The city recognizes that graffiti is a blight upon our community
and brings with it the possibility of violence for youths and adults
alike. The presence of graffiti leads to more graffiti. Quick removal
of graffiti will help to prevent the return of graffiti. The city
further recognizes that it is only through a cooperative effort with
our citizens that graffiti, and its resultant negative effects, can
be controlled.
(Ordinance 841-21 adopted 9/28/21)
For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall
have the following meanings:
Any aerosol container, regardless of the material from which
it is made, which is adapted or made for the purpose of spraying paint
capable of defacing property.
The City of Willow Park.
Assent in fact, whether express or apparent, by a person
legally authorized to act for an owner of property.
The director of the department of planning and community
development or his or her designee or another employee of the city
designated by the city manager.
A device that is capable of making a delineation or impression
on tangible property, regardless of the manufacturer’s intended
use for that device.
Any marker or similar implement that:
Any inscription, work, figure, marking, or design that is
marked, etched, scratched, drawn, or painted on any building, structure,
fixture, or other improvements whether permanent or temporary, whether
public or private, without the consent of the owner of the property
or the owner’s authorized agent, and which is visible from any
public property or the public right-of-way, or from any private property
other than the property on which the graffiti exists, including by
way of example only and without limitation, fencing surrounding a
site.
Any aerosol paint container, paint gun, paint ball gun, paint
ball gun pellets or capsules, felt tip marker, paint stick, graffiti
stick, brush, or etching or engraving device that is capable of scarring,
marking, or otherwise defacing stone, glass, metal, concrete, wood,
or any surface of tangible property.
A person who, under court order, is the guardian of the person
of a minor; or a public or private agency with whom a minor has been
placed by a court.
Any indelible marker or similar implement with a writing
tip exceeding three-sixteenths (0.1875) inch in width that contains
a solution that cannot be removed with water after it dries.
Any person less than 17 years of age.
The owner of record of the real property as set forth in
the records of the Parker County appraisal district or of other tangible
property.
Any device containing a solid or liquid form of paint, chalk,
wax, epoxy, or other similar substance that leaves a visible mark
upon application to a surface.
A person who is a natural parent, adoptive parent, foster
parent, or stepparent of another person.
To abrasively or chemically remove, or to paint over, at
the director’s discretion, or to replace the object upon which
the graffiti is affixed.
(Ordinance 841-21 adopted 9/28/21)
An owner of any tangible property in the city commits an offense
if the owner fails to remove all graffiti from the owner’s property
after the director notifies the owner that graffiti is present on
the property.
(1)
Before
issuing a citation for a violation of this section, the director shall
serve the owner with written notice to remove the graffiti from the
property within ten (10) calendar days from the date the notice is
served. The notice shall state that the director has determined that
the property has graffiti in violation of this article; that the owner
may remove the graffiti or authorize the director to remove the graffiti
by written consent and a written waiver of liability; that if the
director has not received consent from the owner within ten (10) days
from the date of the notice, the owner may initiate a graffiti abatement
hearing; and that if the owner fails to take one of these actions
within ten (10) days, the property shall be subject to abatement of
the graffiti by the director without further notice, and cost of the
graffiti removal shall be levied against the property. The notice
may be served by handing it to the owner in person or by United States
certified mail, five-day return receipt requested, addressed to the
owner at the owner’s post office address as shown on the tax
rolls of the city or of Parker County. If the owner cannot be found
and the notice is returned by the United States Postal Service, then
the owner may be notified by:
(A)
Publication one time in the official newspaper designated by the
city council;
(B)
Posting the notice on or near the front door of each building on
the premises to which the violation relates; or
(C)
Posting the notice on a placard attached to a stake driven into the
ground on the premises to which the violation relates if the premises
contains no buildings.
(Ordinance 841-21 adopted 9/28/21)
(a)
The director may remove, at no cost to the property owner, any graffiti the director determines to be in violation of section 8.03.003 of this article upon receiving written consent and a waiver of liability from the owner of the property. The director may prepare and distribute forms for this purpose.
(b)
The
owner may, if the owner desires, give advance consent to the director
to remove graffiti from the property in the future without the need
for the director to obtain the owner’s consent prior to each
removal. Such prior authorization shall be in writing to the director
and shall be signed by the owner. The prior authorization may be revoked
by the owner at any time by notifying the director in writing.
(c)
Whenever
the director is authorized by this article to remove graffiti and
uses public funds for the removal and for the repainting and repair
of the property from which the graffiti is removed, the director shall
not authorize or undertake to provide for the painting or repair of
any more extensive area than that where the graffiti is located, except
in the following circumstances:
(1)
The director determines in a written notice to the owner that a more
extensive area is required to be repainted or repaired in order to
avoid an aesthetic disfigurement to the neighborhood or community;
or
(2)
The owner agrees to pay for the costs of repainting or repairing
the more extensive area.
