ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — A West Asheville business owner is calling on leaders to take a deeper look into the city’s graffiti problem, and allocate more funding to help those dealing with the problem.
Swati Amin is looking at the letter that Asheville code enforcement sent her dated Feb 1. The letter includes three pages of photo evidence the compliance officer took at her store BJ’s on Haywood Road in West Asheville. The pictures show graffiti tags from gas pumps to the BJ’s sign.
“They did the whole thing on this side,” said Amin, as she showed News 13 where the vandals tagged the pump. “We did this on this part right here.”
She and her husband did clean-up. But after 16 years of dealing with tag problems, Amin said she feels victimized, now twice with the city coming after.
“If they feel it looks bad for the city, they need to be responsible, too,” said Amin. “Not only one person, not only owners or just the business people.”
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But according to the city code, that’s who it falls on every time. Asheville compliance staff have mailed 121 letters to private property owners since January ordering them to clean up tags. They received the same letter Swati Amin got, which includes the following statements:
Graffiti is destructive to the rights and values of property owners, as well as, the entire community.
The City..has deemed the property listed to be a public nuisance due to the existence of graffiti.
You must remove or effectively obscure the graffiti describe above within seven(7) business days of receiving this Notice to Remove Graffiti.
If you fail to comply the City will be forced to take further action, including steps to abate the nuisance at the cost of the property owner.
Nearly 10 years ago the city had a program where it would give businesses $500 to help offset clean-up costs.
But that program is long gone. Instead, Amin said she feels the compliance department is unfairly targeted business owners like her.
“They not give me nothing, I pay for my stuff [paint] myself.” She said she wants to see Asheville leaders revisit the city’s graffiti problems beyond just public property.
“Our hearts go out to every business owner or resident that has to deal with this problem,” said Capt. Sean Aardema with the Asheville Police Department.
Capt. Aardema’s been a cop in Asheville for more than 20 years. He said the tagging ebbs and flows. One way to mitigate the problem, he said, is for business owners to submit surveillance to cops and also always file a police report when tagging happens. Aardema said it will help get the area on APD’s radar if there are multiple businesses reporting problems.
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Vandalism in Asheville in the form of tagging is a misdemeanor. The best way to submit evidence or report a case is using the city’s app.
Asheville spokeswoman Kim Miller said, “City staff often work with victims who contact the City, within seven days of the notification, to establish a realistic and flexible timeline for the owners to address the matter. Our digital records indicate the property in question has received two notifications this calendar year. The same records, dating back to 2022, indicate this property has had no other notification in that timeframe. Our paper records indicate the property owner did receive a notice in 2018.”
The city, under code requirements, can go back to a property and clean tags themselves and then send the property owner the bill.
“Full cost recovery can be charged and a lien can be placed on the property. This is practice not a practice commonly used but the ordinance does allow for it,” said Miller.