[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of
the City of Watertown as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire prevention — See Ch. 148.
Housing standards — See Ch.
176.
[Adopted as Ch. 71 of the 1949 Code]
When used in this article, unless otherwise
expressly stated, the following words and terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Any work which involves a change to the capacity of fuel-burning
equipment and/or a change in the method of combustion adversely affecting
the emission of smoke, dust or fumes.
The outdoor storage of sand, soil, salt, sawdust or similar
material in an amount exceeding 200 cubic yards.
[Added 6-7-2004 by L.L. No. 2-2004]
The Bureau of Smoke and Air Pollution Control, Department
of Fire of the City of Watertown, New York.
Matter other than dense smoke, formed as a result of the
combustion of fuel or in any other process producing same, which are
carried in the gas stream so as to reach the external air and which
have not been completely consumed by the combustion process.
The City of Watertown, New York.
That smoke which has a density of No. 2 or greater as established
by the Ringelmann Chart as published and used by the United States
Bureau of Mines which is hereby made a part of this article by reference
and shall be considered standard; provided, however, that other charts
having equivalent shades of gray when viewed at the intended working
distance for each also may be used.
The Fire Department or any of its duly authorized representatives.
A device or devices which are not fully enclosed within a
structure and which, through the combustion of wood, coal, fuel oil,
gasoline, kerosene, or other combustible material, are designed to
heat water for, or otherwise provide a heat source to, a structure.
This term does not include fixed or portable electric generators or
portable kerosene heaters.
[Added 10-20-2003 by L.L. No. 3-2003]
Any boiler, furnace, incinerator, refuse burner, cupola,
oven, apparatus, device, mechanism, stack or structure used in the
process of burning fuel or combustible material, except a railroad
locomotive, internal-combustion engine or portable equipment as defined
hereinafter.
Any person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of
selling solid fuel, other than anthracite coal or coke, direct to
the consumer of such fuel within the corporate limits of the City
of Watertown.
An engine in which combustion of a gaseous liquid or pulverized
solid fuel takes place within one or more cylinders.
A solid fuel, the volatile content of which is 23% or less,
and shall have an ash content of no more than 12% on a moisture-free
basis.
Any bonfire, open incinerator basket or any fire wherein
the products of combustion are emitted directly into the open air
and not directed thereto through a stack or chimney.
Person or persons, firm, corporation, institution, partnership,
copartnership, organization, association, company, syndicate or any
other group or groups of organized or unorganized individuals, and
shall include the masculine, feminine, singular or plural in any circumstance.
Any mechanism other than a steam locomotive or internal-combustion
engine, such as a portable boiler, tar kettle or other apparatus which
is not ordinarily permanently installed in a fixed location.
Any work which requires the heating, power and/or combustion
equipment to be wholly or partially dismantled.
That chart with instructions for use published by the United
States Bureau of Mines, 1945, to determine the density of smoke.
Any anthracite, semianthracite, bituminous, semibituminous
or lignite coal, briquette, boulets, coke, gas-house coke, petroleum
coke, carbonized coal, petroleum carbon or any other mined, manufactured,
processed or patented fuel not sold by liquid or metered measure.
Any flue, conduit or opening arranged for emitting gases
and/or products of combustion into the open air.
Any solid-fuel-burning device in which the fuel is introduced
manually directly onto a hot fuel bed.
No person shall willfully injure, deface, interfere
with or destroy any public or private property, real or personal.
No person shall erect or maintain any barbed
wire fence or other fence dangerous to animals, persons or clothing
upon the line adjacent to any public street or public place.
The presence of snow and ice upon any projection
of a building over or near any sidewalk or public place or public
street is hereby declared to be a nuisance. The owner or occupant
of any such building shall, when notified to do so by any police officer,
remove or cause to be removed any snow or ice which has accumulated
thereon and which is liable to fall therefrom in such a manner and
at such time as shall cause the least danger or inconvenience to persons
or animals in the vicinity. Each and every 24 hours during which any
person responsible therefor permits any violation of this section
to continue shall be deemed a separate violation hereof.
No person shall place, or cause or permit to
be placed, on the windowsill or projection of any building within
10 feet of the line of any public street or public place any box,
flowerpot or other movable article unless the same is firmly secured
so as to prevent its falling. The placing or maintaining of any such
box, flowerpot or other article not so secured is hereby declared
to be a nuisance.
