HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD-16-06 Amend Ch 8.37- Remove Graffiti on Public PropertyORDINANCE NO. 16-
06 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF ORANGE AMENDING CHAPTER 8.37
OF THE ORANGE MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING
TO REMOVAL OF GRAFFITI FROM
PRIVATE STRUCTURES ON PUBLIC
PROPERTY.WHEREAS, the City, along with most of Orange County, has experienced
an increase in graffiti vandalism;
and WHEREAS, one of the favorite targets of graffiti vandals are utility
facilities,such as utility boxes and poles, that are located on public property and especially
public rights of way;
and WHEREAS, graffiti vandals specifically target walls, buildings and
other structures that can be viewed by large numbers of people traveling on public rights
of way;
and WHEREAS, it is a widespread belief among law enforcement that
immediate removal of graffiti is a deterrent to more graffiti, that graffiti can and does spur
additional crime in the area of the graffiti and that graffiti can cause economic harm to
City businesses;
and WHEREAS, the City expends significant sums of money each year
removing graffiti from structures owned by private utilities due to private utilities not being
pro-active and in many cases, even reactive, in keeping their utility boxes and
other appurtenances free of graffiti;
and WHEREAS, the purpose of this Ordinance is to reduce crime, reduce
the incidents of graffiti, reduce aesthetic blight; reduce or reimburse the City for
public expenditures associated with graffiti removal on private structures that are making use
of public property; and to further the prosperity of businesses in the
City.NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
ORANGE DOES ORDAIN AS
SECTION I:
A new Section 8.37.075 is added to the Orange Municipal Code to provide as
follows:
8.37.075 Graffiti on Private Structures on Public Property.
It shall be unlawful for the owner of any utility box, pole, or
other appurtenances on any City property to permit graffiti to remain
on such structures for a period of more than two business days when
such graffiti is capable of being viewed by a person utilizing any
public right-of-way in the City, such as a highway,
street, sidewalk,road, parkway or alley. The two business days shall run
from the time the City has given written or telephonic notice to the
owner of such structure. All persons possessing such structures
shall provide the City with an address and telephone number the City can
utilize to provide such notification. If the graffiti is not removed
within the applicable two business days, the City may summarily
remove
the graffiti.In addition to penalties provided under this Chapter,
the owner of the structure shall reimburse the City for its cost
of removal,including any costs associated with notification. The
City shall provide the owner of the structure with an invoice for the costs.
If the owner of the structure desires to dispute either the imposition
or the amount of the invoice, then such owner shall notifY the
Public Works Director in writing of a request for hearing within 10
City business days of the mailing of the invoice. The invoice shall notifY
the owner of the address at which to request an appeal as well as
the timeframe for making such a request. Failure to request an appeal
within the time frame provided by this section shall be deemed as a
waiverof any right to contest the imposition or the amount of the
invoice. Ifan appeal is requested, a hearing shall be held in the manner set
forth in Section 8.04.090 of the Orange Municipal Code. The
hearing officer shall determine whether or not the imposition and amount
of the invoice were appropriate under
this section.This ordinance shall not be enforced against an entity
or person that has submitted a voluntary pro-active
graffiti removal program which has been approved by the Public Works
Director and which such person or entity is in compliance as determined
by the
Public
SECTION II:
Should any section, subsection, clause, or provision of this Ordinance for any
reason be held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such invalidity or unconstitutionality
shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of the remaining portions of this
Ordinance; it being hereby expressly declared that this Ordinance, and each section,
subsection, sentence, clause and phrase hereof would have been prepared, proposed,
approved and ratified irrespective of the fact that anyone or more sections, subsections,
sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid or unconstitutional. This Ordinance
shall be prospective in application from its effective date.
SECTION III:
A summary of this Ordinance shall be published and a certified copy of the full
text of this Ordinance shall be posted in the Office of the City Clerk at least five (5) days
prior to the City Council meeting at which this Ordinance is to be adopted. A summary
of this Ordinance shall also be published once within fifteen (15) days after this
Ordinance's passage in a newspaper of general circulation, published, and circulated in
the City of Orange. The City Clerk shall post in the Office of the City Clerk a certified
copy of the full text of such adopted Ordinance along with the names of those City
Council members voting for and against the Ordinance in accordance with Government
Code Section 36933. This Ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days from and after the
date of its final passage.
ADOPTED this 13th day of February, 2007.
of Orange
ATTEST:
City Clerk, 1MaryE.
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STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE )
CITY OF ORANGE )
I, MARY E. MURPHY, City Clerk of the City of Orange, California, do hereby
certify that the foregoing Ordinance was introduced at the regular meeting of the City
Council held on the 24th day of October, 2006, and thereafter at the regular meeting of
said City Council duly held on the 13th day of February, 2007, was duly passed and
adopted by the following vote, to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
COUNCILMEMBERS: Smith, Murphy, Cavecche, Dumitru
COUNCILMEMBERS: None
COUNCILMEMBERS: Bilodeau
COUNCILMEMBERS: None
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City Clerk,Orange
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