[Amended 9-14-2023 by Ord. No. NP2023-10]
No person shall commit an act of graffiti on public, quasi-public
or private property. A person commits an act of graffiti if the person,
having no right to do so, intentionally applies graffiti or, in the
case of commercial graffiti, causes graffiti to be applied to property.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
GRAFFITI
Any inscriptions, words, figures, stickers, or designs that
are drawn, etched, marked, painted, pasted, scratched, stapled or
otherwise affixed on any real or personal property without the express
knowledge and consent of the owner of said property, or which contribute
to the ugliness and unsightliness of its object, space, area or community
and which are detrimental to the attractiveness, neatness, and good
order of the Borough. This includes commercial graffiti, commonly
involving the posting of bills or stickers, which means any advertisement
or notice of a commercial nature. This definition includes all writings
or other written or pictorial matter which is commonly understood
and accepted by a reasonable person as "graffiti" and is not intended
to infringe upon any protected artistic expression.
[Amended 9-14-2023 by Ord. No. NP2023-10]
[Amended 9-14-2023 by Ord. No. NP2023-10]
A. The writing or placing of any graffiti on any public or private real
or personal property, or a mixture of both, without the express knowledge
and consent of the owner is prohibited.
B. The marking or defacing of any property, real, personal or mixed,
by an owner thereof in such a manner as to constitute graffiti is
likewise prohibited.
C. It shall be unlawful for any person who applied graffiti not to remove
it within 72 hours of receipt of notice or 14 days of its application,
whichever is later.
D. To the extent permitted by law, parents shall be responsible for
the costs of removal when the graffiti has been applied by their minor
child.
E. All persons directly or indirectly involved shall be as equally responsible
as the individual who actually defaces the object or area. Any individuals
who encourage and participate in such activity, as well as individuals
who make available the tools, writing materials, ladders, lookouts,
material, or assistance or who knowingly supply funds to acquire materials
for such purposes, shall be likewise subject to punishment under this
chapter.
[Amended 9-14-2023 by Ord. No. NP2023-10]
A Graffiti Trust Account maintained by the Borough specifically
for the remediation of graffiti and the commissioning of public murals
and art on public property within the Borough is hereby created. The
governing body shall control the allocation of the funds in the Graffiti
Trust Account for the remediation of graffiti within the Borough,
which shall include cleaning, repairing, painting or otherwise restoring
the damaged public property to the condition it was in prior to any
remediation, and the commissioning of public murals and art to discourage
future graffiti. Any remediation of public property subjected to graffiti
may be funded by the Graffiti Trust Account at the discretion of the
governing body.