[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Franklin 10-24-2006
by Ord. No. 3644. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Property maintenance — See Ch. 183.
Graffiti means any drawing, painting or making of any mark or inscription
on public or private real or personal property without the prior written permission
of the owner of the property.
A.
No person shall purposely or knowingly vandalize, deface
or otherwise damage the real or personal property of another by drawing, painting
or otherwise inscribing, in any fashion, graffiti.
B.
The act of graffiti shall constitute the willful, malicious
or unlawful injury or destruction to real or personal property.
A.
In the event graffiti is found, the Township shall provide
the owner of record written notice of an order to remove said graffiti by
certified mail and regular mail, which order shall afford the owner the opportunity
to remove the graffiti within 90 days of the date that the notice is sent;
however, the State Department of Transportation shall be afforded 120 days
from the date that the notice is sent to remove graffiti from property owned
by the Department.
B.
The Township's order to remove shall contain a form
to be utilized by a property owner to inform the Township that the graffiti
has been removed and shall contain a certification stating that, by affixing
a signature to the form indicating that the graffiti has been removed, the
owner is certifying that the facts set forth therein are true and that the
certification shall be considered as if made under oath and subject to the
same penalties as provided by law for perjury.
A property owner who has been ordered to remove graffiti shall respond
to the Township by personal delivery or certified mail:
A property owner who objects to an order to remove graffiti may institute
an action challenging the order before a court of competent jurisdiction within
60 days of the date of the order.
A.
If a property owner does not undertake the removal of
graffiti within 90 days of the date of the order, or in the case of the Department
of Transportation, within 120 days of the date of the order, unless an action
challenging the order to remove graffiti is still pending, the Township may
remove the graffiti from that property and present the property owner with
a detailed itemization of the costs incurred by the Township by certified
mail and regular mail for reimbursement from the property owner.
B.
Whenever the Township undertakes the removal of graffiti
from any building, structure or other exposed surface, the Township Council,
in addition to assessing the cost of removal as a municipal lien against the
premises, may enforce the payment of such assessment, together with interest,
as a debt of the owner of the property and may authorize the institution of
an action at law for the collection thereof. The Superior Court shall have
jurisdiction of any such action.
