[Adopted 2-19-1981 by L.L. No. 1-1981]
This article shall be known as the "Property Maintenance Law of the
Village of Tuxedo Park" and may be referred to herein as the "Property Maintenance
Law" or as "this article."
The purposes of this article shall be.
A.
To provide for the public health, safety and welfare.
B.
To avoid, prevent and eliminate the maintenance or creation
of hazards to the public health or safety.
C.
To avoid, prevent and eliminate conditions which, if
permitted to exist or continue, will depreciate or tend to depreciate the
value of adjacent or surrounding properties.
D.
To prevent the creation, continuation, extension or aggravation
of blight.
E.
To preserve property values in the Village.
F.
To prevent the physical deterioration or progressive
downgrading of the quality of housing facilities in the Village.
G.
To prevent and eliminate physical conditions in or on
any property which constitute nuisances and are thereby potentially dangerous
or hazardous to life, health or safety of persons on or near the premises
where such conditions exist.
H.
To establish minimum standards governing the maintenance
and condition of land, buildings, structures and premises in the Village.
I.
To fix responsibilities and duties thereof upon owners,
lessees, operators and occupants of property.
J.
To provide for administration and enforcement.
K.
To fix penalties for the violation of this article.
For the specific purposes of this article, the following terms, whenever
used herein or referred to in this article, shall have the respective meanings
assigned to them hereunder unless a different meaning clearly appears from
the context:
New or used materials for the construction, renovation or alteration
of buildings or structures, including but not limited to foundation and masonry
materials, lumber, roofing materials, plumbing and electrical materials, doors,
windows, screens, tanks, fences, rails and balustrades, etc.
[Added 2-21-1990 by L.L. No. 1-1990]
A fence of any kind composed of any material or fabric anywhere on
a person's property that is not in a state of good repair due to any
one or a combination of the following conditions:
The fabric thereof (wire, slats, posts, pickets etc.) becoming dislodged
from the supporting structures or posts.
The supporting structures or posts not being vertical, i.e. at right
angles to the plane of the horizon or capable of supporting the fence fabric.
The fabric of the fence being in a rotted, decayed or unmaintained condition,
or overgrown with nonarbor cultural growth.
[Added 1-21-1998 by L.L. No. 2-1998]
Any structure or building, including a dwelling, of which any exterior component part, such as its exterior walls or fabric, windows, chimneys, roofs, decks, terraces or parts thereof, is in a state of structural dilapidation, ruin or decay to the extent that such state of dilapidation, ruin or decay is visible to the naked eye of an observer from any public way or street or any adjoining property, notwithstanding that such a condition may not constitute a dangerous building or an unsafe condition under §§ 53-10 and 75-24 of this Code, respectively.
[Added 1-21-1998 by L.L. No. 2-1998]
Those portions of a building or structure which are exposed to public
view or are visible from adjoining or adjacent lots, including all outside
surfaces and appurtenances thereto; and the open land space of any premises
outside of any building or structure erected thereon.
Any public or private condition that would constitute a nuisance according
to the statutes, laws and regulations of the State of New York, its governmental
agencies or the regulations and laws of the Village.
Any physical condition existing in or on the exterior of any premises
which is potentially dangerous, detrimental or hazardous to the life, health
or safety of persons on, near or passing within the proximity of premises
where said condition exists.
Any person residing, living or sleeping in or on the premises or
having actual possession, use or occupancy of a dwelling premises, or any
person or entity in possession of or using any premises, or part thereof,
whether or not the owners thereof and regardless of the duration of time of
such possession, use or occupancy.
Any person, persons or entity, not the owner, who has charge, care
or control of a dwelling or premises, or a part thereof, with or without the
knowledge, consent or authority of the owner.
Any person, persons or entity who shall have legal or equitable title
in any form whatsoever to any premises or part thereof, with or without accompanying
actual possession thereof, or who shall have charge, care or control of any
lot, premises, building, structure or part thereof as owner or agent of the
owner, or as a fiduciary, trustee, receiver, guardian, lessee or mortgagee
in possession, regardless of how such possession was obtained. Any person,
group of persons or entity who is a lessee, sublessee or assignee of a lessee
of any part or all of any building, structure or land shall be deemed to be
a co-owner with the lessor for the purposes of this article and shall have
responsibility over the portion of the premises so sublet, leased or assigned.
A lot, plot or parcel of land, right-of-way or multiples thereof,
including the buildings or structures thereon.
All discarded, useless, unusable, unused or worthless solid waste
matter or materials, combustible or noncombustible, including but not limited
to garbage; trash; ashes; paper; paper goods and products; wrappings; cans;
bottles; containers; junk; glass; boxes; crockery; wood; plastic; rubber;
leather; furniture; household goods; appliances; bedding; scrap lumber; scrap
metal; construction material; inoperable machinery, or parts thereof; garden
or farming implements and supplies; tires; abandoned, inoperative or unusable
automobiles and vehicles; and solid commercial or industrial waste.
A combination of materials which forms a construction, such as buildings,
platforms, sheds, swimming pools, tennis courts of all types and fences, whether
above, below or at ground level.
The Village of Tuxedo Park in the County of Orange and State of New
York.
