A. 
Graffiti. As used in this section, "graffiti" includes any inscription, word, figure, or design that is marked, etched, scratched, drawn, painted, pasted or otherwise affixed to or on an surface, regardless of the nature of the material of that structure component, to the extent that same was not authorized in advance by the owner thereof, or, despite advance authorization, is otherwise deemed by the Commission to be a public nuisance by its impact on surrounding properties and on the quality of life in the community.
B. 
"Aerosol paint container" means any aerosol container, regardless of the material from which it was made which adapted or is made for the purpose of spraying paint or other substance capable of defacing property.
C. 
"Felt tip marker" means any indelible marker or similar implement with a tip which at its broadest width if greater than 1/8 inch, containing an ink that is not water soluble.
D. 
"Graffiti stick" means a device containing a solid form of paint, chalk, wax, epoxy, or other similar substance capable of being applied to a surface by pressure and upon application leaving a mark at least 1/8 of an inch in width, visible from a distance of 20 feet and not water soluble.
E. 
"Graffiti implement" means an aerosol paint container, a felt tip marker or a graffiti stick.
A. 
Unlawful to apply graffiti. It shall be unlawful for any person to apply graffiti on any public or privately owned structure, wall or surface located on public or privately owned real property within the Town.
B. 
Possession by minors; school exception for felt tip markers. It shall be unlawful for any person under the age of 18 to have in his or her possession any graffiti implement while upon public property or upon private property without the consent of the owner of such private property, whose consent is given in advance and whose consent shall be given to the person's presence while in the possession of a graffiti implement. The foregoing provision shall not apply while the person is attending or traveling to or from a school at which the person is enrolled and if the person is participating in a class at said school which has, as a written requirement of said class, the need to use felt tip markers.
C. 
Possession in designated public places. No person shall have in his or her possession any graffiti implement while doing any activity in any public park, playground, recreational facility, except as may be authorized by the Town or the owner/manager of the facility.
A. 
Graffiti as a nuisance. The existence of graffiti within the Town is a public and private nuisance and may be abated according to the provisions and procedures contained in Article 6 of this chapter.
B. 
Right of Town to require removal (self-removal). It is unlawful for any person who is the owner or who has primary responsibility for control of property or who has primary responsibility for the repair or maintenance of property ("responsible party") to permit property which is defaced with graffiti to remain so defaced for a period of seven days after notice of same, unless they can demonstrate that they have an active program for the removal of graffiti and have scheduled the removal of the graffiti as part of that program, in which case it shall be unlawful to permit such property defaced with graffiti to remain defaced for a period of 15 days after notice of same.
C. 
Graffiti-attracting surface as a nuisance. The existence of any surface on a parcel of land which has been defaced with graffiti after removal more than five times in 12 months is a public and private nuisance and may be abated by minor modifications thereto or to the immediate area surrounding same according to the provisions and procedures herein contained as follows: said surface or surfaces shall be required to be retrofitted at the cost of the property owner of said lot, not to exceed a total cost of $1,000, or at the cost of the Town at the Town's option, which such features or qualities as may be established by the Town as necessary to reduce the attractiveness of the surface for graffiti or as necessary to permit more convenient or efficient removal thereof.
D. 
Removal procedures. The Town shall follow the following procedure to remove graffiti:
(1) 
Right of entry on private property.
(a) 
Securing owner consent. Prior to entering upon private property or property owned by a public entity other than the Town, for the purpose of removal of graffiti, the Town shall attempt to secure the consent of the responsible party and a release of the Town from liability for private or public property or liability damage.
(b) 
Failure to obtain owner consent. If a responsible party fails to remove the offending graffiti within the time herein specified, or if the Town shall have requested consent to remove or paint over the offending graffiti and the responsible party shall have refused consent for entry on terms acceptable to the Town and consistent with the terms of this section, the Town shall commence abatement and cost recovery proceedings for the removal of the graffiti, including the provisions of Chapter 4 as to public nuisances, as well as the provisions of Article 6 of this chapter.
(2) 
Town expenses. For graffiti located in the Town on public or privately owned property viewable from a public or quasi-public place, the Town may use public funds for the removal of same, or for the painting or repairing of same, to avoid an aesthetic disfigurement to the neighborhood or community.
In lieu of, or as part of, requesting prosecution of a minor, or in lieu of prosecuting a violation of this chapter as a crime against an adult, the Police Chief shall be authorized to offer said minor or adult an option to perform such community service as the Police Chief deems appropriate, but which community service shall, if offered at all, contain the following minimum elements:
A. 
The minor shall perform at least 30 hours of community service.
B. 
At least one of the custodial parents, or if none, guardians, shall be in attendance at least 50% of the period of assigned community service.
C. 
The entire period of community service shall be performed under the supervision of a community service provider approved by the Chief of Police.
D. 
Reasonable effort shall be made to assign the subject minor or adult to a type of community service that is reasonable expected to have the most rehabilitative effect on the minor or adult. To the extent that the offense giving rise to the offer of community service constitutes a violation of this chapter, a reasonable effort shall be made by the Chief of Police to assign the minor to community service which constitutes in significant part the removal of graffiti.
Any parent or other legal guardian who consents to, permits or otherwise knowingly allows his or her child under the age of 18 to possess a graffiti implement shall be personally liable for any and all costs to any person incurred in connection with the removal of graffiti caused by said child, or by said graffiti implement, and for all attorneys' fees and court costs incurred in connection with the civil prosecution of any claim for damages.
If any section, clause, phrase or portion of this chapter is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The Town Commission declares that it would have adopted each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion therefor irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, clauses, phrases or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional.