Tag, you're it: Aurora's new graffiti bylaw holds property owners responsible for clean up

Fines could range from $100 to $300

Yorkregion.com
June 11, 2020
Lisa Queen

Aurora property owners, you may want to take steps now to prevent vandals putting graffiti on your properties.

Because if you don’t, you’re now going to pay afterwards

The town has a new bylaw that makes property owners responsible for getting rid of tagging and unauthorized murals.

“We’ve seen a little graffiti in the downtown core in the Yonge and Wellington area. I think that’s a lot due to the density of the area. We do see it sometimes in commercial areas like the bigger plazas applying graffiti on the backs of their buildings like near the loading bays,” bylaw manager Alex Wray said.

“It’s not a huge issue in Aurora by any means but if it does pop up (we have a bylaw in place) and we want to solve the problem long-term as well.”

Graffiti in Aurora appears mostly to be done as petty vandalism or unauthorized creative expressions rather than by gangs, Wray said, adding people can apply to council to put up artistic graffiti murals under the town’s sign bylaw.

He came to the town about two years ago after working with Toronto Community Housing.

He realized Aurora was the only municipality in York Region without a graffiti bylaw, something he feels is important especially as the town grows and intensifies.

While the new legislation is now in effect and covers all residential, commercial and industrial property owners, the town must get approval from Ontario’s chief justice through the Ministry of the Attorney General for the fines it can charge.

Wray expects the fines will be in the range of $100 to $300.

But the town is only looking to charge and fine property owners as a last resort, he said.

“We do understand that often times, people we will be dealing with graffiti on their buildings are likely the victims of graffiti. It’s not typically people who graffiti their own building,” he said.

“It’s often, you come out as a business owner and somebody has drawn all over your wall. It could be a tag, it could be a large graffiti mural of some sort.”

Vandals also often target common areas of apartment or condo buildings such as halls, stairwells and parking garages.

The town will work with owners on a fair schedule for them to remove the graffiti but is prepared to clean and bill owners who won’t, Wray said.

It will also help owners strategize ways of deterring graffiti and other offensive behaviour such as public urination through a concept known as crime prevention through environmental design, he said.

“We can’t make them but we can make suggestions and say ‘This wall behind your building keeps getting hit at nighttime. It’s pretty dark back there. You may want to consider putting up a motion sensor light or a camera to act as a deterrent to prevent this happening over and over again’,” he said.

“It makes people go ‘Wow, I’m really visible in this place right now, it’s probably not the best place to do it.’ You just try and curb the behaviour.”