Culpeper council to talk graffiti ordinance

After tolerating gang markings on a utility building within eyesight of the Yowell Meadow Skate Park for months during the summer, the town of Culpeper could now take the hard line on gang graffiti.

Under a proposal coming before the Town Council Public Safety Committee today, the town could implement a new ordinance allowing it to remove offensive graffiti from any private property visible from any public-right-of-way -- and send the bill for removal to the property owner.

"The town of Culpeper, like many other communities, has been experiencing an increase of gang presence, activity and tagging," a town police report says. "To deal effectively with the increased tagging, we need to write and implement a town ordinance dealing with the prompt removal of gang graffiti."

Such an ordinance would require the property owner to remove gang markings within a specified time, possibly 10 to 15 days, or be held financially responsible if the town is forced to remove it.

In some localities -- Fairfax County, the city of Harrisonburg, the town of Herndon and Prince William County -- the cost of removing graffiti from private property is paid by the locality, according to a survey by Culpeper Police Sgt. Andrew Terrill. The cities of Alexandria and Manassas Park require the private-property owner to pay.

It costs the town of Culpeper about $65 per hour to remove graffiti -- the amount incurred by the public works department for one employee to perform the task, according the police report being considered by the committee.

If written into the ordinance, the town could recover this expense from noncompliant property owners.

The recommendation from the town staff is that the Public Safety Committee direct Police Chief Scott Barlow and Town Attorney Bob Bendall to create a gang-graffiti ordinance for the council's review.

The issue came up last month when resident Keith Price, an Army veteran, urged the Town Council to take action to remove four-month-old markings associated with Chicago-based Gangster Disciples from a small Columbia Gas building directly across from Yowell Meadow.

A Columbia Gas crew removed the graffiti days later. A company official said it now has policies in place to more swiftly deal with graffiti on its buildings.

"This graffiti was particularly troubling because it is identifiable with a major criminal gang, and I felt it very important that the town demonstrate a willingness to fight back," Price said.
Allison Brophy Champion is a staff writer at the Culpeper Star-Exponent.