During a few hours of looking, Bryan Miller found more than 80 tag marks within a half-kilometre area around the Township of Langley civic building on 203rd Street at 65th Avenue.
Miller, who is campaigning for restrictions on the sale of spray paint cans in Langley to combat tagging, said the results of his March 28 count shows the need for lasting solutions to a worsening problem.
“[There has been] a rise in graffiti at school grounds, heritage sites, hydro boxes, hydro poles,fences, and everything in between,” Miller told the Langley Advance Times.
“We need to work together to solve these problems.”
One potential solution could be designating a place for taggers, Miller suggested, “to have a outlet in our community by building areas, where it can be done without causing common property damage.”
READ ALSO: Keeping it tidy: Fort Langley man urges residents to take a cleanup pledge
Miller has proposed a bylaw to ban sales of spray paint cans to underage buyers.
Similar to regulations in some Canadian and U.S. jurisdictions, Miller’s bylaw would require purchasers to show ID proving they are 18 years of age or older, and sellers would have to store the cans in locked cases to eliminate shoplifting, which, Miller has been told by retailers, is often how under-age “taggers” acquire spray paint.
He describes the proposal as a way to “bring attention and start the conversation to find lasting solutions to this growing, lasting problem, that needs to be solved.”
After hearing Miller, Township council instructed staff to prepare a report on restricting spray paint sales for council to consider at a future meeting.
READ ALSO: Spray paint restrictions pondered by Township council
Miller has created a website, Your Local Community, to bring like-minded people together to take the “pick up pledge” and commit to binning litter when they see it.
On Saturday, April 17th, the first YLC Community Pick Challenge will be held in Fort Langley.
Volunteers are asked to register at yourlocalcommunity.ca.
Miller will be handing out bags and gloves at 96th and Crickmer Crescent from 9 to 11 a.m.
“There will be a select amount of safety vests and pickers to be loaned out,” Miller advised.
“We will be documenting all graffiti spotted that day and picking up all the litter,” Miller said.
He said the goal is to pick up “1,000 lbs. of litter in a hour.”
Have a story tip? Email: dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
