This By-law is printed under and by authority of the Council of the City of Vancouver (Consolidated for convenience onlyto February 25, 2003) BY-LAW NO. 7343A By-law to prevent unsightliness of property by prohibiting the placement of graffiti and requiring that property bekept free of graffiti (Consolidated for convenience only, to include By-law No. 8633, effective February 25, 2003)

THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF Vancouver, in open meeting assembled,enacts as follows:

1. This by-law may be cited as the "graffiti By-law".
   
   
2. In this by-law "graffiti" means one or more letters, symbols or marks, howsoever made, on any structure or thing but does not include marks made accidentally or any of the following:
   
   • a sign, public notice or traffic control mark authorized by the City Engineer;
     
   • a sign authorized pursuant to the Sign By-law;
     
   • a public notice authorized by a City by-law or by Provincial or Federal legislation;
     
   • in the case of private property, a letter, symbol or mark for which the owner or tenantof the property on which the letter, symbol or mark appears has given prior, written authorization.
     
     
   
3. No person shall place graffiti, or cause graffiti to be placed, on any wall, fence or other structure or thing in any street or other public place.
   
   
4. No person shall place graffiti, or cause graffiti to be placed, on any wall, fence, building or other structure located on real property and adjacent to a street or other public place.
   
   
5. No owner or occupant of real property shall permit graffiti to be placed on any wall, fence, building or structure that is located on such real property and adjacent to a street or other public place.
   
   
6. Every owner of real property must remove from that real property any unsightly accumulation of graffiti within 10 days after the Director of Licenses and Inspections causes a notice to be served upon the owner requiring such removal.
   
   

7. If an owner defaults in removing any unsightly accumulation of graffiti in compliance with section 6 and the notice referred to therein, the City, by its workers or others, may enter the real property and effect such removal at the cost of the defaulting owner.
   
   
8. If an owner defaults in paying to the City, within 30 days after receipt of demand for payment from the City, the cost referred to in section 8, the City may recover from the owner, in any court of competent jurisdiction, the cost as a debt due to the City, or direct that the amount of the cost,after certification by the Director of Finance, be inserted in the real-property tax roll as a charge imposed with respect to the real property in respect of which the City incurred the cost.
   
   
9. Service upon an owner of the notice referred to in section 6 or the demand referred toin section 8 will be sufficient if the Director of Licenses and Inspections mails the notice by prepaid registered post to the address shown on the then current year’s real-property assessment roll for the real property on which the graffiti is located.
   
   
10. Every person who offends against any of the provisions of this by-law, or who suffersor permits any act or thing to be done in contravention or in violation of any of the provisions of this by-law, or who neglects to do or refrains from doing anything required to be done by any of the provisions of this by-law, or who does any act or thing which violates any of the provisions of this by-law, shall be deemed to be guilty of an infraction of this by-law, and shall be liable to penalties hereby imposed.
    
    
11. Every person who commits an offence against a provision of this By-law is liable to afine and penalty of not less than $100 for any offence under this By-law, except for an offence undersections 3, 4, or 5 in respect of which the fine and penalty will be not less than $500.00, and not more than $2,000.00 for each offence.
    
    
12. This by-law comes into force and takes effect on the date of its passing.