[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Wawarsing 12-18-2003 by L.L. No. 1-2003. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Abandoned
Vehicle Law of the Town of Wawarsing."
A clean, wholesome, attractive environment is
declared to be of importance to the health and safety of the inhabitants,
and such an environment is deemed essential to the economy of the
Town and the general welfare of its citizens. The unrestrained accumulation
of motor vehicles not registered for use on the public highways and/or
not in operating condition is a hazard to such health, safety and
welfare of the citizens of the Town, necessitating the regulation
and restraint thereof.
A.
ABANDONED VEHICLE
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
COMMERCIAL GARAGE
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
LEGAL OCCUPANT
OPEN STORAGE
OWNER
PARCEL OF PROPERTY
PERSON
TOWN
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall
have the meanings indicated:
Any motor vehicle, whether automobile, bus, truck, mobile
home, motorcycle, motor bicycle, minibicycle or snowmobile or any
other contraption originally intended for travel on the public highways
which is abandoned, stored, left or located by its owner or any other
person on public or private property in the Town of Wawarsing and
which is not registered in accordance with the laws, rules and regulations
of the Department of Motor Vehicles of the State of New York or the
laws of any other state for operation on the public highways and which
does not contain license plates validly issued by the Department of
Motor Vehicles of the State of New York or the laws of any other state
or is not in a condition to meet the requirements for a New York State
vehicle inspection sticker shall be defined as an "abandoned vehicle."
For the purpose of this chapter, "abandoned,"
"stored" or "located" shall mean when the abandoned vehicle is visible
from a public highway or a dwelling unit on a neighboring property.
Any motor vehicle not displaying a valid New
York State vehicle inspection sticker or displaying an inspection
sticker expired for more than 12 months will be presumed to be an
abandoned vehicle, even if such motor vehicle is registered and has
valid license plates.
A motor vehicle located on the premises of a
person licensed by the State of New York to sell new or used motor
vehicles, which is held for the purpose of resale and is in a condition
to meet the requirements for a New York State vehicle inspection sticker,
shall not be considered an abandoned vehicle.
A motor vehicle located in a junkyard as permitted
under the Zoning Code of the Town of Wawarsing or a nonconforming
junkyard which predated the adoption of the Town Zoning Code within
the Town of Wawarsing shall not be considered as an abandoned vehicle.
Any business repairing motor vehicles or any part thereof.
The Code Enforcement Officer of the Town, unless the Town
Board, by resolution, designates some other Town officer as enforcement
officer or, by resolution, establishes the position of enforcement
officer for the Town and appoints some qualified person thereto at
a salary or per diem rate specified in such resolution.
Any person who, singularly or together with other persons,
is in possession of real property pursuant to an agreement with the
owner thereof. The term shall include tenants, contract vendees and
licensees.
Storage other than in a completely enclosed structure, such
as a garage constructed of wood, brick or metal.
A person owning real property in the Town. A parcel of real
property owned by more than one person shall be considered as having
each such person be an owner.
Real property appearing on the tax rolls of the Town as one
unit.
Includes natural persons, corporations, partnerships, limited
liability companies, unincorporated associations or any other organizations
of two or more persons.
The Town of Wawarsing, its Council persons and agents; also
public and private areas within the Town.
B.
The term "shall" is always mandatory. Words used in
the singular shall include the plural and vice versa.
Open storage of one or more abandoned vehicles
shall not be permitted on private or public property within the Town,
except as permitted by this chapter and as permitted in § 112-18I(10)
of the Code of the Town of Wawarsing.
A.
Except as otherwise set forth in this section, any
person wishing to store or locate an abandoned vehicle on a parcel
of property must first obtain a permit from the Town's Enforcement
Officer allowing such storage.
B.
The permit which is provided for in this section may
be granted after an application has been made showing:
(1)
The make, model and year of the vehicle.
(2)
The name and address of the last registered owner
and last registration plate number as issued by the appropriate Department
of Motor Vehicles.
