[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Township
Council of the Township of Toms River 9-11-2007 by Ord. No. 4099-07. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building maintenance — See Ch.
210.
Design and appearance of dwellings — See Ch. 273.
Property maintenance — See Ch.
399.
A.
No person shall purposely or knowingly vandalize,
deface or otherwise damage the real or personal property of another
including publicly owned property or property owned by a public utility
by painting, writing, drawing, or otherwise inscribing, in any fashion,
graffiti. Graffiti shall include any form of painting, writing, drawing
or inscription, or attaching, affixing or fastening any labels, posters,
signs, stickers or any other like articles, regardless of content,
which are placed on real or personal property without the express
or implied permission of the owner of said property or public entity.
B.
An owner of real or personal property is any person,
business entity, or public entity having possession, control or title
to said property.
If, at the time of the offense charged, any
person shall be under the age of 18 years, the Juvenile Domestic Relations
Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction of the trial of such child
or children, and such child or children shall be surrendered to the
Juvenile Domestic Relations Court, and the case, including all papers
and process thereto, shall be transferred to said Court as provided
in N.J.S.A. 2C:4-11.
A.
Any person who violates the provisions of this chapter
shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to imprisonment not to
exceed 90 days or to a fine not to exceed $1,200. As a condition of
sentencing, the Municipal Court shall have the authority to order
that the offender be responsible for cleaning, repairing, painting
or otherwise restoring the damaged property to the condition it was
in prior to being damaged, provided that a determination is made that
any restoration efforts made by the offender shall not subject the
offender to unreasonable risk of death or serious physical injury
or otherwise be in violation of law. In the event that the offender
is unable for any reason to comply with the above, the Municipal Court
shall have the authority to order that said offender make full monetary
restitution to restore the property to its original undamaged condition.
The Municipal Court shall have the full discretion to set the terms
of restitution.
B.
A Graffiti Trust Account maintained by the Township
specifically for the remediation of graffiti on public property within
the Township is hereby created. The Township Council and Township
Business Manager shall control the allocation of the funds in the
Graffiti Trust Account for the remediation of graffiti within the
Township, which shall include cleaning, repairing, painting or otherwise
restoring the damaged public property to the condition it was in prior
to any remediation. Any remediation of public property subjected to
graffiti may be funded by the Graffiti Trust Account at the discretion
of the Township Council and Township Business Administrator. Any person
who violates the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction
thereof, be subject to a mandatory fine of $50 to be paid to the Graffiti
Trust Account.
C.
Any private property that has been subjected to graffiti
shall not be eligible for the Graffiti Trust Account. Such private
property owner must remediate his or her property within 30 days of
receiving a violation notice. Any private property owner failing to
remediate his or her property within 30 days shall be in violation
of this chapter and shall be subject to a mandatory fine of $50 per
diem up to a maximum fine of $500 which shall be paid to the Graffiti
Trust Account. If the violation remains unabated following the attainment
of the maximum penalty set forth herein, the violator may be issued
additional summonses which shall constitute separate and subsequent
offenses and the Township may impose additional violations based on
the aforesaid at $50 per diem charged up to a maximum of $500 for
each subsequent violation.
Any parent, guardian or other person having legal custody over a child under 18 years of age who fails or neglects to exercise supervision and control over such child shall be presumptively liable for any destruction or damage caused by such child under § 327-1 above to the Township of Toms River or any public authority under the Township of Toms River, provided that said Township or other public authority is the owner of the property subjected to said destruction or damage. Said parent may be held liable for the current costs of replacement or repair, and it shall be no defense that the cost of replacement or repair is greater than the original value of the damaged property or the original costs of installation.
The Township Business Administrator shall report
annually to the Township Council on the status of the Graffiti Trust
Account. At the very least, such report shall include the amount currently
in the fund and the amount allocated to graffiti remediation over
the past year.