Township of Toms River, NJ Chapter 327 Graffiti

[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.

§ 327-1 Prohibited acts.

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.

C. For purposes of § 327-4 herein, the act of placing graffiti shall constitute the willful, malicious or unlawful injury or destruction to real or personal property.

§ 327-2 Prosecution of minors.

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.

§ 327-3 Violations and penalties; restoration; trust account.

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.

§ 327-4 Parental responsibility.

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.

§ 327-5 Reporting on Graffiti Trust Account.

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.