The Sumner City Council voted Monday to declare graffiti a nuisance.
The council voted unanimously to alter the city’s nuisance ordinance to include graffiti. Under the revised document, property owners must remove graffiti from their buildings or be subject to a hefty $250 fine. The city of Sumner is responsible to clean up graffiti on city-owned structures.
The nuisance ordinance provides regulations regarding property damage or overgrown yards, and applies fines to property owners if they don’t follow the rules.
The city will first mail letters to property owners requesting that they cover up the graffiti, said City Attorney Brett Vinson. If the owners don’t comply “in a reasonable period of time” that is yet to be determined, they can be fined $250 each day the graffiti is still there.
The point is for the fine to be an incentive but not a punishment, Vinson said.
“We recognize that these people are victims of crimes,” he said.
Council decided to take action against graffiti after Sumner resident Pamela Holm wrote a letter last fall to Councilman Matt Richardson detailing an “increasing graffiti presence” in the city.
“This is an important issue for Sumner because we are a town that caters to tourists and many visitors,” Holm wrote in the letter.
Holm, a resident for more than 30 years, spends part of the year in Palm Springs, Calif., where she often calls a graffiti hotline. She wrote her letter in hopes that Sumner would address the problem.
Of particular concern to both Holm and council members is graffiti on a brick wall that faces the train tracks — it’s visible to Sounder riders as well as visitors. Richardson compared it to Detroit at a recent study session.
At the regular meeting this week, Sumner Mayor Dave Enslow reminded the council that having a group of volunteers to help enforce the ordinance is necessary for it to be successful.
“It’s my intention to use (volunteers),” Enslow said. “We’re ready to have them do it.”
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