[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Chicopee
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Spray paint and indelible markers — See Ch. 239.
[Adopted 3-21-2013 by Ord. No. 13-9]
It is the purpose and intent of this article to eliminate graffiti.
Graffiti on buildings, walls, signs, and other structures or places
or other surfaces causes and contributes to blight within neighborhoods
and commercial districts of the City of Chicopee and constitutes a
public nuisance. Graffiti impairs public health and safety and degrades
the value, condition, or appearance of real or personal property and
contributes to the general deterioration of property and business
values for adjacent and surrounding property. The purpose of this
article is to provide the City with enforcement tools to eliminate
graffiti on private property and to impose penalties upon private
property owners who fail to remove graffiti from their property in
a timely manner. This article is not intended to supersede any existing
vandalism and anti-graffiti state laws.
The following words and phrases, when used in this article,
shall have the following meanings:
The intentional painting, marking, scratching, coloring,
tagging or other defacement of any property with/without the consent
of the owner.
Any person who owns, manages or controls any property and
shall be sufficiently identified by the name and address appearing
in the records of the City Assessor.
Any individual, voluntary association of individuals, business,
entity, organization, whether incorporated or not.
Any land, building, structure of real property, including
any fixtures attached thereto, or any personal property located within
the City of Chicopee.
It is the responsibility of the owner of the property to which
graffiti has been applied to promptly remove the graffiti. No owner
of property shall allow graffiti to remain on the property for a period
of 14 days after service of notice of the graffiti from the Building
Commissioner or Health Director or their designee. The notice shall
contain the following information:
A.
The street address and description of the property sufficient for
identification of the property;
B.
A statement that the property has been declared a public nuisance
because of the presence of graffiti on the property;
C.
A concise description of the conditions on the property that have
led to the determination that the property is a public nuisance;
D.
A statement that the graffiti shall be removed from the property
within seven days from service of the notice and that if the owner
fails to remove the graffiti within the time frame specified that
the owner will be in violation of this article and subject to penalties
described therein.
A.
This article may be enforced by civil process, criminal process or
by noncriminal disposition. Any person in violation of this article
shall be punished by a fine of not more than $25. Each day on which
a violation exists shall be deemed to be a separate offense.
B.
The Building Commissioner or the Health Director or their designee
may seek an injunction from a court of competent jurisdiction to restrain
any violation of this article. This article shall not be enforced
against the City or the commonwealth, its authorities, departments
or agencies.
