Parker Eshelman photo

Andrew Helmreich power-washes graffiti off an exterior wall of Downtown Appliance last July. City officials are considering requiring property owners to quickly remove graffiti as a way to discourage spray-painters.

As Flat Branch meanders through downtown Columbia, the creek travels past views of an artistic suspension bridge, scenic boulders and well-groomed parkland. But farther upstream, its journey is shrouded from the light as it flows through the Broadway underpass. This is where the graffiti lives.

It’s one of several graffiti hot spots that have the city discussing ways to send "taggers" the message that their spray painting will not be tolerated.

One of those messages includes a possible ordinance giving businesses and property owners a timeline to get graffiti cleaned from their property before facing a fine.

The best way to deter graffiti is to clean it up as soon as it happens, Columbia/Boone County Health Department Director Stephanie Browning said. "It’s the intolerance that deters it. You have to get it down as quick as possible to convey that it’s a wasted effort."

At the Columbia City Council’s June 2 meeting, Fifth Ward Councilwoman Laura Nauser requested an ordinance that sets a clean-up timeline. Sample ordinances from the Graffiti Hurts Web site give business owners 48 hours and homeowners 10 days. Nauser said the ordinance could be discussed at the "graffiti summit" Browning suggested as a way to increase public awareness of the issue.

Browning acknowledged that requiring property owners to clean up graffiti within a certain time period might like "double punishment."

"Their structure is vandalized with graffiti, and then they have to either pay or conduct the removal themselves," she said. "Some cities offer a service to either remove or paint over graffiti for private property owners." She added that her department has applied for a $2,000 grant that could help provide graffiti kits to property owners.

Charlie Graznak, manager of McAdams’ Ltd., which faces Providence Road and backs up to Flat Branch, knows all about graffiti trouble and said she would favor an ordinance.

It used to be worse before the city built Flat Branch Park, she said, but it’s still a nuisance that occurs several times a year - one made more noticeable by the spruced-up surroundings, she added. "One incident that really struck me was overhearing a boy in the park tell his mother, ‘I don’t like that building, Mommy, it’s scary; it looks like a prison,’" Graznak said. "It’s not that we don’t care, but it’s up to us to get a painter out here to clean it, which takes time. I’d actually be up for something that would encourage me to deal with it sooner."

Aside from addressing private property, the city is trying to remove graffiti more quickly from city property as well. In 2007, the downtown Special Business District began routinely meeting with Columbia police, Public Works and Parks and Recreation departments, along with the Office of Cultural Affairs, to address the problem. All of the departments work together to clean and deter graffiti in different ways; the Office of Cultural Affairs, for example, commissioned an artist to paint a traffic box on Broadway in September, and it has remained graffiti free ever since.

The Parks and Recreation Department has the most aggressive policy. "Parks has a zero-tolerance policy and tries to get it removed in one day," Browning said. "I think that’s a good city standard because if we’re going to ask the public to help remove graffiti, we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard."

A key to the city’s quick response is setting up a system for complaints that funnels them to one place in the city that can coordinate cleanup efforts, Browning said.

City Manager Bill Watkins said he recently placed Neighborhood Specialist Bill Cantin in charge of fielding complaints and initiating action to get graffiti removed, and the city continues to work on setting up an easy way to gather residents’ complaints.

Another option the city is considering is installing surveillance cameras in places that get tagged frequently to prevent and catch spray painters, who face possible penalties ranging from community service to a $1,000 fine and as long as a year in jail.

"I see it as a kind of pilot, and if the system works and we’re able to not only deter but also apprehend, we may move into Phase Two and do a lot more downtown," Watkins said.

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