A graffiti tagger whose pseudonym, Khaos, was sprayed nearly 450 times on Nanaimo buildings and structures has agreed to pay more than $15,000 to cover fines and damages, write a 1,000-word essay, and send a written apology to the city and its residents.
The young man’s Khaos tags were found on railway trestles, dumpsters, underpasses, utility poles and boxes, transit infrastructure and buildings.
The number of places is “astonishing,” Mayor Leonard Krog said Thursday.
The tagger was arrested in April 2020 after someone spotted him tagging surfaces near the Terminal Park Mall on Terminal Avenue and contacted police, the city said.
Nanaimo council approved legal action after it was learned that the vandalism was continuing. Charges were stayed by the Crown. In January, the city took the matter to the Supreme Court of B.C. as a civil case.
The tagger admitted contravening the city’s public nuisance, and property maintenance and standards bylaws.
The Aug. 25 consent order, made in the Supreme Court in Nanaimo, is a “good solution and it also provides an ongoing order that will hopefully stop this young person from continuing to put graffiti all over our community,” Krog said.
Under the order, the tagger is not allowed to possess paint, spray paint or permanent markers for two years unless they are needed for work or school. His essay must address why tagging is “legally and morally wrong.”
The order states he must admit to all the tags that resulted in the court order. He is required to remove them within one year of receiving a schedule to do so by the city. Nanaimo will provide equipment and material for the cleanup.
He must also pay a $10,000 fine plus damages of $5,475 to the city. Every month, he is to pay $150. If any payments are missed, the total amount will be due.
If he contravenes the order and is found with paint or markers, an additional $10,000 fine will be imposed. If any other terms are breached, another $1,000 will be added.
He is not allowed to loiter or be within two metres of any public or private building in Nanaimo unless going there to its intended purpose. He has agreed to attend three counselling sessions within six months.
Bill Corsan, Nanaimo’s director of community development, said so far this year, more than 200 tags have been reported to the city and cleanup costs have reached $22,000. They normally total about $20,000, Corsan said.
