OLDS – Proposed changes to a town bylaw governing the removal of graffiti are expected to come back to council for approval.
Those changes came up for initial discussion during council’s June 7 policies and priorities meeting,
Senior peace officer Eric Christensen had suggested a change the town’s community standards bylaw that would require graffiti to be temporarily blocked from view within 72 hours after it’s discovered until it can be totally removed.
It was proposed that the graffiti could be blocked with materials such as black plastic or tarp.
Another insertion in the bylaw said “removal works best at 10 degrees Celsius or warmer.”
Last fall, several businesses, especially in the Uptowne area, were hit with graffiti on their buildings.
Bylaw provisions required that it be removed within a brief period. However, because that graffiti occurred during the colder months, some businesses people said they couldn’t remove it until spring time because paint wouldn’t adhere properly to their buildings until spring time when the weather is warmer.
This sparked a very lengthy discussion.
In general, councillors agreed with the need to get rid of graffiti as soon as possible but weren’t sure whether people should be required to remove it by a certain date or time or simply when the weather is conducive to doing so.
And some, like Coun. Wanda Blatz and Coun. Mitch Thomson, felt that placing black plastic or tarp over the offending area could make it look even worse than the graffiti itself.
Blatz also questioned whether tape could be successfully applied to a building to hold the plastic in place during cold weather.
"I don’t think we can expect our businesses to start you know, drilling holes into the side of a concrete building to cover some of the graffiti. So I think that in itself might present a challenge,” Blatz said.
She stressed that most business owners are responsible people. They take pride in their buildings and want them – and the community – to look good.
Mention was made that graffiti could occur on homes as well.
Chief administrative officer Michael Merritt suggested that an amendment could say something like if graffiti occurs between the months of November and April, it must be “corrected within 72 hours after May 1.”
Senior peace officer Sgt. Eric Christensen was OK with that, as long as a provision is inserted that if the graffiti is offensive, racist or discriminatory it has to be removed or blocked in some way within 72 hours.
