(A) Definitions. For purposes of this section the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ABATE OR ABATEMENT. The removal or complete covering of graffiti.
AUTHORIZED INDIVIDUAL. A designee of the director of Town Code Enforcement.
DEPARTMENT. The Town Marshal, Town Code Enforcement Officer or designee(s) of either.
GRAFFITI. Any unauthorized inscription, word, figure, design, painting, writing, drawing or carving that is written, marked, etched, scratched. sprayed, drawn, painted, or engraved on or otherwise affixed on a component of any building, structure, or other facility by any graffiti implement, visible from any public property, the public right-of-way, or from any private property other than the property on which it exists. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that such inscription, word, figure, painting, or other defacement is unauthorized. This section does not apply to easily removable chalk markings on the public sidewalks and streets.
NUISANCE. The undertaking of an unlawful act, omission, or failing to perform a duty, or causing, suffering, or permitting any condition or thing to be or exist, which such act, omission, condition, or thing either:
(1) Injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, or safety of others;
(2) Is offensive to the senses;
(3) Unlawfully interferes with, obstructs or tends to obstruct, or renders dangerous for passage any public or private street, highway, sidewalk, stream, easement, ditch, or drainage;
(4) In any way renders other persons insecure in life or the use of property;
(5) Essentially interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property, or tends to depreciate the value of the property of others; or
(6) Violates the different ordinances of the town, or provisions of this code, the Indiana Code, the Indiana Administrative Code, and any applicable federal law, as amended from time to time.
OWNER. The record owner or owners as reflected by the most current records in the Office of the Auditor of Lake County, Indiana.
PERSON. Any individual, partnership, cooperative association, private corporation, personal representative, receiver, trustee, assignee, or any other legal entity.
(B) Prohibited activity.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to apply graffiti to any natural or man-made surface on any property in the town.
(2) The existence of graffiti on public or private property in violation of this section is a nuisance, as identified in division (A) above and in § 90.02.
(3) It is the duty of the owner of the property to which the graffiti has been applied to at all times to keep the property free of graffiti.
(4) It shall be unlawful for an owner to fail or refuse to remove or cover completely all graffiti within 48 hours after the date of the notice described herein.
(C) Determination of violation; notice of violation.
(1) In the event that the town receives a complaint regarding property that is defaced by graffiti, or observes the same, a complaint shall be forwarded to the Town Marshal or Town Code Enforcement Officer, who shall make a record of, and assign a case number to, such complaint. An authorized individual shall visually inspect the property in question. In the event that the duly authorized town official determines that the property has been defaced by graffiti, the town shall issue a notice of violation to the owner, if the town intends to proceed under the provisions of divisions (E), (F) or (G) below, of the property.
(2) A notice of violation, or code violation citation, as described herein, shall be issued by personal service; by certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid; or by posting notice on the property or structure. Notice shall be deemed effective on the date the notice was personally given to the owner; the date the notice is mailed; or 48 hours after notice was posted on the property or structure. The notice shall contain the following information:
(a) The street address of the property;
(b) The approximate location of the graffiti on such property;
(3) A description of the graffiti; and
(4) A statement that the graffiti must be removed or covered completely 48 hours after the date of the notice to abate the graffiti is received by the owner, and that failure to do so may result in the town entering upon the property to remove such graffiti by any means necessary, with the cost of removal to be collected from the owner of the property, and if the owner fails to timely pay said cost of removal of graffiti, the cost remaining unpaid to become a lien on said property.
(D) Extensions for managed or actively maintained properties. In the event that a notice of violation is issued under division (C) above to the owner, and the property is unoccupied but being actively maintained, the person managing or actively maintaining that property or the property owner may submit to the town a written request for an extension of the time provided in division (C) above if compliance within that time will cause undue hardship. The Department will establish the manner, method, and form in which such requests must be made. The Department will also establish a policy to establish the criteria by which requests for extension of time may be approved.
(E) Removal by town authorized. In addition to any fine(s) which may be imposed under this section, in the event that an owner fails to remove, cover, or otherwise eradicate the graffiti within 48 hours from the issuance of the notice, or such later date as the town may allow, the town is authorized to enter upon the property to remove such graffiti, with the cost of removal to be collected from the owner of the property.
(F) Abatement by town; payment of costs by owner; imposition of lien.
(1) In the event that an owner fails to abate a graffiti nuisance during the time allowed for abatement or fails to respond to the notice of the nuisance, the town may abate the nuisance at the owner's expense. This remedy shall be in addition to any other remedy available to the town. Persons authorized by the town to abate the nuisance may enter private property to examine a public nuisance, to obtain information to identify the nuisance, and to remove or direct the removal of the nuisance. Whenever the town shall abate a graffiti nuisance as provided by this section, the town shall have the option of selecting a private contractor to abate the nuisance.
(2) The town shall charge the owner for all work performed to abate the graffiti nuisance, and cause the expense thereof to be assessed as a lien on the property upon which such expense is incurred.
(G) Penalty.
(1) The first violation of division (B) above in a 12-month period shall subject an owner to a fine of $50. Any second violation in a 12-month period shall subject an owner to a fine of $100. Any third or subsequent offense in a 12-month period shall subject an owner to a fine of $200.
(2) A violation shall be considered a second or subsequent violation whether it occurs on the same property as the first violation or on another property owned or occupied by the owner. In the event that the owner fails or refuses to abate a violation within 30 days after the imposition of a fine as provided hereinabove, such continued failure or refusal shall be considered a second or subsequent violation.
(3) Violations of this section shall be handled by, and in accordance with the provisions governing the Town Ordinance Violations Bureau. The owner shall be liable for any lien recording and/or administrative costs associated with delivering notice to the owner. Further, the owner shall also be responsible for all collection and reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the town incurred while enforcing the terms and provisions of this section.
(Ord. 246, 8-25-2015)