(a)   In this section:

      (1)   DIRECTOR means the director of the department designated by the city manager to enforce and administer this section or the director’s authorized representative.

      (2)   GRAFFITI means any marking, including, but not limited to, any inscription, slogan, drawing, painting, symbol, logo, name, character, or figure, that is made in any manner on tangible property.

      (3)   OWNER means any person with the legal right of possession to tangible property.

   (b)   An owner of any tangible property in the city commits an offense if he fails to remove all graffiti from the property that is visible from any public property or right-of-way or from any private property other than the property on which the graffiti exists.

   (c)   Before issuing a citation for a violation under Subsection (b) of this section, the director shall serve the property owner with written notice to remove the graffiti from the property within 15 calendar days after the date the notice is served. The notice may be served by handing it to the owner in person or by United States certified mail, five-day return receipt requested, addressed to the owner at the owner’s post office address as shown in the records of the appraisal district in which the property is located. If the owner cannot be found and the notice is returned by the United States Postal Service, then the owner may be notified by:

      (1)   publication at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the city;

      (2)   posting the notice on or near the front door of each building on the property to which the violation relates; or

      (3)   posting the notice on a placard attached to a stake driven into the ground on the property to which the violation relates.

   (d)   The 15 calendar days will be counted:

      (1)   from the date the notice is personally served on the owner or from the sixth day after the notice is placed in the United States certified mail; or

      (2)   if the owner cannot be found or the notice is returned by the United States Postal Service, from the date the notice is:

         (A)   published in accordance with Subsection (c)(1) of this section; or

         (B)   posted in accordance with Subsection (c)(2) or (c)(3) of this section.

   (e)   Before the director may issue a notice to remove graffiti under Subsection (c), all of the following must occur:

      (1)   The city must offer to remove the graffiti from the owner’s property at no charge to the property owner. The offer must be in writing and must include a date by which the property owner must accept or refuse the offer.

      (2)   The property owner must refuse the city’s offer to remove the graffiti free of charge. The refusal must be provided to the director in writing. Failure to accept or refuse the city’s offer by the date set forth in the offer is deemed to be consent for the city to remove the graffiti from the property free of charge.

   (f)   If the director serves notice to a property owner under Subsection (c) and the property owner fails to remove the graffiti within the time required by Subsection (c), then the city may remove the graffiti and charge the expenses of removal to the property owner in accordance with a fee schedule adopted by city council ordinance or resolution. The city’s expenses to remove the graffiti will be collected from the owner, or levied, assessed, and collected against the property on which the work is performed. To obtain a lien against the property, the director, on behalf of the city council, shall file a statement of expenses with the county clerk of the county in which the property is located setting out the actual expenses incurred by the city, the name of the property owner, if known, and a legal description of the property. The city’s lien attaches when the statement of expenses is filed in the real property records of the county in which the property is located. The city’s lien is subordinate to any previously recorded lien and to the rights of a purchaser or lender for value who acquires an interest in the property before the statement of expenses is filed.

   (g)   It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (b) of this section that:

      (1)   the city did not offer to remove the graffiti at no charge to the property owner in compliance with Subsection (e)(1);

      (2)   the property owner did not refuse the city’s offer to remove the graffiti free of charge in compliance with Subsection (e)(2);

      (3)   no notice was served on the property owner in compliance with Subsection (c);

      (4)   the graffiti is located on transportation infrastructure;

      (5)   the removal of the graffiti would create a hazard for the person performing the removal;

      (6)   the property owner has removed graffiti from that particular property three or more times within the preceding 12 months; or

      (7)   the graffiti was created on the property with the owner’s consent and does not violate the sign regulations of the Dallas Development Code or any other applicable city ordinance or state or federal law.

   (h)   An offense under this section is punishable by a fine of not less than $200 or more than $500. (Ord. Nos. 22064; 28048)