San Francisco Public Works’ Community Engagement team is responsible for educating merchants, property owners and residents of their rights and responsibilities regarding street and sidewalk cleanliness. When outreach falls on deaf ears, we enforce government codes to ensure sanitation standards are met to keep our neighborhoods clean, safe and looking good.
In 2004, the City's Graffiti Ordinance was amended requiring private property owners to remove graffiti from their property within 30 days of a notice by Public Works.
The following tips will help you as you remove graffiti from various types of surfaces. Additional information about removal and removal materials is available at the Graffiti Hurts website and paint manufacturers' websites. We also recommend that you talk to a graffiti removal contractor. We maintain a partial list of local resources for residents.
Before you get started, remember:
Prompt removal works best. If you don't remove it quickly, it will attract more tags.
Use the gentlest means of removal to avoid harming the surface.
For your convenience, We have provided a partial list of graffiti abatement companies. The City cannot recommend or endorse any vendor, supplier or service provider. This list is being provided to you solely for your convenience.
Graffiti Removal Services Including removal of graffiti on raw brick and other masonry surfaces
Cleanscapes 2265 Revere Avenue San Francisco, CA 94124 (415) 348-9700 www.cleanscapessf.com
Keeping San Francisco clean and beautiful is everyone's responsibility. Understanding the correct procedures for waste disposal is important to help keep San Francisco clean, healthy and looking good. Illegal dumping is an ongoing challenge, with debris such as furniture, mattresses and appliances left out on the sidewalks near homes, schools and places of business. In addition, the use of City trash cans to dispose of household and commercial trash is against the law and poses problems.
San Francisco winter storms can cause floods, landslides, uprooted trees, and downed or broken utility lines in almost any neighborhood. The City and County of San Francisco has prepared safety tips to help you have a safe winter and protect yourself and your property. For all emergencies, call 911. To report downed tree limbs, clogged catch basins or localized flooding, call 311.
Catch basins are the storm drains located at most corners of the City's street intersections. They are designed to allow rainwater to drain from the gutters and into the sewer system. During rainstorms, trash and debris can prevent rainwater from entering a catchbasin. Trash and debris can also collect at the bottom of the catchbasin, allowing water to build up and spill out of the catch basins ultimately causing street flooding. Leaves can be particularly problematic.
The Urban Forestry Council annually reviews and updates this list of trees, in collaboration with public and non-profit urban forestry stakeholders, including San Francisco Public Works' Urban Forestry Division and Friends of the Urban Forest.
In an effort to identify potential public safety risks posed by diseased Pine trees, Public Works and the City’s Urban Forestry Council are asking property owners to inspect the condition of pine trees within their property or on their sidewalks that appear dead or whose branch tips in the upper crown of the tree begin to die, the first sign of a regional fungal disease.
