Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Graffiti Control topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City Council adopts ordinance restricting sale of glass-etching cream to adults
Summary
The Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance modeled on its 1990 spray-paint rules that restricts sales of glass-etching cream to adults and limits access after testimony about permanent vandalism.
The Los Angeles City Council on Nov. 14 approved an ordinance intended to curb a new form of permanent graffiti by restricting retail access to glass-etching cream to adults.
Council members voted to adopt the ordinance after members of the public-safety committee and council members described the product as a form of graffiti whose damage can only be repaired by replacing the pane of glass. Councilmember Mysakowski said the measure follows the 1990 spray-paint ordinance and was drafted by the city attorney. “This is a new, foul form of graffiti,” Mysakowski said, adding the product “cannot” be repaired except by removing the glass.
The ordinance was recommended unanimously by the public-safety committee, and members spoke about pairing the regulation with outreach and protective coatings for businesses. Councilmember Garcetti urged city attention to commercial coatings used by studios and large businesses and suggested future programs to help small businesses obtain protective materials. Councilmember Hahn urged enforcement resources and a statewide push so the product could not simply be purchased across municipal lines.
Several members raised questions about whether the new measure exactly matched the earlier spray-can rules. Councilmember Holden said he favored strict protections, including lockup and signature safeguards used in the 1990 spray-can ordinance, but the city attorney confirmed the current draft does not require signatures at sale. Mysakowski asked that, alongside adoption, the council request the mayor's support for a statewide policy.
The council recorded the vote as 13 ayes; the ordinance was approved and will go into the city's enforcement process.
Council discussion and the public-safety committee review focused on three practical points: the permanency of etched glass, the value of business-level preventive coatings, and the need for enforcement resources to make the law effective.
Less urgent details: the draft ordinance was prepared by the city attorney and modeled on the 1990 spray-paint ordinance; the public-safety committee recommended adoption unanimously. Councilmembers said they would pursue state-level coordination after adopting the city ordinance.
