Supe pushes to temporarily pause graffiti citations on property owners

A member of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors plans at Tuesday’s meeting to introduce legislation that would temporarily suspend citations to businesses and property owners for graffiti on their properties.

San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen said the city’s laws, which allow for fees and penalties if a property owner fails to get graffiti removed from their property within short timelines, has become another problem that the city’s small businesses have to deal with during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Her legislation would suspend, for the duration of the local emergency order related to the pandemic, the portion of the city’s graffiti ordinance that allows citations to private owners, and would also waive any pending fees or fines dating back to the start of 2021.

Ronen said in a news release:

“First their shops are vandalized, and then the city comes along and hands them a ticket. Honestly, it must feel like a slap in the face.”

The city will remain responsible for removing any graffiti on public property and can also respond quickly to paint over any offensive or hate speech expressed with graffiti.