Hatboro Proposes Fewer Graffiti Restrictions

Don't lock it up, but be "watchful" of customers seeking spray paint and other graffiti instruments is the message that the Hatboro Borough Council has for its merchants.

The council this week reviewed a revised version of a proposed ordinance aimed at cleaning up graffiti in town. 

In it, the amended section says that paint or indelible markers "would be observable by a retail establishment," according to borough solicitor Christen Pionzio instead of the previous request that store owners lock up anything that could be deemed a graffiti instrument. 

After hearing from a representative of the National Council to Prevent Delinquency–an anti-graffiti organization–that locking up paints and markers could cost storeowners up to one-third of their business and would-be graffiti artists could simply “cross borders and shop for spray paint,” Pionzio suggested the revision.

The proposed ordinance, which calls for fining property owners who fail to remove graffiti in a timely manner, is set for final adoption on Sept. 23.