(3)
The vehicle identification number.
(4)
The nature of the applicant's ownership or title to
such vehicle.
C.
Purposes for storage.
(1)
Purposes for which abandoned vehicles can be stored
or located in accordance with this section are as follows:
(a)
Antique or classic car restoration for vehicles
25 or more years old. A permit will be issued which is valid for a
period of six months. The permit may be renewed on one occasion for
a renewal term of six months, provided that, during the initial six-month
period, the vehicle has been substantially improved since the issuance
of the original permit.
(b)
Repair/restoration of a vehicle less than 25
years old. A permit will be issued for a thirty-day period, renewable
for one thirty-day period. The renewal shall be granted only if the
vehicle has been substantially improved since the issuance of the
original permit.
(c)
Removal of parts or components. A permit will
be issued for a sixty-day period, renewable for one sixty-day period
only.
(2)
For purposes of this section, a vehicle shall be deemed
substantially improved if the vehicle meets 50% of the standards for
highway use, i.e., 50% of standards necessary to pass vehicle inspection
pursuant to New York State Law.
(3)
There shall be a fee of $25 for each permit issued
pursuant to this section; provided, however, that with respect to
a renewal permit issued pursuant to this section the renewal fee shall
equal $50.
D.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary which is
contained in this section, a commercial garage which is registered
with the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles as a motor vehicle
repair shop and whose parcel of property is in an area in which an
automobile repair or automobile service or gas station is a permitted
use pursuant to the Town Zoning Code[1] or who has a variance issued by the Town Zoning Board
of Appeals to operate a motor vehicle repair shop in any other district
or who is a nonconforming use which predated the adoption of the Town
Zoning Code shall be permitted to maintain abandoned vehicles on said
parcel of property without the necessity of obtaining a permit from
the Town's Code Enforcement Officer, provided that the following conditions
are satisfied:
(1)
No more than 25 abandoned vehicles are stored or located
on the applicable parcel of property at any given time.
(2)
All of the abandoned vehicles which are located on
the property do not exceed 75% of the available open land on said
parcel of property. For purposes of the foregoing, "available open
land" shall mean the entire parcel, reduced by the portion of the
parcel where the improvements are located.
Any owner or legal occupant of a parcel of property
in the Town who shall abandon, store, locate, leave or allow or condone
any other person to abandon, store, locate or leave an abandoned vehicle
upon a parcel of property owned or occupied by him within the Town
contrary to the provisions hereof shall be guilty of a violation hereof.
Any person, whether as owner or driver of a vehicle or an operator
of a towing vehicle or carrier, who shall abandon, store, locate or
leave an abandoned vehicle upon a parcel of property in the Town of
which he is not either the owner or legal occupant, without the written
permission of the owner or legal occupant, shall be guilty of a violation
hereof.
Every person convicted of a violation of any
of the provisions of this chapter shall, for the first conviction
thereof, be punished by a fine of not less than $100 and not more
than $250, for a second or subsequent conviction within 12 months
after any previous conviction, such person shall be punished by a
fine of not less than $200 and not more than $500 or by imprisonment
for not more than 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Each day of continued violation shall constitute a separate additional
violation and each abandoned vehicle shall constitute a separate violation.
In addition to the penalties set forth above,
the Town may commence an action in its own name against any person
in any civil court of competent jurisdiction to seek an injunction
to enforce compliance with this chapter. Such an action for injunctive
relief may be independent of or a part of an action to collect the
civil penalties as hereinabove provided.
In addition to any penalty or fine as provided in § 105-7 hereof or the remedy provided in § 105-8, any abandoned vehicle may be removed from the premises upon which it is located by the Town in a manner hereinafter provided:
A.
