Specifics to be discussed at future meeting

WARDEN - Warden City Council is looking to require the cleanup of graffiti on property without placing the burden solely on the property owner.

Council discussed a proposed ordinance, which would require graffiti to be removed within a certain time frame, during a Feb. 26 meeting.

Councilmember Tony Massa asked attorney Katherine Kenison if there is a way the city could punish the vandal, saying he felt the ordinance put undue stress on the property owner.

"In an ideal world we could be completely fair and make the responsible party pay for it … we don't have a system that guarantees that result," Kenison said.

Kenison said the ordinance places the burden on the property owner. A property owner would be required to clean any graffiti within a period of time. A penalty fee could be applied if they fail to meet the city imposed deadline.

The council discussed a clean-up period of 10 days, but did not mention any totals for penalty fees.

Councilmember Mike Leavitt suggested a penalty fine against anyone caught creating graffiti, as a deterrent.

"You can assess the penalties, be it restitution or criminal sanctions or civil judgments, but the reality is collecting those is incredibly difficult," Kenison said.

She said even if financial penalties are applied, there's no guarantee the vandal will be able to pay.

"The way it sits now, the victim gets more punishment than the perpetrator if they're caught, and I don't think that's the message as a council we want to send to victims of crime," Massa said.

Massa said he would prefer the ordinance if the penalty could be assessed to the perpetrator.

Kenison said the ordinance would need to be adjusted to achieve this.

She suggested since the ordinance already states it's unlawful to create graffiti, the ordinance could be changed to include separate penalties. One would be for a property owner failing to clean up graffiti and another would be applied to the perpetrator.

Council referred the ordinance to Kenison for further review. Council plans to further discuss the possible ordinance at a future council meeting, but no date was set.