Yakima scrubs out graffiti program

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Somebody tag your house, your garage or your fence, Yakima? From now on, it's your job to clean it up.

The City Council on Tuesday largely killed off a program that painted over graffiti on private property for free, after city officials complained that volunteers could not keep up with the demand.

Instead, the city now will give out a cleanup kit that includes a spray bottle with a pint of chemical remover and a high-pressure nozzle to wash the spray off.

The kit is available for free from the city for one time only. Ordering information is included, but after that you're on your own.

City officials said the change was necessary because too many homeowners felt entitled to the city's offer of help, and volunteers with the paint-out program couldn't keep up.

"I'm so backlogged it's not even funny," Archie Matthews, operations supervisor of Neighborhood Development Services told the council.

The city will continue to focus its paint-out efforts on alleys and public infrastructure, Matthews said.

The vote to amend the city's graffiti codes was 7-0. "We'll see how it goes," Councilwoman Kathy Coffey said, adding, "It's certainly a good start."

Afterward, Matthews said the paint-out program has been fighting a losing battle on its own against graffiti over the past three years.

"If the citizens would get back on board and take some responsibility for their own property, we might get a handle on it," he said.

He could not say how the change would affect a 2005 ordinance that carries a $400 fine for property owners who fail to clean up graffiti.

The city has not enforced the ordinance to date -- as long as property owners let paint-out crews do the work themselves, Matthews said.

In other business Tuesday, the council:

* Placed 11 blocks of the Barge-Chestnut neighborhood on the city's Register of Historic Places.

The designation was the first of its kind for an entire neighborhood and was approved by 78 percent of the 216 homeowners in the neighborhood, situated adjacent to Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital.

The designation makes homeowners eligible for restoration-related tax benefits while simultaneously imposing a number of property restrictions.

Neighborhood activists want to widen the historic district north to Summitview and from 16th to 40th avenues.

* Delayed approval for installation of a donated piece of public art at the intersection of downtown Front and A streets.

The council wanted the city's Historic Preservation Commission to review the request first.

* Chris Bristol can be reached at 577-7748 or cbristol@yakimaherald.com.