If an ordinance passed by the Troy City Council on Thursday night works the way elected leaders hope it will, graffiti on homes, buildings and properties won't be posted for very long.
During a regularly scheduled meeting, the city council unanimously agreed to allow Troy Police and Code Enforcement officers to document and order the removal of unsightly graffiti.
The new rule states that any person caught applying graffiti will have 24 hours to remove it, and once authorities discover and provide written notice about graffiti, a property owner will have seven days to remove it, or pay a fine of $10 per day.
The ordinance also states that any property owner or groundskeeper can ask for help from city public works crews to help in removing the graffiti, adding that it's also acceptable to neatly cover the graffiti.
Just before the official vote, Troy City Councilor Ken Zalewski addressed the crowd regarding the issue and said, "Leaving graffiti untouched sends a message that we're allowing this type of activity in our city, and by having a law to remove this graffiti, says that we care about our city, that we care about cleaning up our neighborhoods, and that we don't want this type of gang activity."
Rodney Wiltshire, Jr., a Troy City Councilor at Large, said, "I do believe in the broken windows theory. I do believe that combating blight, and showing that we care about our communities and it's appearance is important, and it's important to sustain communities and also move it forward, so that people living there feel that the city is taking care of itself, and addressing those issues that we as a culture and as a culture don't deem pleasurable for our city."
Troy's graffiti ordinance takes effect immediately.
