A proposed bylaw that would force property owners to remove graffiti from their buildings within three days, isn’t expected to be before politicians until early 2010, over  a year after the issue was first proposed by a public advisory committee.

Phil Homerski, a city communications officer who sits on the Clean City Liaison Committee, said public works staff has been reviewing the CCLC’s January recommendations to establish a 72-hour removal period for property owners to eliminate graffiti from any buildings that have been tagged. Issues such as the cost to the homeowner, the feasibility of enforcing such a bylaw, the possibility of providing property owners with materials to remove the graffiti, and any potential legal implications, are still being studied by city staff, said Mr. Homerski. He also said as part of the discussion the idea to contract out the graffiti removal to a private business, as they have done in Calgary and Toronto, will be analyzed.

 He said the CCLC will discuss the issue possibly at its December meeting. Councillors may get a crack at the issue early next year, he said.

Property owners are now required to remove graffiti within 19 days. But if the graffiti has been identified as hate related by the police, the city removes the graffiti immediately.

The CCLC took the bold step to recommend the get-tough approach to Hamilton’s graffiti problem at its January meeting, after years of bureaucratic foot-dragging. Since the initiative, city officials, the Hamilton Police Service, community groups, such as Business Improvement Areas, and business people have recognized the importance of working together to eliminate graffiti vandalism and improve litter control.

The committee’s 72-hour removal idea has not sat well with some councillors, including Mountain councillor Tom Jackson, a member of the CLC, who believes it is too onerous for property owners. There is the thought that property owners become “double victims” under such a policy, first by the vandalism, then by the city that forces them to clean up the graffiti at a significant cost.

Public works staff is also trying to cobble together what the cost graffiti vandalism causes to the city. Each year, it costs the city about $2.3 million in litter abatement programs.

During a recent one-day workshop hosted by the city and the Clean City Liaison Committee, the consensus from all groups was that the stakeholders are taking the issue seriously.

“Bottom line, it’s vandalism to your businesses,” said Dan Rodrigues, chair of the CCLC. “It makes it look like businesses don’t care.”

But Mr. Rodrigues continued, saying just like a broken window needs to be repaired after a rock has been thrown through it, graffiti must be cleaned up too.

This summer the city, police and business organizations joined together to support a city campaign that labels graffiti as vandalism. Posters on bus shelters encouraged people if they see graffiti being done to call 911. Mr. Rodrigues said the campaign has become one of the most successful in recent memory.

Graffiti has become a high priority effort for the community, after the police’s Graffiti Prevention Strategy pilot program ended in 2008 after three years.

City officials have found that the best way to combat graffiti is a series of methods, including rapid response, communication among all the stakeholders, education, such as through public awareness and victim impact statements, and zero tolerance.

The city as well has revamped how it attacks graffiti, said Kelly Barnett of the city’s bylaw enforcement office. It has created a city working group to coordinate how each department responds to graffiti problems. 

“The perception is the city is not doing anything,” she said. “The city is working very, very hard. We are leading by example.”

Mr. Barnett encourages the public to call the city and report graffiti vandalism by calling 905-546-CITY(2489).

“We need to know about it,” she said. “We are not perfect. We do drop some balls.”

Mr. Rodrigues said even though the information presented at the workshop wasn’t new to the participants, just holding a workshop that included representatives from the city, business – Tim Hortons and Coke were represented - BIAs, and police was symbolically important to the campaign to eradicate Hamilton’s graffiti and litter problems.

“This is the first time something like this has happened,” he said. “This is a non-political event to get everybody on the same page.”