- April 24, 2024
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Some people say there should be more art downtown, but a current trend is probably not what they have in mind. Graffiti has been appearing many mornings on the backs and sides of buildings, mostly along the Granada Boulevard corridor.
On a recent morning, Kayla Bemusdaffer, office manager at Rod’s Carpet, Tile and Wood, 99 W. Granada Blvd., was surprised to find graffiti on a sidewall.
“I haven’t seen this,” she said. “We just had that wall painted!”
She said the graffiti must have been done over the past couple of nights. It was about a month ago when they first started finding graffiti on the building.
There’s not only the expense of the paint, but also the cost of hiring a painter, she said.
Graffiti has also been found on other West Granada Boulevard businesses, an electrical box at the Ormond Beach Library, a sign on Sterthaus Drive and the former Food Lion, according to incident reports by Ormond Beach Police Departments.
Patches Restaurant, a few blocks north of West Granada Boulevard at 403 N. U.S. 1, has also had cleanup to do.
“I’m running a restaurant; I’m not here to be a painter,” said owner Todd Dennis.
He has painted over the back doors of the plaza and says it’s expensive because he has to buy oil-based paint. The black graffiti was starting to show through on one door, and he said it would need another coat.
Another annoyance is that the “artists” will jiggle the back door of the restaurant which sets off the alarm. His alarm company calls, and he has to come to the restaurant in the middle of the night. He recently filed a trespassing affidavit with the police and put up no trespassing signs so police can arrest anyone loitering there after hours.
Also “tagged” quite often is a utility box out near the street at the restaurant. Dennis said he would paint it, but first has to find out who owns it.
“It’s an eyesore,” he said.
The graffiti is in back of the restaurant, but it’s visible from neighboring houses. Dennis said the plaza owner has spent a lot of money on landscaping and they want it to look nice.
Graffiti has been found on the Granada Bridge, but the only thing at the bait shop was graffiti on an ice machine. It was done with a marker, and they are having some success removing it with bleach.
“Usually they just damage the bathroom and write on the walls,” said bait shop manager Ike Leary.
