Placentia : Anti-Graffiti Proposal Due for Vote Tonight

Under state law, minors can’t buy cigarettes or liquor. And in Placentia, they may soon be prohibited from buying cans of spray paint as well.

In an attempt to erase graffiti in the city, officials tonight are scheduled to vote on an ordinance which, among other things, would prohibit the sale of pressurized cans of paint to minors.

If passed, the new law also would define graffiti as a public nuisance and would prohibit possession of the cans of paint in designated public places, such as parks and recreational facilities. The ordinance is patterned after one adopted in San Clemente last September.

The city has had problems with graffiti “on and off,” City Administrator Roger Kemp said. “This is just another way to solve the problem.”

In the past, the city has donated paint and rounded up volunteers from the community in efforts to cover graffiti, Kemp said.

Other cities, such as Santa Ana, have similar anti-graffiti programs. In Santa Ana, however, officials have included in their battle plan a contract with Graffiti Removal Services. Last October, they authorized a $100,000 one-year extension of a contract with the company, which had been hired on a six-month trial basis.