Downtown Nanaimo businesses and other properties now have access to vandalism relief money through a City grant program. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

GRAFFITI REMOVAL

Nanaimo council approves $50,000 grant for downtown graffiti and vandalism recovery

Oct 26, 2022 | 4:33 PM

NANAIMO — Business and property owners in the city’s downtown core are getting some extra help to combat costs associated with unsightly mischief.

Through the Downtown Nanaimo Safety Action Plan, approved earlier this year, Nanaimo City Council formalized an annual fund for graffiti removal and vandalism recovery at their Monday, Oct. 24 meeting.

The grant program will be run by the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce and includes $50,000 for 2022 and $30,000 for subsequent years. It’s a five year program, however funding is only guaranteed for three years, with the latter two years open to debate during budget discussions.

Concern was immediately raised over the scope of the program, confined in a specific area of downtown bordered by Milton St., Front. St. and Comox Rd.

“My concern is that we passed a bylaw…where we would be fining people who didn’t clean up their graffiti,” coun. Sheryl Armstrong said in opposition to the grant program. “So the rest of the city is going to be penalized for this, yet we will pay for the downtown core. For me, I can’t support this unless it engages all businesses or homeowners.”

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A map showing the scope of a new vandalism relief grant funded by Nanaimo Council on Monday, Oct. 24. (Google Maps)

Others largely agreed, but supported the initiative on the basis of using it as a pilot project for other areas in Nanaimo.

Council heard other, smaller general grant programs exist which offer some level of flexibility to provide financial relief for those outside the borders of the downtown.

“I’m confident letting it nest within the downtown and seeing how it goes and like any new program we’ll get feedback, we’ll get a report and if it seems that it’s a well utilized service, then I would absolutely contemplate expansion to the rest of the city,” coun. Erin Hemmens stated.

The grant program would cover a maximum of $1,000 per incident of vandalism, with properties able to apply twice in a calendar year.

Deputy CAO Dale Lindsay was unable to say whether $50,000 would be enough to cover what is typically needed for properties in the downtown, but said the program and initial funding levels were based off initiatives in similarly-sized communities.

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