(a) Graffiti prohibited, abatement procedures, penalty. No person who owns or is in control of any real property within the city shall maintain, permit or allow graffiti to remain on any building, fence, structure or otherwise on such property where the graffiti is visible from the street or other public or private property.
(1) Notice of violation and abatement. Upon the receipt of notice requiring abatement from the graffiti abatement official, any person owning or otherwise being in control of the property shall remove or abate all graffiti within the time frame specified in such notice. The graffiti abatement official shall give notice utilizing the procedures set forth in section 16-45 of this chapter, except that the notice need not include a statement describing the right to an administrative appeal, since none exists. The graffiti abatement official may cause the removal of graffiti from private property should the property owner or person in control fail to remove graffiti after the required notice. The city or its authorized representative is expressly authorized to enter private property and abate graffiti.
(2) Penalty. A violation of this subsection constitutes a civil infraction.
(b) Prohibited conduct, penalties.
(1) No person may write, paint, etch, or draw any inscription, figure, or mark of any type on any public or private building or other real or personal property unless permission of the owner or operator of the property has been obtained.
(2) No person may possess an aerosol spray paint container, broad-tipped indelible marker, solidified paint marker, or etching solution on any private property unless the owner, agent, manager, or other person having control of the property consented to the presence of the aerosol spray paint container, broad-tipped indelible marker, solidified paint marker, etching implement or etching solution.
(3) No person under the age of eighteen (18) may possess an aerosol spray paint container, broad-tipped indelible marker, solidified paint marker, or etching solution container on any pubic property unless the possession is for a lawful purpose and the person is accompanied by a parent, guardian, teacher or other person in a similar relationship over the age of eighteen (18).
(4) No person under the age of eighteen (18) may buy any aerosol spray paint container or etching solution from any person or firm.
(5) Penalties. A violation of this subsection shall constitute a class one (1) misdemeanor and shall be punished as provided below. Except as otherwise provided in this section, no judge shall suspend the imposition of any of the mandatory minimum penalties required by this section.
a. Together with any other penalties as provided by law, a person convicted of violating subsection (1) shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) and not less than twenty (20) hours community service. In addition to any other punishment, the court shall order restitution to the victim for damage or loss caused directly or indirectly by the defendant's offense in an amount to be determined by the court. In cases of financial hardship as determined by the court, additional community service hours may be imposed in lieu of fines. Persons under the age of eighteen (18) will be punished as provided for in A.R.S. Tit. 8.
b. Together with any other penalties as provided by law, a person convicted of violating subsection (2) or (3) shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred ($100.00) dollars and not less than twenty (20) hours of community service. In cases of financial hardship as determined by the court, additional community service hours may be imposed in lieu of fines. Persons under the age of eighteen (18) will be punished as provided for in A.R.S. Tit. 8.
c. A person convicted of violating subsection (4) shall be punished as provided for in A.R.S. Tit. 8.
d. The court may order the parent or guardian of a minor child who had knowledge that the minor child intended to engage in or was engaging in an act of graffiti as described in subsection (1) to assist the minor child in payment of restitution and/or performance of community service.
(c) Sale, storage and display of spray paint containers or etching solution.
(1) No person shall sell, deliver, transfer or give spray paint containers or etching solution to persons under age eighteen (18). Evidence that a person examined acceptable evidence of age and acted upon such evidence in a transaction or sale shall be a defense to any prosecution under this subsection. This subsection does not apply to the transfer of an aerosol spray paint container or etching solution from a parent to child, guardian to ward, employer to employee, teacher to student or in any other similar relationship when such transfer is for a lawful purpose.
(2) Spray paint containers or etching solutions sold at retail establishments shall be stored or displayed either (a) in an area that is inaccessible to the public without employee assistance in the regular course of business or (b) within fifteen (15) feet of a cash register and within the line of sight of a cashier at all times.
(3) Identification shall be required of purchasers of spray paint containers or etching solution appearing to be under the age of twenty-six (26). A retailer shall not be found responsible for violation of this subsection unless the failure to require identification resulted in a sale of spray paint or etching solution to a person under age eighteen (18).
(4) No person shall sell, deliver, transfer or display spray paint containers or etching solution at swap meets, yard sales, garage sales, or other like events.
(5) A retailer shall be responsible for the violation of any provision of this section by its employees.
(6) Penalty. A violation of any provision of this subsection constitutes a civil infraction. A person found responsible for a violation of any provision of this subsection shall be fined not less than two hundred dollars ($200.00). The fine amount of each subsequent violation of any provision of this subsection within a consecutive 365-day period shall increase by increments of three hundred dollars ($300.00) for each violation. No magistrate, special magistrate or limited special magistrate may suspend the imposition of the minimum fines prescribed herein.
(Ord. No. 9816, § 15, 2-24-03; Ord. No. 10126, § 7, 3-1-05; Ord. No. 10393, §§ 2, 3, 4-24-07; Ord. No. 10833, § 6, 8-4-10; Ord. No. 10865, § 1, 12-21-10)