[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Orange Township 6-1-1982 by Ord. No. 18-82; amended in its entirety by the City Council of the City of Orange Township 4-15-1986 by Ord. No. 17-86. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
As used herein, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
GRAFFITI
An inscription, drawing, message or slogan made on some public or private surface without the consent of the owner of the property.
INDELIBLE MARKER
Any felt-tip marker, china marker or similar device containing non-water-soluble colors and which has a flat or angled writing surface of one-half (1/2) inch or greater.
[Amended 10-19-1993 by Ord. No. 32-93]
A. 
Absent express permission to the contrary by the owner or other person having control thereof, it shall be unlawful for any person to possess a spray paint container, liquid paint in cans or other containers or indelible marker in any public building or upon any public facility or upon any private property with intent to use the same to deface said building, facility or property. Any person who possesses a spray paint container, liquid paint in cans or other containers or an indelible marker in any public building or upon any public facility or private property with no legitimate or lawful purpose therefor shall be prima facie presumed to have possession of the same with the intention of using such container, can, marker or paint to deface said building, facility or property.
B. 
It shall be unlawful and a violation of this chapter for any person to write, print, paint, spray, etch, carve, scratch or otherwise mark and place graffiti on the real or personal property of another, whether publicly or privately owned, unless the owner of said property shall have given prior consent.
[Added 2-6-1996 by Ord. No. 2-96]
A. 
Requirement to remove graffiti. The occupant, lessee, sublessee, agent and/or landlord of any commercial or residential premises located within the City of Orange Township which has any form of graffiti on any building, structure or accessory structure or building shall be required to either restore the defaced surface by removing the graffiti or repaint the defaced surface using the same color paint as existed previously on a defaced surface within thirty (30) days after written notice to the occupant, lessee, sublessee, agent or landlord by the City of Orange Township Construction Official to remove the same.
B. 
Remedy of City of Orange Township. If said graffiti condition is not cured or corrected within thirty (30) days after written notice by the City of Orange, then the City of Orange shall have the right to issue a summons and to enter the premises to remove the graffiti and/or repaint the premises as set forth above, and the cost of the removal of the graffiti and/or repainting shall be at the sole cost and expense of the occupant, lessee, sublessee, agent and/or landlord of said building or structure. The actual cost of the removal of the graffiti and/or repainting, plus the cost of the inspection of said graffiti and/or repainting and other costs incidental to such removal, shall be certified by the City Business Administrator to the City Council and thereafter as certified become a lien upon the real property upon which the graffiti was found to be and shall be added to and become a part of the taxes next to be assessed and levied on such real property, and the same shall be collected and enforced in the same manner as taxes.
It shall be unlawful for any parent, legal guardian or other person having custody and care of any minor child under the age of eighteen (18) years to assist, aid, abet, allow, permit or encourage said minor to violate the provisions of this chapter by lack of proper supervision and control over said minor child. The parent or legal guardian penalties shall be set forth in § 112-4.
[Amended 10-19-1993 by Ord. No. 32-93]
Any person violating the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be punishable as provided in the Chapter 1, Article III, the general penalty provisions of this Code, except that the minimum fine for a second offense shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250.) and the minimum fine for a third or greater offense shall be five hundred dollars ($500.). Upon conviction, the Municipal Court Judge may order community service to be performed by the offender in addition to or in lieu of the above fines and/or imprisonment and shall order that restitution be made to the property owner. If the conviction person is a juvenile, the person(s) having responsibility for the care and custody of said juvenile shall make restitution to the owner of the defaced real or personal property pursuant to the terms imposed by the court having jurisdiction over the offense.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent with the provisions of the within chapter are hereby repealed. The aforementioned whereas clauses are incorporated by reference in this chapter.[1] This chapter shall take effect upon final passage and publication according to law.
[1]
Editor's Note: The clauses referred to constitute the preamble to Ord. No. 17-86 and read as follows:
"Whereas, the use of spray paint and indelible markers to deface property within the City of Orange Township has become a serious problem:
"Whereas, graffiti is typically applied to said property by means of indelible markers or pressurized spray cans containing paint which are widely available to persons of all ages and many times obtained by juveniles in particular in hardware and department stores, supermarkets and other vending establishments within the township:
"Whereas, the cost of removing such graffiti has become an intolerable financial burden to the owners of private property within the City of Orange Township and to the township itself:
"Whereas, such graffiti, unless promptly removed, is an eyesore to the community and seriously erodes many efforts to improve the quality of life within the City of Orange Township; and
'Whereas, 'graffiti' shall be defined as an inscription, drawing, message or slogan made on some public or private surface without the consent of the owner of the property."