The enforcement officer, upon detecting an abandoned
vehicle, shall serve written notice on the person owning the parcel
of property on which the same is located, ordering such person to
remove the same or cause the same to be removed therefrom within 15
days of the date of such service. Such notice shall contain a description
of the parcel of property, a statement as to the location thereon
of the abandoned vehicle and a reference to this chapter and to the
fact that the location of such abandoned vehicle on such parcel of
property is in violation of this chapter. If such parcel of property
is owned by more than one person, personal service on any one of such
owners shall suffice; however, as to any owner not personally served
with such notice or if no owner can be located upon whom to make personal
service, the Code Enforcement Officer shall mail such notice to owners
not personally served or to the owner and to all owners if no owner
was personally served by registered mail to their or his last known
address as shown on the latest completed assessment roll of the Town.
In addition, the Code Enforcement Officer shall post conspicuously
a copy of such notice on the parcel of property upon which said abandoned
vehicle is located.
B.
At the expiration of 15 days after the service or
mailing and posting of such notice, if such abandoned vehicle has
not been removed, the Code Enforcement Officer shall report such fact
to the Town Board in writing. Such report shall cite the violation,
the notices given as required hereunder and the failure to comply
therewith and may include or refer to photographs of such abandoned
vehicle and of the parcel of property upon which it is located. Such
report shall be entered in the official minutes of the Town Board
by the Town Clerk, and any such photographs shall be filed in the
Town Clerk's office. The Town Board shall thereafter hold a public
hearing on at least 10 days' prior notice published in the official
newspaper of the Town and posted on the signboard of the Town. Such
notice of hearing shall include a statement that the purposes of the
hearing are to give the person owning the property upon which the
abandoned vehicle is located an opportunity to be heard as to why
the same has not been removed, why the same should not be removed
by the Town at the expense of the owner and also for the Town Board
to receive proposals for the removal of such abandoned vehicle.
C.
After the hearing, the Town Board may contract for
the removal of such abandoned vehicle. Any expense to the Town in
accomplishing the removal of such abandoned vehicle shall be assessed
by the Town Board on the real property from which said abandoned vehicle
was removed, and the expense so assessed shall constitute a lien and
charge upon the real property on which it is levied until paid or
otherwise satisfied or discharged.
D.
Where the vehicle has been in possession of the Town
as a result of the foregoing for more than 30 days and is suitable
for operation on the public highways and is unclaimed by the owner,
then the Town Supervisor or other Town official as designated by the
Town Board may sell the same at public sale, upon notice of such sale
being posted conspicuously in at least three public places in the
Town at least six days before the date of sale. The official conducting
the sale may, in his discretion, give other publicity to such sale
or he may delay the sale in the interest of justice. The proceeds
shall be first applied against the lien and/or charges to the Town
and to the extent that there is an excess, then it shall be added
to the general fund of the Town. Where the vehicle has been in possession
of the Town as a result of the foregoing for more than 30 days and
is not suitable for operation on the public highways or does not have
a vehicle identification number plate and is unclaimed by the owner,
then the Town Supervisor or other Town official as designated by the
Town Board may sell the same a vehicle dismantler or a scrap processor
registered or certified pursuant to § 415-a of the Vehicle
and Traffic Law of the State of New York. The proceeds shall be first
applied against the lien and/or charges to the Town and to the extent
that there is an excess, then it shall be added to the general fund
of the Town.
E.
Any abandoned vehicle released to the Town by its
owner shall be disposed of at a public auction to the highest bidder,
and the proceeds shall be first applied against the lien and/or charges
to the Town and to the extent that there is an excess then it shall
be added to the general fund of the Town.
The Town's Code Enforcement Officer shall have
and is hereby given the authority to go upon any parcel of real property
in the Town, public or private, exclusive of enclosed structures or
buildings, at any time during daylight hours, to examine and inspect
any vehicles or parts or components thereof to determine whether a
violation of this chapter has been committed or to determine the condition
of any vehicle or parts or components thereof. The Code Enforcement
Officer shall notify the property owner, in writing, prior to entering
on such property.
The provisions of this chapter shall be effective
immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State.
