[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Aurora 6-11-1990. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Junk Vehicle
Ordinance of the Town of Aurora."
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 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.
COMMERCIAL GARAGE
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
JUNK VEHICLE
(1)
(2)
(3)
LEGAL OCCUPANT
OPEN STORAGE
OWNER
PARCEL OF PROPERTY
PERSON
TOWN
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall
have the meanings indicated:
Any business repairing motor vehicles or any part thereof.
The Building Inspector 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
specified in such resolution.
Any motor vehicle, whether automobile, bus or
truck, which is abandoned, stored, left or located by its owner or
any other person on public or private property in the Town of Aurora,
which is not registered by the State of New York for operation on
the public highways, shall be defined as a "junk vehicle."
[Amended 4-24-1994]
For the purpose of this chapter, a motor vehicle
registered as a farm vehicle or which is operable and used by the
owner on his own property for the transport of wood, snowplowing or
similar uses shall not be considered a "junk vehicle."
For the purposes of this chapter, "abandoned,"
"stored" or "located" shall mean when the "junk vehicle" is visible
from a public highway or a dwelling unit on a neighboring property.
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, copartnerships, unincorporated
associations or any other organization of two or more persons.
The Town of Aurora and its officers 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 junk vehicles shall
not be permitted on private or public property within the Town, except
as permitted by this chapter.
A.
Any person wishing to store or locate a junk vehicle
on a parcel of property must first obtain a permit from the Town's
enforcement officer allowing such storage.
B.
The permit 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.
(5)
The purpose(s) for which the junk vehicle(s) is or
are being stored or located.
C.
No permit shall be issued for more than two junk vehicles
at any one time.
D.
Purposes for which junk vehicles can be stored or
located are as follows:
(1)
Antique or classic car restoration for vehicles 25
or more years old. A permit will be issued on an annual basis, renewable
for a year at a time. The renewal shall be granted only if the vehicle
has been substantially improved since the issuance of the original
permit. "Substantially improved" shall mean that the vehicle meets
50% of the standards for highway use, i.e., a license inspection sticker.
(2)
Removal of parts or components. A permit will be issued
for a sixty-day period, renewable for one sixty-day period only.
(3)
A permit for a commercial garage will be issued to an applicant who is registered with the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles as a motor vehicle repair shop and whose parcel of property upon which the junk vehicles are to be stored is in an area enclosed by a six-foot-high solid fence and designated as a commercial district pursuant to the Chapter 116, Zoning, or who has a special permit issued by the Town Zoning Board of Appeals to operate a motor vehicle repair shop in any other district, or who has a nonconforming use which predated the adoption of Chapter 116, Zoning.
(5)
For good cause, the enforcement officer may allow
a maximum extension not exceeding three months.
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 a junk 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 a junk 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 legal occupant, shall be guilty of a violation
hereof.
[Amended 3-28-2016 by L.L. No. 1-2016]
Any person or persons, association or corporation committing
an offense against this chapter or any section or provision thereof
is guilty of a violation punishable by a fine not exceeding $250 or
imprisonment for a period not exceeding 15 days for each such offense,
or by both such fine and imprisonment.
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 § 108-8 hereof, any junk vehicle may be removed by the Town from the premises upon which it is located in the manner hereinafter provided:
A.
The enforcement officer, upon detecting a junk 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 30 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 a junk vehicle,
and a reference to this chapter and to the fact that the location
of such junk 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
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 enforcement officer shall post conspicuously a copy of such notice
on the parcel of property upon which said junk vehicle is located.
B.
At the expiration of 30 days after the service or
mailing and posting of such notice, if such junk vehicle has not been
removed, the 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 junk vehicle(s) 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 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 such junk vehicle opportunity to be heard as to why the same
has not been removed and also for the Town Board to receive proposals
for the removal of such junk vehicle(s).
C.
After the hearing, the Town Board may contract for
the removal of such junk vehicle. Any expenses to the Town in accomplishing
the removal of such junk vehicle may be assessed by the Town Board
on the real property from which said junk 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 as other Town charges.
D.
Any junk 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 added to the general fund of the Town. Any junk vehicle released to the Town by the owner or legal occupant of the parcel of property from which it is removed, who is not the owner of the junk vehicle, shall be disposed of by the procedure set forth in Subsections A, B and C hereof. In the event that the junk vehicle is released to the Town by the owner or legal occupant of the parcel of property who is not the owner of the junk vehicle, there shall be no expense for the removal thereof chargeable to the person so releasing said junk vehicle.
The Town's enforcement officer shall have and
is hereby given the authority to go upon any parcel of 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 officer shall notify the
property owner, in writing, prior to entering on such property.