In any case where the provisions of this article impose a higher or
stricter standard than set forth in any other ordinance, law or regulation
of the Village of Tuxedo Park, or under the laws or regulations of the State
of New York or any of its agencies, then the standards as set forth herein
shall prevail; but if the provisions of this article impose a lower or lesser
standard than any other regulation, law or ordinance of the Village, or of
the laws and regulations of the State of New York or any of its agencies,
then the higher standard contained in any such other ordinance, regulation
or law shall prevail.
Compliance with this article shall not constitute a defense against
any violation of any other ordinance or law of the Village applicable to any
structure or premises, nor shall any one act of compliance constitute a defense
against any subsequent or other violation of this article.
Owners, operators and occupants shall have all the duties, obligations
and responsibilities prescribed in this article, and no such person or entity
shall be relieved of any duty, obligation or responsibility hereunder, nor
be entitled to assert, as a defense against any charge made against him or
them for violation of this article, the fact that another owner, operator
or occupant or any other third person or entity is also responsible therefor
and in violation thereof.
A.
Application of Building Code. Any alterations to buildings,
structures or appurtenances thereto, or changes of use therein, which may
be caused directly or indirectly by the enforcement of this article shall
be done in accordance with all applicable sections of any Building Code heretofore
or hereafter adopted by the Village.[1]
In furtherance of the purposes of this article, it shall be the duty
and responsibility of the owner, operator or occupant of premises to comply
with any or all of the requirements and standards of this article to keep
the premises free of conditions which constitute violations hereof and to
promptly remove, prevent or abate such conditions.
[Amended 2-21-1990 by L.L. No. 1-1990]
The exterior of all premises shall be kept free of the following matter,
materials or conditions:
A.
Refuse, as hereinabove defined.
B.
Rubbish, as hereinabove defined.
C.
Construction materials.
D.
Abandoned, uncovered or structurally unsound wells, shafts,
towers, chimneys, exterior cellar openings, basement hatchways, foundations
or excavations.
E.
Abandoned iceboxes, refrigerators, boilers, hot-water
heaters, television sets and other similar major appliances.
F.
Nuisances, as hereinabove defined.
G.
Vehicles or parts thereof, including boats and trailers,
motorized or not, licensed or unlicensed, registered or unregistered, which
vehicles or parts thereof are or have been junked, abandoned, dismantled or
are in a state of visible disrepair.
H.
Fallen trees, limbs or branches within 50 feet of a public
roadway or neighboring property line.
I.
Deteriorated fences.
[Added 1-21-1998 by L.L. No. 1-1998]
J.
Deteriorated structures.
[Added 1-21-1998 by L.L. No. 2-1998]
A.
Enforcement Officer; appearance tickets. The Building
Inspector of the Village of Tuxedo Park is hereby designated as the officer
charged with the enforcement of this article and is hereinafter referred to
as the "Enforcement Officer." The Enforcement Officer is hereby authorized
to issue appearance tickets, pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Law of the
State of New York, to secure the enforcement of this article.[1]
B.
Enforcement procedure. Whenever the Enforcement Officer
determines that there is or has been a violation of any provision of this
article, he shall give notice of such violation to the person, persons or
entities responsible therefor under this article. Such notice shall be in
writing and shall include a concise statement of the reasons for its issuance.
Such notice shall be deemed to be properly and sufficiently served if a copy
thereof is sent by registered or certified mail to the last known address
of the person or entity upon which the same is served, as shown by the most
recent assessment roll of the Village; or a copy thereof is handed to said
person or persons; or a copy thereof is left at the usual place of abode or
office of said persons or entities. Notice shall be given as aforesaid within
or without the Village. The notice shall also state that unless the violation
is abated, removed, cured, prevented or desisted from within 10 days of the
date of service of such notice, exclusive of the date of service, an appearance
ticket shall issue for such violation. The Enforcement Officer may, at the
time he issues the notice, extend the period for compliance with the violation
stated in the notice for a period in excess of the aforesaid 10 days if, in
his judgment, the abatement, removal, prevention, cessation of or cure of
the condition violated cannot reasonably be effected within the ten-day period;
and in such cases, the Enforcement Officer shall state such reasonably required
extended period in the notice, which shall then be applicable instead of the
aforesaid 10 days.
C.
Emergency conditions. Whenever the Enforcement Officer
finds that an emergency condition in violation of this article exists, which
condition requires immediate attention in order to protect the public health
or safety, he may issue an order by service of notice in the manner set forth
above, reciting the existence of such an emergency condition and requiring
that such action be taken by the violator as soon as it is reasonably necessary
to meet the emergency. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article,
such order shall be effective immediately. Any person to whom such an order
is directed shall comply therewith immediately, but, upon objection in writing
to the Enforcement Officer, any such person shall be afforded a hearing before
the Board of Trustees of the Village as soon as is reasonably possible. After
such a hearing and decision by the Board of Trustees as to the existence or
nonexistence of the emergency condition, the Board of Trustees may continue
such order in effect or modify or withdraw it.
A.
B.
Civil penalty. Any person or entity who has violated
any of the provisions of this article or any order promulgated hereunder shall
be subject to a civil penalty enforceable and collectible by the Village in
the amount of $100 for each such violation. Such penalty shall be collected
by and in the name of the Village for each day that such violation shall continue.
C.
Injunction. In addition to the above-provided penalties
and punishment, the Board of Trustees of the Village may also maintain an
action or proceeding in the name of the Village in a court of competent jurisdiction
to compel compliance with or to restrain, by injunction, the violation of
this article or any order promulgated hereunder.
