Toronto cracks down
on graffiti vandalism

By: Ashley McCubbin

Edited by: Branka Veselinovic

 

Helen Aspiotis owns a nail salon in the Toronto beaches, and on the west side of the building, there is a mural of a guy with glasses surrounded by some flowers, which was painted by Devin O’Brien. Aspiotis has had the piece up there for a couple of years, and it has deferred other graffiti artists and taggers from coming by and messing up wall with tags. She says since then, no taggers have come back and it is the best thing that could ever happen to her. However, under Toronto’s new Graffiti Management plan, she could be forced to remove this mural.

“If I don’t remove it, I am in trouble,” Aspiotis told the CBC Radio. “The city will come remove it and they charge me on my taxes.”

She was before the Graffiti Committee on Nov. 2nd, her appeal of the request was deferred to another date. She was one of nine appeals that were heard from. Three were amended, meaning they could stay, while the other six were deferred for later decision.

Aspiotis told the CBC that if she is forced to remove the wall art, then she will hold the city responsible for any future graffiti painted on the side of her building.

CBC Radio also featured Lance Cumberbatch, the director of investigation services for Toronto’s Municipal Licensing and Standards Department. He says that he appreciates Aspiotis’ comments and agrees with her.

“We recognize that having a mural on a wall is a deterrent to tagging and we encourage people to put up murals where it’s appropriate,” he said. “I would expect that something like this gets before the panel with a mural, it’s something they’d give credence to. It’s a crime that Helen is the victim. Unfortunately, it’s in the public space and by how the bylaw is written, it’s found as vandalism.”

The Toronto Graffiti Management Plan was developed by the city to deal with what’s vandalism. Mayor Rob Ford was quoted in 2011 by the National Post saying, “We want to ensure that we have clean streets for all the taxpayers of this great city.”

Cumberbatch told CBC that bylaw officers will issue a notice of violation when they see graffiti, including tagging that qualifies as vandalism.

“That’s what our officers use to determine when to issue a notice of violation and what the panel will use in determining a violation. And just for your listeners, a tag is any type of signature or logo that identifies a person or a group. That’s part of the vandalism definition, which talks about markings put on a property without the permission of an owner, which is considered to be tag, which there are also two other key elements, which if it has intended violence against a group, or something vulgar.”

If they Bylaw officers find that the owner gave permission or did the painting themselves, then it may remain. However, even if the graffiti fits these guidelines, it could still be removed if meant to incite violence or hatred towards an individual or a group, such as a specific race.

Nine appeals were brought to the graffiti board on Nov. 2nd. Aspiotis’ is appeal no. 2.8

Peter Kuitenbrouwer’s full article from the National Post.

The full Graffti Management Plan can be viewed at http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/community/graffiti/