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Ordinance committee urges Board of Health to extend graffiti‑removal notice; marks order 'complied with'
Summary
After hearing building owners and neighborhood councilors, the committee marked a graffiti‑ordinance review as 'complied with' and asked the Board of Health to adopt a 14‑day notice policy (instead of 7 days) for removing graffiti before fines escalate; members emphasized focusing enforcement on problem properties.
HOLYOKE — The Ordinance Committee on Tuesday addressed a petition from business owners asking that the city reconsider calling property owners immediately liable for graffiti removal.
Councilor Devine described a case in which a funeral home was hit by vandalism and carried the immediate cleanup cost. Several councilors and attendees said current practice can be unfair to business owners who are targeted by illegal tagging. Councilor Panitch, Councilor Telheimer and others argued the city should focus enforcement on problem or absentee properties rather than penalizing owners who respond promptly.
The committee read into the record a communication from Board of Health Director Tim Rivers recommending that the Board of Health retain enforcement responsibility (rather than transferring enforcement to police) and noting that internal practice sometimes already allows longer notice. Rivers suggested increasing notice from seven days to 14 days to allow mail delays and scheduling for cleanup; the committee agreed to ask the Board of Health to adopt that informal policy. The committee formally marked the order as "complied with" and requested a communication to the Board of Health conveying the committee's view.
What happens next: The committee asked the Board of Health to consider extending internal notice from seven to 14 days and to continue using progressive enforcement (starting with noncriminal disposition and escalating only for repeat noncompliance). The committee did not change the ordinance on the record; it requested administrative policy changes and targeted follow‑up on chronic problem properties.
Vote: Committee voted by roll call to mark the order 'complied with' and to communicate the recommended 14‑day notice practice to the Board of Health.
