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Home My Public Portal Abouto 99:18 99-18 No. k)uncilman Presents the following Ordinance Seconded by Councilman AN ORDINANCE REPEALING THE EXISTING CHAPTER 140 OF THE CODE OF THE BOROUGH OF CARTERET AND CREATING A NEW CHAPTER 140 ENTITLED "GRAFFITI" WHEREAS, the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Carteret believe that graffiti is detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the community and is contrary to the Borough of Carteret's property maintenance goals and aesthetic standards~ and WHEREAS, the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Carteret have determined that the current graffiti ordinance is inadequate. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Carteret that Chapter 140 of the Code of the Borough of Carteret is repealed in its entirety and replaced with the following: § 140-1. DEFINITIONS. "BOROUGH" means Borough of Carteret, New Jersey. "DEFACE" means to cover, mark, write on, paint, color or otherwise mar, disfigure or draw whatsoever on any private or public property of any nature, without the express consent of the oxvner. "GRAFFITI" shall mean any form of inscription, word figure, marking or design that is marked, etched, scratched, drawn down or painted on any building, structure, fixture or other improvement, whether permanent or temporary, including by way of example only and without limitation, fencing surrounding construction sites, whether public or private without the consent of the owner of the property, or the owner's authorized agent, which is visible from the private right of way. "OWNER" shall mean the owner of record of the property as set forth in the records of the Tax Assessor for the Borough of Carteret. "INDELIBLE MARKER" shall mean any felt tip marker, china marker, or similar device that is not water soluble and which has a flat or angled writing surface one-half inch or greater. "KNOWINGLY" includes knowledge or information which a parent should reasonably be expected to have pertaining to the marking of graffiti. It is intended to include and require neglectfi_fl or careless parents to maintain a reasonable community standard of parental respectability through an objective test. There shall be no defense of a parent who is indifferent to the activities or conducts a minor in their custody, when they have knowledge of the individual's actions that are not in compliance with this Ordinance. "MINOR OR JUVENILE" shall be used interchangeably and shall mean any person under the age of eighteen (18), any person less than eighteen (18) years of age or any person who has not celebrated his or her eighteenth (I 8th) birthday. PAGE_ "PARENT" means any person to whom legal custody of the juvenile has been given by court order or is acting in the place of the parent or is responsible for the care and welfare of the juvenile and shall include: 1. Natural or adoptive parents 2. Legal guardians. 3 A person who stands in "loco parentis" 4 A person to whom legal custody has been given by Court Order. "PUBLIC PLACE" means any place to which the public has access, including but not limited to a public street, road, thoroughfare, sidewalk, bridge, alley, plaza, park, recreation or shopping area, public transportation facility, vehicle use for public transportation, parking lot or any other parking, public building, structure or any municipal parking signs, etc, or area. 2 § 140.2 PROHIBITED ACTS The following acts are prohibited: A. No person shall willfully or maliciously damage, deface or vandalize any public or private property by painting, writing, drawing, or otherwise insubscribing in any fashion of graffiti thereon without the express permission or consent of the owner. However, this prohibition shall not apply to easily removable (which are water soluble) chalk markings on public sidewalks or streets, written or drawn in connection with traditional children's games or in any lawful business or public purpose or activity. B. It shall be unlawful to aid anyone in defacing public or private property. C. No person shall possess a spray container or indelible marker in any public place or on any public facility or private property with the intent to use same to deface said public building property or private property, absent express permission to the contrary. § 140-3 PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY. It shall be unlawful for a parent as defined in Section 2 of this Ordinance having legal custody over a minor to knowingly permit or by inefficient or lack of control to allow such minor in their control to place graffiti on any private or public property as defined in Section 2 of this Ordinance. § 140-4 ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES. A. In the case of a first violation by the juvenile, the juvenile and parent shall receive, both in person and by certified mail, a written warning indicating the circumstances under which the juvenile was found to be in violation of this ordinance~ B. If the minor has been convicted of violating this ordinance on a prior occasion within six (6) months of the date of the present violation, there shall be a presumption that the parent or guardian having care of the minor, knew or should have known of the minor's violation of this section. NO. 99-18 PAGE 3 § 140-5 VIOLATION AND PENALTIES A. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this ordinance shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by one or more of the following penalties. 1. A fine not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) and not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00); 2. Imprisonment not to exceed ninety (90) days; 3. A period of community service not to exceed ninety (90) days. B. If, after the receipt of a warning notice pursuant to Section 3 of a first violation by a juvenile, a second graffiti violation is adjudged against the same juvenile, the parents of the juvenile shaI1 be subject to prosecution under this section, and shall be required to perform community service for a period of not to exceed ninety (90) days, and pay a fine of not less than $500.00, but no more than $1,000.00. Additionally, any parent having the care or custody of a juvenile found to be in violation of this section, if it is adjudged that both the juvenile and the juvenile's parent violated the graffiti ordinance, shall be required to perform the community service together. § 140-6 SPECIAL ACCOUNT. Seventy percent (70%) of each fine collected, pursuant to this ordinance, shall be placed in a special account to be used as assistance to homeowners for removing graffiti and to purchase necessary equipment to perform said cleaning. The remaining thirty percent (30%) shall be deposited into the General Fund of the Borough of Carteret. § 140-7 REMOVAL OF GRAFFITI Requirement to Remove Graffiti. The occupant, lessee, agent and/or landlord of any commercial premises, wherever situated within the Borough, which has any form of graffiti on any building or structure, shall be required to either restore the defaced surface by removing the graffiti or repaint the defaced surface within ten (10) business days after notice to the occupant, lease, agent and/or landlord by the Borough's Police Director (or his designee) to remove same. NO. 99-18 PAGE 4 § 140-8 REPEALER Any and all ordinances inconsistent with this ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent of any such inconsistency. § 140-9 SEVERABILITY If any provision of this ordinance is held unconstitutional or otherwise found invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction that remaining provisions of this ordinance shall not be invalidated. DO NOT USE SPACE BELOW THIS LINE COUNCILMAN CRILLEY FAZEKAS GUTOWSKI X - lndicale Vole RECORD OF COUNCIL VOTE YES NO NV. A.B. COUNCILMAN X t MANCIISO X ' 4[ O'BRIEN. x/I AB - Absent NV - Not Voling XOR - Indicates Vote ;o Overrule Veto Sj Adopted on first reading of the Council of the Borough of Carteret, N.J., on _ MAY 20: 1 qqq JUNE 3, 1999 Adopted on second reading ariel- hearing on