year

Clerk III (Community Services Group)

Temp. Full-Time (1 yr.)

Senior Clerk to assist with property owner education and information

$45,000

Extend for one more year

Clerk-Typist II (Community Services Group)

Temp. Full-Time (1 yr.)

Clerical support to Property Use Inspector

$39,800

Extend for one more year

APPENDIX F

PROPOSED GRAFFITI MANAGEMENT PROGRAM BUDGET

 

2002/2003 Expanded Program Funding*

Proposed Annual Funding

A. Removal From Public Property

Contract - City

$399,900

$250,000

Contract - Parks

$100,000

$100,000

Park Board Maintenance**

$125,000

$125,000

B. Removal from Private Property

Free Paint/Removal kits

$100,000

$80,000

Free removal from masonry on heritage buildings

$0

$50,000

Enforcement Staff

$129,100

$139,900

Paint Outs

$31,000

$50,000

D. Garbage Container Enforcement

Staff

$18,400

$18,400

Recovery from garbage container permits

($18,400)

($18,400)

C. Prevention/Education

Mural Program

$20,000

$40,000

Education Materials

$14,000

$15,000

Outreach/Promotion

$40,000

$40,000

D. Administrative Costs

Staff

$226,100

$203,500

Startup costs

$18,000

$0

Vehicle

$0

$12,000

Total Costs

$1,203,100

$1,105,400

* This column represents the equivalent of one year's funding which was allocated over the 2002 and 2003 budget years

** Part of historical Park Board building maintenance budget

cs20030724WEB.htm

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