Fairfax County staff is seeking the authority to walk onto private property and remove graffiti when the owner refuses to do it.
The Board of Supervisors will consider a measure at its June 30 meeting that would allow the county to remove the vandalism, at public expense, from a building visible from public roads and land. It would need to provide the owner or occupant “reasonable notice” of at least 15 days before the action. If approved, the new authority would go into effect at the beginning of July, according to information provided by the county.
“We’re going to make every attempt in the world to work with the owner to get it down,” said Fairfax County Gang Prevention Coordinator Bob Bermingham. “We’re figuring out a way that in these very severe situations where you can’t get compliance from the owner or the business owner, that we have the authority to take it down.”
The issue is an outgrowth of the county’s campaign to attack blight and neighborhood decay. The creation of strike teams of law enforcement, building code, health and other staff that crack down on unsafe and overcrowded dwellings has turned out to be one of the board’s most popular initiatives in years.
Graffiti is of particular concern because of the potential for vandalism at foreclosed homes and the frequent difficulty authorities have in tracking down the owner. More than 1,200 homes were in some stage of the foreclosure process in May, according to figures released last week by RealtyTrac.
The new authority sought by county staff to regulate graffiti on private property has been vetted by the county attorney, though Bermingham acknowledged that the enforcement could hit opposition.
“My guess is somebody might stand up and say that’s art,” he said. “And then we’ll have to make a call what we should do. I imagine that there is somebody who will fight us on it.”
