LAGUNA NIGUEL : Law Tags Graffiti for Get-Tough Stand

City Council members say they plan to take a hard line against graffiti by quickly adopting an ordinance that would impose strict penalties on those involved in spray-painting and drawing monikers on public and private surfaces.

The council on Tuesday directed the Public Safety Committee to consider other cities’ anti-graffiti ordinances and recommend provisions that would go into a Laguna Niguel measure.

Disturbed by what they said was evidence of rapidly increasing gang activity and graffiti in South County, council members said they want the committee to return Feb. 1 with a proposed ordinance drafted by City Atty. Terry Dixon.

“We need to get it on the books right now. . . . It is one of our highest priorities,” said Councilman James F. Krembas, who joined other council members in calling for the committee to recommend the toughest ordinance possible. “I really think we need to go to the wall with it.”

Much of the work of compiling information on similar ordinances from other communities has already been done by Sheriff’s Lt. Joseph Davis, the city’s chief of police services.

Davis presented the council with an analysis of seven South County cities’ ordinances. He compared them to an ordinance from the San Diego suburb of Chula Vista, which is one of the toughest in the state and considered a model by the League of California Cities.

Chula Vista’s model ordinance specifically outlines the graffiti-related acts that are prohibited, the types of painting or drawing implements that are outlawed, who is required to remove graffiti, punishments and fines, rewards for turning in graffiti vandals, and preventive measures that cities and property owners can take.

Councilman Thomas W. Wilson said Laguna Niguel’s get-tough efforts are being watched by neighboring cities, which are interested in strengthening their existing ordinances or adopting new ones to give South County uniform policies against graffiti that are “very strict and every enforceable.”

“They have agreed to look at what we’re doing and go along with it,” Wilson said.

Councilman Mark Goodman also suggested that Laguna Niguel’s ordinance include penalties to deter teen-age taggers, such as the loss of a driver’s license.

“It’s criminal behavior and we should take a tough stance on it,” Goodman said.