Oakhurst’s Big H/Novo Property Vandalized
Decatur Metro | January 4, 2011Scott sends in this pic…
Scott sends in this pic…
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Looks almost as bad as the Decatur Diner signage…
Classy
Is that the before pic or the after?
at least something is going on there…
Wow. That’s pretty terrible.
Yeah, these guys need to really step up their street art. Building is really conducive to tagging though.
Over on the Oakhurst Message Board, Commissioner Cunningham says that the city’s Public Works Dept. is looking into it.
If the city lifts a finger to clean that up, they need to send a bill to the property owner.
How could the city do that? I suppose they could pass an ordinace that would require the property owner to remove the graffiti, but they can’t “clean up” private property on their own accord and then a bill to the owner. What would you say if the city unilaterally cut your grass and sent you a bill for lawn care?
Also, it would be quite a double whammy on the owner. He is the victim of a crime, then is forced to pay for a government “service” he did not necessarily ask for?
The city does not clean it up. They’re involved to the extent that they need to notify the owner, which then creates a 15 day window in which the property owner is required to clean it up. See “Sec. 54-57.1. Maintenance of graffiti” in the city code.
yes, but that’s assuming the city will enforce it. for over 2 years now several residents on my street have been contacting the city about a foreclosure that has tons of code violations. the city did finally a code violation note on the door (of an essentially abandoned property)….1.5 years ago. NOTHING has been done about it despite multiple requests to the city. now there is a group who have a for sale sign in the yard touting a renovated property if purchased, but the violation note still stands.
You can get to the ordinance here:
http://www.decaturga.com/cgs_citysvcs_sfm_graffiti.aspx
I think you could split hairs on how the code is written, but the property owner is financially (and physically) responsible for clean up within 15 days of notice. If they fail to clean it up then they are found to be in violation of the article, AND the city can enter the property, clean it up, then place a lien on the property for the cost. A judge has authority to suspend a sentence for a violation if property is restored.
“Sec. 54-59. Failure to abate unlawful conditions after notice; violation of article. If the owner or occupant of any such property shall so maintain such property and shall fail to clean the premises or remove such items and/or graffiti as described in sections 54-56, 54-57 and 54-57.1, or if the owner or person entitled to possession of such vacant building as described in section 54-58 shall not close and secure such vacant building within 15 days after having been notified in writing by an official of the city public works department, fire department, or development department, such action on the part of the owner or occupant of the property shall constitute a violation of this article. A separate violation shall be deemed to occur for each and every day or portion thereof during which any violation of the requirements of this article is committed or continued.”
5. Sec. 54-63
“(4) Abatement by city; lien; collection of lien. The city commissioners shall have the full power and authority to order that the offending premises be cleaned and/or secured and to authorize entry upon such premises for such purpose; to have graffiti removed or obliterated; to have the premises cleaned; and to have removed therefrom weeds, briars, vines, dead limbs, and branches from trees, underbrush, garbage, trash or other things thereon that will constitute an unsanitary or dangerous condition, health menace or fire hazard. In the case of a building which is vacant, unsecured and open to the public, the city commission shall have the building closed and secured, and assess the property for the cost of the cleaning, removal and/or closing and securing. Such assessment shall constitute a lien on the property until paid. An execution in favor of the city in the amount of such assessment shall be issued by the city clerk and bear attest in the name of the mayor or mayor pro-tem and be collected in accordance with the provisions of section 85 of the city Charter as set forth in this Code. ”
Agree completely with all of that. Mainly I was trying to point out that this is not the responsibility of the city.
Gotcha, I misunderstood your comment.
DEM, yes, they can enter private property and clean it up. Provided the law allows it, they can go on your property, remove a dangerous dead tree, paint over grafitti or whatever, and then place a lien on your property for the cost. I just posted a link to the ordinance and some of the language in response to Scott, fyi.
Its says “Dollar General” in grafitti font…
It’s not even nice “public art” graffiti, just garbage. There was a case many years ago about some American dude getting caned for graffiti, it really seemed so extreme to me (at the time.) At any rate this person needs to enroll in, or go back, to art school. Who would want to publicly claim something so mediocre? Oh yeah, and cane him while we’re at it
Slut yin and yang.
That’s kind of interesting. I wonder what they mean by that.
I mean, how much time would it take to get up there and do that…and have nobody notice? Must’ve been done in wee hours. The Blight gets Blightier.
I have just personally spoken with Bruce Cohen, and he would like to be up on the roof this weekend cleaning off this unsightly mess. If everyone can chip in just $50 each, he’ll be able to hire the appropriate crew. I found this request for cash to be entirely appropriate, and further evidence of his good neighborly-ness. If only he could do as good a job keeping vandals away as he has keeping retailers at bay…
Mead Road Park was also tagged.
Maybe this is naive, but how does one know if this is gang graffiti or not?
I don’t think so and I know me some gangs. Honestly though, I would not mind it if it was cool like some of the stuff that appears on the Krog Street underpass, but this is just sorta stupid.
Gang graffiti is usually only one color, and if you can believe it, much lower in artistic quality than the graffiti pictured above.
I thought that was just a sign for a new tenant.
All I know is that it wasn’t there Monday evening and when I went for a run Tuesday morning I saw it. It had to have been done late at night. But c’mon where were the Decatur police? From the looks of it the grafitti took more than a minute to put up.
I’m sure that it took a while to put up, but c’mon – you can’t blame the police for this happening. They can’t watch everything 100% of the time. Maybe they were right over in the lot of Oakhurst park watching the sides of those nice white buildings. Maybe they were at McCoy Park, or sitting behind Mojo.
The vandals probably did this well after midnight or 1 am when even that section of Oakhurst quiets down. One guy did the painting as his buddy watched for cars/headlights/people, so they could just hide if someone was coming. Looks to me like they then traded places…
Agree with An Eric on this. Don’t expect the police to prevent crime unless you have private security. These graffiti artists are professional and some are very good. Check out these photos on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/atlantagraffiti/
I doubt this is always a sign of “gang” activity. It is more likely a sign some kids (or young people) have too much unsupervised time on their hands. On her other hand, I am relatively confident that I have seen the first tag in the string (Is it “SAR7S” ?) at several other locations. And Udog’s link has some good ones!
I’m not blaming the police. I was just asking a question. I know DPD are very fast responders and a good police force. I just hope whomever is responsible for clean up does it quickly so our kids don’t have to see “Slut-o”. I have noticed more grafitti in Decatur as of late. Don’t know why the increase. Oakhust park’s little tunnel has grafitti on it. Wish someone would remove it.
in my head, i think the one on the left was supposed to be START but the artist is an idiot
It’s SAR7S and you can see it on other buildings on our side of town, including Dekalb Ave on edge of downtown Atlanta.
But, just to go back to Joe’s comment above, that doesn’t necessarily preclude that the artist is, indeed, an idiot.
Kudos to Vision Properties for dealing with the graffiti expeditiously.
Thanks Bruce! Nice work
Man… what a guy.
Looks good as ahhhhh new?