[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Southampton 7-8-1986
by L.L. No. 12-1986. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Graffiti and Defacing of Public
or Private Property Law."
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Any organization or program employed by the criminal courts or judiciary
to provide for appropriate alternative sentences to fine or imprisonment.
To mar the face or surface of, disfigure, injure or spoil the appearance
of.
An inscription, figure, mark or design which is written, scratched,
painted or drawn on a wall, building, monument, statue, rock or any other
surface.
The use of broad-tipped pens, aerosol spray paint cans or other marking
devices used in connection with writing graffiti on the walls, public and
private buildings, statues, monuments and other structures has become a problem
in the Town of Southampton requiring punishment for the perpetrators. The
defacing of such public property and the use of foul language in graffiti
writing is harmful to the general public and is violative of the good and
welfare of the People of the Town of Southampton. Therefore, Town Board intervention
is necessary and advisable to regulate the distribution and sale of aerosol
cans and similar products used in writing graffiti. Punishment by fine or
imprisonment, insofar as our youthful offenders are concerned, has failed
to stop this type of vandalism. It is the intent of the Town Board that any
person guilty of writing graffiti on public or private buildings or structures
should be punished so that the punishment shall fit the crime. The Town Board,
accordingly, recommends to the judiciary, when an offender has been convicted
of violating this chapter, that he be sentenced to remove graffiti under the
supervision of those agencies designated by the judiciary to supervise offenders
sentenced to community service.
A.
No person shall write, paint or draw any word, inscription,
design, figure or mark of any type without the consent and express permission
of the owner or proprietor thereof or, in the case of public property, of
the person having charge, custody or control thereof, or any graffiti upon:
(1)
Any property, public or private, building, church, synagogue,
statue, monument, office, public passenger vehicle, bridge, dwelling or structure
of any kind, including those in the course of erection; and
(2)
The doors, windows, steps, railing, fencing, balconies,
balustrades, stairs, porches, halls, walls, sides of any enclosure thereof
or any movable property.
B.
No person shall disfigure, cut, cover or rub with or otherwise place filth or excrement of any kind on any property stated in Subsection A(1) or (2) above without the consent and express permission of the owner or proprietor thereof or, in the case of public property, of the person having charge, custody or control thereof.
[Amended 7-10-1990 by L.L. No. 19-1990]
Any person who violates this chapter shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor
punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment for not more
than one year, or both. The court may, in its discretion, suspend the fine
if offender agrees to and does in fact restore the property to the condition
it was in prior to its destruction, damage or defacement or agrees to and
does in fact provide restitution for the restoration of the property to the
condition it was in prior to its destruction, damage or defacement, whichever
the court determines is appropriate under the circumstances. In making this
determination, the court shall also consider recommendations made by the victim.
