PORTLAND — A new proposal for an anti-graffiti ordinance, with graduated fines and a longer grace period, is on its way to the City Council, which is expected to consider it in June.
City Councilor Ed Suslovic, chairman of the council’s Public Safety Committee, said Tuesday night that the committee will hold a final public hearing May 10 before sending its recommendation to the council.
Suslovic said he is likely to recommend that the ordinance not take effect until six months after it is adopted, to give property owners time to adjust to the system.
The ordinance, first considered by the committee last month, would require property owners who are “tagged” by graffiti vandals to remove the graffiti within 10 days after being notified by the city.
A provision added since the law’s introduction would give any property owner who has been “tagged” by a graffiti vandal 10 days to submit a cleanup plan to the city.
The property owner would be fined for failing to follow through on the cleanup plan. But Suslovic said the initial proposal, which called for a $250 fine and then $500 fines for subsequent violations, might be too harsh.
He said he will consider an escalating fine system, starting at $100 and increasing gradually for each subsequent offense.
“I don’t want the city to come across in this ordinance as being too punitive,” Suslovic said during Tuesday night’s meeting of the Public Safety Committee. “But we need to have a fine system because, unfortunately, there are property owners who won’t act unless they are compelled to do so.”
Tuesday’s meeting drew mostly supporters of the ordinance. Suslovic said he would like to hear from opponents before making a final recommendation.
He said there are people – some call themselves artists – who believe that graffiti should be permitted.
Gary Marcisso, who lives on Munjoy Hill, across from the former Adams School, said the vacant school has been targeted regularly by graffiti vandals.
“It’s drug-related, it’s crime-related and it creates a lot of negativity,” Marcisso said. “A lot of people in the neighborhood are saying, ‘How bad is this going to get?’“
But Brad McCurtain, a downtown business owner, questioned the appropriateness of fining a property owner for someone else’s vandalism.
“That’s what this is doing,” he said. “It’s going after the victim.”
Suslovic said the ordinance is aimed at making Portland a more inviting place to live and do business, and isn’t a gimmick to raise revenue for the city.
“I feel if we don’t act as a community, the graffiti problem is heading toward a crisis situation. It could negatively impact the business environment as well as our quality of life,” he said.
Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at: dhoey@pressherald.com
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