(A) It shall be unlawful for any person to place graffiti upon the real or personal, public or private, property of another. It shall not be a defense that the owner/occupant has given permission where the graffiti tends to incite violence.
(B) "Graffiti" shall be defined as any sign, symbol, marking, drawing, name, initial, word, diagram, sketch, picture or letter placed upon the real or personal property of an owner without the owner's express, written permission.
(C) It shall be unlawful for the owner and/or occupant of fixed real or personal property located within the public view to place or give permission to place graffiti, as otherwise defined in subsection (B) of this section, on said real or personal property, if the graffiti tends to incite violence by referring to gang or criminal activity, depicts or expresses obscenity as defined by ordinances, or contains defamatory material about a public or private person, except as otherwise allowed by law.
(D) It shall be unlawful for any person to possess, while in any public building or facility, or while on private property, any of the following materials with the intent to use such material(s) to violate subsections (B) and/or (C) of this section: spray paint containers, paint, ink, marking pens containing nonwater soluble fluid, brushes, applicators or other materials for marking, scratching or etching.
(E) Upon being notified, in writing, by the city of East Moline, the property owner upon which graffiti has been illegally placed shall remove the graffiti within fifteen (15) days of the date of notice. By written request, this time period may be waived by the chief of police or designee thereof, due to weather conditions. The property owner may also request assistance, in writing, for the graffiti removal based on the owner's inability to perform removal. Failure to remove the graffiti within the specified time shall permit the city of East Moline to summarily abate this nuisance by removing the graffiti as prescribed in this chapter and the cost thereof shall be assessed to the owner. The penalty upon conviction for the offense of failure to remove graffiti shall be a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each offense, and each day such failure shall continue shall be considered a separate offense and fines shall be assessed accordingly.
(F) The penalty for violating subsection (A) of this section shall be a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00). The offender may also be ordered by the court, in addition to fines, to pay restitution to the property owner for the costs of restoring the property to its condition before the graffiti was applied.
(G) The penalty for violating subsection (C) of this section shall be a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each offense, and a separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.
(H) The penalty for violating subsection (D) of this section shall be a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00).
(I) Public service work including, but not limited to, cleaning graffiti at locations within the city of East Moline may be required by the court for persons convicted of violating subsection (A), (C), or (D) of this section, in addition to or in lieu of fines or penalties described in subsections (F), (G) and (H) of this section.
(J) Enforcement of this chapter shall be by an officer of the East Moline police department and shall also be granted to the quad city metropolitan enforcement group. (Ord. 96-24, 10-7-1996)