In what officials describe as a "proactive" effort to combat graffiti and reduce the amount of time it's visible to the public, Agoura Hills may amend its Graffiti Prevention and Removal ordinance to encourage homeowners and business owners to remove graffiti as soon as it appears.

"The ideal time frame would be 24 hours, but we know that's not always possible," said Nathan Hamburger, assistant city manager.

The proposed ordinance is designed to get graffiti out of the public eye in a hurry.

Once graffiti has been reported, the property owner will be asked to remove it within five days.

If the graffiti is not removed, a procedure is set into motion that provides for a hearing and appeals process that could result in the city removing the graffiti and billing the cost to the property owner.

"That would be the worst-case scenario, and we don't expect that to happen," Hamburger said.

The City Council plans to discuss the proposed graffiti ordinance and hold a public hearing on it tonight at City Hall, 30001 Ladyface Court. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

The city's current ordinance allows graffiti to remain visible for 44 days if a property owner does not willingly remove it.

While the proposed ordinance reduces the time period considerably, it is designed to ease the potential burden of a speedy cleanup by providing home and business owners with free paint in 15 of the most common paint colors and with paint rollers for do-it-yourself cleanups.

Hamburger said the city also has a plan to give property owners victimized by graffiti access to a city-negotiated rate with paint contractors, who will remove graffiti professionally.

"The contractors we make arrangements with will offer a better price than property owners can get on their own," Hamburger said. He said the approved list of contractors will respond to graffiti cleanup requests in 24 hours.

Hamburger said studies have shown that most "tagging" or graffiti done by young people is an attempt to gain recognition and attention.

By committing such acts of vandalism, "taggers" gain peer approval. The longer the graffiti is there, he said, the more often they do it.

Walls, street signs, doors, mailboxes and garage doors are among some of the favorite targets of taggers. Whether done by individuals or by "tagger crews," it's a growing concern, according to local officials. "We don't have the problem Los Angeles has, but we want to deter this kind of vandalism and keep our city beautiful," Hamburger said.