Anti graffiti ordinance could be area's toughest
By Naila Moreira

Times Snohomish County Bureau

DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES


With its quaint shops and tidy streets, Edmonds hardly seems a hotbed for graffiti. But in response to a rash of it the past year, Edmonds is considering putting in place one of the region's toughest graffiti laws.

Spray cans and broad-tipped markers found in the possession of a minor in any public space would become illegal. The sale of graffiti implements to minors would be prohibited.

And businesses and homeowners who don't clean up graffiti could face fines or see the city come onto their properties to clean off the scribblings.

"You've got to nip [graffiti] in the bud right away," said Edmonds City Council member Michael Plunkett, a member of the Public Safety Committee, which drafted the ordinance. "I want to arrest people. ... I don't want people to even think they can get away with this in Edmonds."

The ordinance, which will face an as-yet-unscheduled public hearing, resembles a law adopted by Marysville in February.

Marysville prohibits the possession of graffiti implements by minors and gives property owners up to four days to clean off graffiti before assessing fines.

The Edmonds law would give property owners up to 20 days.

Graffiti problems rose in severity all over south Snohomish County last year, officials say.

Edmonds experienced one of the worst years for graffiti in the past decade, said Edmonds police Sgt. Debbie Smith.

The markings appear on telephone poles, mailboxes, fences and walls. Many are simply scrawled initials or simple monikers specific to each graffiti writer, known as "tags." Some are more elaborate pieces of artwork.




"They're putting up their names, kind of like, 'Kilroy was here,' " said Cpl. Paul Miller of the Edmonds police. "Just about any flat surface is going to get it."

Most property owners paint over graffiti right away, particularly where it's noticeable, Miller said. But in alleys, back walls and secluded properties, the marks can linger.

On the back wall of Burlington Coat Factory on Highway 99, graffiti crawls across a blank space half the length of a soccer field. Miller points out one set of graffiti initials scrawled on top of another.

Rivalry of that sort could lead to violence, Miller said.

Some graffiti also indicates the presence of gangs. About 10 percent of graffiti tends to be gang-related, both nationwide and in Snohomish County, officials say.

"We haven't had any fights because of it, but I think that's coming," Miller said. "That's why we want the property owners to take care of this, so we don't have the kids fighting."

Miller said some of the graffiti on Burlington Coat Factory's back wall has been there for about six months.

Graffiti artists can face misdemeanor or felony charges for malicious mischief. But catching them in the act is extremely difficult, so cities are left scrambling for other means to discourage the visual vandalism.

Rapid cleanup is one of the best deterrents, said Sgt. T.J. Brooks of the Lynnwood Police Department, who has specialized in graffiti for the past 17 years.

"These taggers, their goal is to throw their name up on the street," said Brooks. "If it's gone, they don't get that recognition. They don't want to paint an area where it's not going to last."

Still, Brooks said he does not support fining property owners who leave graffiti on their property.

He said fines doubly victimize the owners, who suffer not only the original vandalism — often repeatedly as graffiti artists return — but the cost of cleaning it, topped by fines if they delay.

The financial burden of repeated cleanings can rise into the thousands of dollars, he said.

But using city resources to clean graffiti on private property could get prohibitively expensive, said Kate Reardon, spokeswoman for the city of Everett.

Everett already spends about $10,000 a year cleaning graffiti on public property. And if cleanup crews accidentally use the wrong shade of paint or don't have the right shade available, property owners can suffer, she said.

Besides Marysville, Everett and Mountlake Terrace currently have laws that allow them to levy fines if property owners fail to clean graffiti. However, neither city heavily enforces the law.

"We would much rather work with the property owner," Reardon said.

The city sends letters, makes phone calls and suggests products to property owners who need help.

Neither Everett nor Mountlake Terrace prohibits the possession of spray cans or other implements by minors, nor the sale of these implements to minors.

The draft version of the Edmonds ordinance puts "a range of options" on the table for consideration by the City Council, Plunkett said.

Public comment and council discussion will likely lead to changes before the ordinance is passed, he said.

The Edmonds draft ordinance defines graffiti implements as aerosol paint cans, broad-tipped markers, paint sticks or graffiti sticks, etching equipment, gum labels, brushes or any other device "capable of scarring or leaving a visible mark on any natural or manmade surface."

The current version also would require stores that sell graffiti implements to place signs nearby, detailing the penalties for graffiti.

Although many people who put up graffiti think they're not causing much damage, the marks can look ugly and make an area feel unsafe, officials said.

Miller, of the Edmonds police, said people who scrawl graffiti need to remember that the walls, fences and bridges they're marking aren't their property.

Standing under a bridge on the Interurban Trail in Edmonds, he showed where the city had repeatedly painted out graffiti, only to have the marks return.

"This is not their turf. This is our turf, the citizens' turf," he said. "For everybody, not just for them."

Naila Moreira: 425-745-7845 or nmoreira@seattletimes.com