A. Detrimental To Youth: The City Council finds that exposure to gang type graffiti adversely affects the emotional well-being of City youth and creates peer pressure on these youth to join these undesirable and detrimental organizations. The Council finds that quick removal of graffiti may assist in preventing the entrenchment of gangs.
B. Devalued Property: The Council further finds that graffiti creates a condition of blight which can result in the deterioration of property values, and is inconsistent with the City's property maintenance goals and aesthetic standards. Unless graffiti is quickly removed, other properties soon become targets of graffiti.
C. Declared Public Nuisance: The Council hereby declares its intentions to minimize and to quickly remove graffiti to limit its adverse impact on City youth and neighborhoods. Graffiti is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and a public health/safety hazard for purposes of Minnesota Statutes section 429.101, subdivision 1(c). (1998 Code)