Posted on 10/24/2011 6:28:35 PM PDT by Darren McCarty
An increase in the amount of graffiti in downtown Ann Arbor and other parts of the city has city officials responding to what they consider a growing nuisance.
In recent months, city officials say, there has been a clear increase in the amount of graffiti, which they argue detracts from the aesthetic appeal of the community, can decrease property values and has a negative impact on sense of safety and security.
This graffiti has been on a building on the 300 block of East Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor for several weeks and has not been removed yet. It's unknown whether anyone has filed a complaint about it.
"It was noticed by council, it was noticed by the mayor, it was noticed by our police department, and we're responding and trying to take care of it early on so it doesn't spread," City Administrator Steve Powers told AnnArbor.com in an interview today. "This is certainly an item of emphasis for our community standards right now."
Beginning Nov. 1, city officials said the city's community standards officers are going to dedicate increased staff time to graffiti enforcement, meaning property owners may receive notices ordering graffiti removal.
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Under the ordinance, property owners are required to remove graffiti within seven calendar days after notice from the city. If the owner does not remove the graffiti, then the city may remove the graffiti and bill the property owner for the work.
(Excerpt) Read more at annarbor.com ...
A group of punks spread their "art" on the walls of my business. Instead of going after the punks who do this, they go after business owners and make them pay for the removal?
That's BS. That's the City of Ann Arbor for you.
Wait.. there is still business in MI???
What are you waiting for? Escape man!
Moscow on the Huron.
No kidding....my sentiments exactly. It's the fault of the business?? You're going to fine the business??? It's NOT graffiti...it's VANDALISM.
I hate taggers. I hate them with a passion. I’d like to see them get the Singapore treatment.
This ain’t California, we’re actually trying to fix things here. We’ve come amazingly far in less than a year.
I've just about had enough of this entire county. If this creeps into Northfield Township, I'm going to leave the county and move to Brighton.
“I’d like to see them get the Singapore treatment.”
Thank you. That is much more kind than getting shot on sight, which should happen more often than it does.
I’m just outside of Washtenaw county and ended up here in because its so much cheaper to live in Jackson county and work for the better pay in Washtenaw.
The City of Phoenix Graffiti Program:
PROPERTY OWNER: The city of Phoenix has a program designed to remove graffiti from various surfaces. By signing this petition, you will be granting permission to the City of Phoenix Paint Team to remove graffiti from your property. This service is FREE to you, but you must own the property or have legal authority to grant permission. This permission is valid until revoked in writing. (snip)
It'd be just a damned shame if the mayor and city officials homes got badly graffitied by chance.
It does not sound like this is a new ordinance, or even an unusual one. What may be new is police attention to it. While I wouldn’t advocate an exactly Singaporean approach to the issue, I’d say anyone caught tagging must be required to clean up ten or twenty times as much including the original tagging. If they run out of buildings to clean, then start cleaning train cars.
Ann Arbor is a great town. There’s no benefit in milking tagger bums for cash. They won’t offer any kind of payment short of what the taxpayer has already handed out.
Ann Arbor businesses, like any town that suffers from random paint vandalism, need a creative solution that 1.) renders tagging ineffective, 2.) shames the taggers publicly, 3.) meets with community standards in terms of punishment rendered.
In Ann Arbor’s case that means all buildings are pre-graffitied, and public stocks are installed so residents can tickle guilty feet.
. . . by a citizenry armed with paintball guns and deputized by local authorities. Make the paintball color "distinked."
If I’m not mistaken, Ann Arbor is a big college town. Better solution would be to pass an ordinance requiring the college and college professors to clean up all graffiti.
Yeah, Ann Arbor is Berkley east. Given the choice of vaporizing Ann Arbor or Detroit, I’d let Detroit live.
Detroit is an indifferent parasite but Ann Arbor is an angry, self righteous, and demanding parasite.
I think it would certainly cut down on crime as a whole, as taggers generally tend to be gang-bangers, or wannabe bangers. Drop a few mid-tag, charge the family for clean up, and the situation would go away on its own.
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