Englewood considering resources to help property owners remove graffiti

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. As part of a broader plan to address safety concerns in Englewood, the city is looking into ways to help property owners deal with unexpected and unwanted graffiti.

"We've been a long time business in the South Broadway corridor," said Annie Huston, owner of Birdsall & Co.

Huston told Denver7's South Metro Reporter Danielle Kreutter she wouldn't want her garden boutique to be anywhere else.

"Having a business in Englewood is wonderful," she said.

However, the store's location off of busy Broadway has come with its fair share of challenges over the last decade.

"We've had anything from graffiti, from health safety issues with needles that we find in the alley. We've had two arsons. We've had theft," said Huston.

She estimates it can cost her business up to $10,000 a year to fix or replace damage to the property.

Reminders of the arson and painted over graffiti can still be seen around the business.

"Graffiti is about twice a year," she said, "It becomes expensive. It's time consuming. We have to have paint all the time," said Huston.

Last week, just on the other side of Broadway, a neighborhood got hit with graffiti. Several homes were impacted and notices were taped to doors by Code Enforcement saying that the property owner must remove the graffiti in a certain amount of time or the city could abate it at the owner expense.

"In all cases where the City shall incur any expense for abating or removing any nuisance found upon any property, lot or premises, all expenses of such abatement plus an administration cost of twenty-five percents (25%) may be charged against the real property and its owner," the notices read.

The municipal code generally requires abatement of graffiti within three days of receiving that notice, but officers can consider additional time at their discretion.

In the recent neighborhood case, property owners were given 14 days to remove the graffiti.

The topic of the city's current policy recently came up during a September council meeting.

"I don't believe that the city should establish policies that punish the victim of a crime and that's what we have right now," said Councilmember Steve Ward at the time.

Denver7's South Metro Reporter Danielle Kreutter checked back in with the City of Englewood. They said as part of the Safe and Clean Englewood Initiative, city leaders are taking another look at how they can help property owners deal with graffiti.

"The City is currently developing a voucher program, similar to its existing Illegal Dumping Reimbursement Program to help qualifying property owners offset graffiti removal costs. This would not alter liability or responsibility for property owners under municipal code concerning the removal of graffiti but is an attempt to mitigate the costs incurred by property owners who are impacted by graffiti." said a statement released by the City of Englewood.

The eventual goal is to create timely removal of graffiti across the city and encourage voluntary compliance with the current city code.

At this point, the city is working to identify available funding for this program before it is officially launched.

"Any help, financial help, that the city could provide would, of course, be extremely welcome," said Huston.

She said she finds the city's initiative very comprehensive and is hopeful to see more safety issues tackled as the plan moves forward.