County plans to bolster graffiti removal

Adrienne Packer

Monday, July 30, 2001 | 11 a.m.

Already credited with one of the country's most aggressive graffiti abatement programs, Clark County intends to strengthen its cleanup policy by using a law passed during the past Legislative session.

Clark County commissioners on Aug. 7 will consider an amended ordinance that gives their public response office more freedom in removing illicit artwork from private property.

Public Response Director Jim Foreman said the ordinance would end years of frustration stemming from a process that required the property owners' signature before graffiti was covered.

"The law is, we have to physically get them to say it's OK to remove the graffiti," Foreman said. "But a lot of residents see a government guy at their door, and they won't talk to us. We don't know if they're for or against the graffiti."

Assembly Bill 571 allows the county to remove the graffiti after giving property owners ample notice of its intended action.

Foreman said his office is inundated with complaints of graffiti on residential walls that face main thoroughfares. Under the old law the county could paint over some sections, yet leave others.

The graffiti bill was initially part of the county's proposed "flex" law, which would have given the county the authority to create ordinances to address public nuisances.

Predicting that law would fail because of political conflicts, Clark County Commission chairman Dario Herrera suggested the graffiti bill be proposed on its own.

Herrera said the county has yet to work out language in the ordinance that pertains to businesses. Business owners balked at the first draft, which required them to pay for equipment and labor related to graffiti removal.

"Business owners expressed a tremendous deal of concern for the potential abatement cost for graffiti," Herrera said. "They feel they shouldn't be penalized for something they have no control over."

Removing graffiti from businesses is significantly more expensive and time- consuming. The public response office already spends more than $300,000 annually on paint and equipment; there is no funding in the budget to take on commercial businesses.

Herrera said county staff members will meet to work out a solution before the business portion of the new ordinance is introduced.