County takes aim at gangs via graffiti
Law would require cleanup within 10 days
By KEVIN DUGGAN
KevinDuggan@coloradoan.com


Property outside of city limits that gets tagged with graffiti would have to come clean under a proposed ordinance being considered by Larimer County officials.

The ordinance is in response to increased street gang activity around the county, including the spray-painting of public and private property to mark territory, said Sheriff Jim Alderden.

Removing or covering gang symbols is an effective way to keep gang activity from escalating into intimidation and violence, he said. Graffiti is a form of communication for gangs.

Graffiti is not a widespread problem in the county, Alderden said, but it does pop up from time to time in some neighborhoods and easily accessible commercial properties. Taggers also hit road signs, bridges, trains and overpasses.

"We don't want things to get out of hand," Alderden said. "We don't have the problems that other counties have, and we're trying to keep it that way."

The county commissioners have scheduled a public hearing on the ordinance at 6:30 p.m. today at the county courthouse, 200 W. Oak St.

If adopted, the owner of a property marked with graffiti would have 10 business days to remove or cover it or the county would do the work and bill the owner. The bill could include administrative costs up to $200.

Law enforcement officers would notify property owners of graffiti problems, but the code compliance section of the county planning department would be responsible for administering the program.

The intent of the ordinance is to encourage property owners to take care of problems before the county has to step in, said Planning Director Larry Timm.

Graffiti has not been an issue at Jax Farm & Ranch, 1000 N. U.S. Highway 287, said owner Jim Quinlan. Most neighboring buildings also have been spared, but markings have appeared on fences along the highway.

Quinlan said most business owners are responsible enough to deal with graffiti problems on their own.

"If we had it and a deputy told us to clean it up, we would do it right away," he said. "I'm not sure we need a county regulation telling us we have to clean it up."

Ron Way, manager of Kintzley Plaza in LaPorte, said he's had one case of graffiti on the property in recent years. He painted it over as soon as possible.

"I have no time for that nonsense," he said.

Way said he has mixed feeling about the ordinance: The influence of gangs needs to be reduced, he said, but it shouldn't be the responsibility of the victims of tagging.

"If they really want to stop the gangs, they should crack down on the gangs," he said.

Alderden said the proposed ordinance is not all he had hoped it would be.

The 10-day window for cleanup is too long, he said, and an appeal process built into the ordinance could delay removing graffiti even longer.

"We were hoping for something more like 48 to 72 hours," he said. "The most effective way to deal with graffiti is to remove it as quickly as possible."