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Published on 01/04/1999 All articles from this issue

Graffiti ordinance nears final approval

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

Watch out taggers. The Los Altos City Council is scheduled to give final approval to a city ordinance for graffiti abatement at the council meeting next Tuesday.

The ordinance is modeled after one in Mountain View, which has had "great compliance," said Los Altos Police Chief Lucy Carlton.

"Once people know we have a hammer, people will comply," Carlton said.

City concern for a graffiti abatement ordinance developed after a Town Crier story that pointed out there was no such ordinance. The council had recently adopted a weed abatement ordinance. But there was no process for graffiti abatement.

The lack of recourse became apparent with the appearance of black graffiti on the 10-foot white stucco walls enclosing three sides of the Tree Farm property on El Camino Real.

The graffiti was first reported to police on Oct. 13. In spite of repeated requests to clean it up, as of Dec. 30, it was still there.

And there's nothing the city can do about it, until Jan. 12 when its ordinance is scheduled to go into effect.

Then, "We will move as promptly as we can to enforce," said city attorney Bob Booth. That graffiti "will not be grandfathered in," he said.

The property owners will be given notice to abate the graffiti, and then 10 days to do it, Booth said.

"Meanwhile we'll be moving along to have it done, with the costs going onto the tax rolls against the property," Booth said.

Soon after the graffiti appeared at the Tree Farm, one of the developers sued the other two.

"If you're fighting amongst yourselves, it's hard to take care of things," like graffiti, said Bernie Vogel Jr., a San Jose-based attorney who is representing the Tree Farm Associates in the lawsuit.

According to city officials, as of Dec. 1, Los Altos resident John Challis is no longer project manager for the Tree Farm.

This project, which has been in the city planning process for nearly two years, was scheduled to have a 95,000-square-foot, three-story office building facing El Camino Real and a 131-room residence inn on the rear of the property.

There also were plans for eight low-income rental condominiums.

The future of the project is unclear.