(d)
Where
property defaced by graffiti is owned by a public entity other than
the city, the director shall cause removal of the graffiti only after
securing the consent of an authorized representative of the public
entity that has jurisdiction over the structure.
(Ordinance 841-21 adopted 9/28/21)
(a)
At a hearing requested by the owner, the owner shall be entitled to present evidence and argue that his or her property does not contain graffiti. The determination of the director after the hearing shall be final and not appealable. After the hearing, if the director determines that the property contains graffiti, the director may order that the graffiti be abated. If a hearing is not requested, the director may immediately order that the graffiti be abated. Before ordering such abatement, the director shall give written notice (“abatement order”) served in accordance with section 8.08.003(1) that, unless the graffiti is removed within ten (10) calendar days from the date the notice is served, the department of public works or other department designated by the city manager shall enter upon the property and cause the removal, painting over or such other eradication of the graffiti as the director determines appropriate.
(b)
The
following procedures shall apply to actions by the director to abate
and recover costs for abatement of graffiti on private property if
the owner does not consent to removal of the graffiti within ten (10)
days after the director determines from the hearing and notifies the
owner that graffiti has been placed upon property of the owner:
(1)
Abatement action.
Not sooner than the time specified
in the abatement order, the director shall implement the abatement
order. The director should provide an accounting to the owner of the
costs of the abatement action (“statement of expenses”)
on a full cost recovery basis not later than ten (10) days from the
date the abatement action is completed. The statement of expenses
shall include all administrative costs incurred by the department
of public works or other designated department in abating graffiti
on the property, shall be sent by certified mail, addressed to the
owner of the property, and shall state:
(A)
Identification of the property;
(B)
A statement that graffiti was present and the city abated the same;
(C)
A statement of the city’s expenses in abating the condition;
(D)
A statement that if the owner fails or refuses to pay the expenses
within 30 days of the date of the notice, the governing body shall
place a lien against the property by filing with the county clerk
a notice of lien and statement of expenses incurred.
(2)
Lien.
If all or any portion of the amount set forth
in the statement of expenses remains unpaid after thirty (30) days
of the mailing of the statement of expenses, such portion shall constitute
a lien on the property which was the subject matter of the abatement
action. The lien attaches to the property on the date on which the
statement of expenses is filed in the real property records of the
county in which the property is located and is subordinate to any
previously recorded lien and the rights of a purchaser or lender for
value who acquires an interest in the property subject to the lien
before the statement of expenses is filed with the county clerk.
(Ordinance 841-21 adopted 9/28/21)
(a)
A
person commits an offense if, with the intent to make graffiti, he
or she possesses any graffiti implement:
(1)
In or on any part of a publicly owned or privately owned building,
facility, park, school ground, library, playground, swimming pool,
recreational facility, right-of-way, or other property when that property
or that part of the property is closed to the public; or
(2)
Within ten feet of any underpass, overpass, bridge abutment, storm
drain, or similar type of infrastructure.
(b)
A person is presumed to possess the graffiti implement with the intent to make graffiti on such property under subsection (a)(1) or on such infrastructure under subsection (a)(2) if while on the property or within ten feet of the infrastructure, whichever applies, he possesses on or about his or her person at least:
(e)
(1)
Possessed on the property with consent;
(2)
Possessed in a place where the implement was going to be used for
a non-graffiti activity, including but not limited to an employment,
school, home, church, art, or similar activity, or possessed while
in route to or from such a place and activity; or
(3)
Possessed by a minor accompanied or supervised by a parent or guardian,
a teacher in connection with a bona fide school project, a supervisor
during the minor’s regular employment, or that the minor possessed
the aerosol paint on the property on which he or she lives or that
the possession occurred as part of an organized event sponsored or
supervised by the city, a school, a church or some other officially
recognized nonprofit entity.
(g)
Before taking any enforcement action under subsection (a)(2) or (c)(2) of this section, a police officer shall ask the apparent offender’s reason for being within ten feet of the underpass, overpass, bridge abutment, storm drain, or other similar type of infrastructure with a graffiti implement and whether the apparent offender has the consent of the property owner to be on the property and to possess the graffiti implement. The officer shall not issue a citation or make an arrest under subsection (a)(2) or (c)(2) of this section unless the officer reasonably believes that an offense has occurred and that, based on any response and other circumstances, no defense described in subsection (e) is present.
(Ordinance 841-21 adopted 9/28/21)
A parent or guardian of a minor commits an offense if he or
she intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or with criminal negligence
permits the minor to create graffiti on tangible property in the city
without the property owner’s consent.
(Ordinance 841-21 adopted 9/28/21)
The city or its employees shall not be liable for any aspect
of the work performed by employees or volunteers, pursuant to this
article, nor shall the city or its employees be liable for the conduct
of any person performing work, pursuant to this article or for any
accident, mishap or misfortune that occurs to any person(s) participating
in a volunteer assistance program.
(Ordinance 841-21 adopted 9/28/21)
