This chapter shall be known as the City of Santa Barbara "Graffiti
Removal and Abatement Ordinance."
(Ord. 5349, 2005)
The City Council hereby finds and declares that:
A. Graffiti
is detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the community
in that it promotes a perception in the community that the laws protecting
public and private property may be disregarded with impunity.
B. This
perception fosters a sense of disrespect of the law that results in
an increase in crime; is detrimental to property values, business
opportunities and the enjoyment of life; is inconsistent with the
City's property maintenance goals and aesthetic standards; and results
in additional graffiti and in other properties becoming the target
of graffiti unless it is quickly removed from public and private property.
C. Graffiti
is a threat to public safety and must be quickly abated, as provided
herein, to prevent its proliferation and harm to persons and property
in the City as the re-application, and spread of, graffiti has been
found to dramatically decrease when it is removed in a timely fashion.
D. This
chapter is intended to be consistent with
Government Code Sections
38772 et seq. and 53069.3 which authorize the enactment of ordinances
for the use of City funds to remove graffiti from public or privately
owned permanent structures located on public or privately owned real
property from the city.
E. The
enlistment of business and property owners in the City and their assistance,
active resistance, and prior consent to allow the City to abate graffiti
on their property is recognized and emphasized as a key element in
combating graffiti crime.
F. It is
the purpose of this chapter to provide for a City sponsored program
for the removal of graffiti from walls, pavement, structures and other
improvements on both public and private property. Towards that end,
the City Council hereby deems it appropriate for the Director of Public
Works, acting under the supervision of the City Administrator, to
utilize City funds and designate the City employees or City contractors
necessary to establish a program of effective and prompt graffiti
removal by the City for all real property within the City. Subject
to the required appropriation of funds, this program may utilize City
Public Works employees, materials, and equipment and other City resources
which may be necessary to accomplish the graffiti abatement and removal
purposes of the program, particularly with respect to graffiti on
publicly owned property. The program shall also be made available
to property owners within the City, on a cost reimbursement basis,
for the removal of graffiti from private property pursuant to a standard
agreement between the property owner and the City.
(Ord. 5349, 2005)
For the purposes of this chapter, the listed terms are defined
as follows:
Director.
The Director of Public Works for the City of Santa Barbara.
Graffiti.
Any inscription, word, figure, marking or design that is
marked, etched, scratched, drawn, affixed, or painted on any property,
including any building, structure, fixture or other improvement, whether
permanent or temporary, that was not authorized in advance by the
owner of such property.
Graffiti Abatement Action.
An administrative procedure which identifies graffiti, provides
notice to the owner to abate the graffiti and provides for abatement
by the City in the absence of a timely response by the property owner.
Graffiti Abatement Notice.
Written notice informing the property owner that graffiti
exists on his/her/their property and that it must be removed within
three days or the City will remove it.
Graffiti Implement.
An aerosol type paint container, etching cream, a felt tip
marker, or any device (including a sticker) or material capable of
being used to create a visible mark at least one eighth (1/8) of an
inch in width, or visible from five or more feet away.
Property Owner.
Any one of the legal owner(s), if multiple owners, or any
person as shown on the latest equalized tax assessment roll(s) of
the affected property. If designated in writing, the owner's authorized
agent or any person who may be in possession of, or who has a right
to possess such property.
(Ord. 5349, 2005)
Pursuant to the authority of California
Government Code Section
38771, graffiti, whether on public property or on private property,
is hereby declared a public nuisance in the City.
(Ord. 5349, 2005)
It is unlawful for the owner of any real property within the
City, whether public or private, to allow graffiti to remain in place
on such property or to maintain graffiti that has been placed upon
such property.
(Ord. 5349, 2005)
By adopting this Graffiti Abatement and Removal Ordinance and
in establishing a City graffiti abatement program, the City is assuming
an undertaking only to promote the general welfare. It is not assuming,
nor is it imposing on its officers and employees, an obligation for
breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims
that such breach proximately caused injury.
(Ord. 5349, 2005)