A.
For the purpose of grading the density of smoke, the
Ringelmann Chart, as now published and used by the United States Bureau
of Mines, which is hereby made a part of this article by reference,
shall be the standard; provided, however, that other charts having
equivalent shades of gray when viewed at the intended working distance
for each also may be used. Smoke shall be considered dense when it
is equal to or of greater density than No. 2 on said chart.
B.
The emission of dense smoke within the City of Watertown
from the stack or chimney of any premises, fuel-burning equipment,
portable equipment or other similar contrivance or from any open fire
is prohibited, except as follows: When a firebox is being cleaned
out or a new fire is being built therein, smoke shall be permitted
of a density of No. 3 smoke for a period or periods aggregating six
minutes or less in any three hours or of a density in excess of No.
2 smoke for a period or periods aggregating six minutes or less in
any one hour.
A.
No person or persons, firm or corporation shall cause,
permit or allow to escape into the open air such quantities of soot,
cinders and fumes as to be detrimental to any person or to the public
or to endanger the health and safety of any such person or of the
public or to cause or have a tendency to cause injury or damage to
property or business for a period of or periods aggregating six minutes
in any period of one hour.
B.
Under no circumstances will fumes or noxious gases
which the Bureau considers detrimental to public health be permitted
to be discharged into the open air.
C.
No person or persons, firm or corporation shall operate
or cause to be operated or maintain or cause to be maintained any
boiler, furnace or combustion device for the burning of coal, wholly
or partly in suspension, without maintaining and operating, while
using said boiler, furnace or combustion device, recognized and approved
equipment, method or device to reduce the quantity of fly ash emitted
into the open air and which is operated in conjunction with said furnace
or combustion device so that the quantity of fly ash shall not exceed
0.85 pound per 1,000 pounds of flue gas, adjusted to 12% of CO2 content, except that in no case shall more than 15%
of fly ash, measured before entering the collecting device, be emitted
from the stack or discharge.
A.
It shall be unlawful to import, sell, offer for sale,
expose for sale, exchange or deliver for use and consumption in the
City of Watertown or to use or consume in the City of Watertown any
solid fuel for hand- or surface-burning types of equipment which has
a volatile content in excess of 23% and/or an ash content in excess
of 12% on a moisture-free basis.
B.
It shall be unlawful for any person or persons, firm
or corporation to use or consume in the City of Watertown any solid
fuel for hand-fired or surface-burning types of equipment which does
not meet the standard of a low-volatile solid fuel as set forth in
this section.
C.
It is further provided that any person or persons,
firm or corporation who now uses or intends to use high-volatile solid
fuel in the City of Watertown shall register with the Bureau his fuel-burning
equipment on a form provided by the Bureau. If the equipment is of
the mechanical fuel-burning type, the Bureau, upon such registration
of the equipment and after its inspection, shall furnish without charge
such person or persons, firm or corporation with a permit to use high-volatile
solid fuel. Such permit shall in no way relieve the user of high-volatile
solid fuel from any responsibility in the emission of dense smoke
in violation of this article through improper equipment or improper
operation of equipment.
D.
Such permit to use high-volatile solid fuel shall
not be transferable, and with a transfer of ownership or change of
user of such high-volatile solid fuel, a new permit shall be obtained
from the Bureau.
E.
It shall be unlawful for any fuel dealer to sell or
deliver, without a permit, for use in the City of Watertown high-volatile
solid fuel to any person or persons, firm or corporation not having
a permit from the Bureau to burn such high-volatile solid fuel. The
provision of this section of this article shall become effective on
January 1, 1954.
F.
An adequate supply of coal shall be made available
to the Bureau at any time or place selected by the Bureau to enable
it to conduct whatever tests it deems necessary to determine if the
coal meets the requirements of this article, the cost of the test
to be paid for by the party whose product is tested.
G.
It is further provided that if a fuel contains volatile
matter in excess of 23% and/or 12% ash on a moisture-free basis, it
shall be acceptable under the terms of this article as a low-volatile
solid fuel, provided that it has been so processed that it meets the
same standards in regard to smoke production as that of a fuel containing
less than 23% volatile matter and/or 12% ash on a moisture-free basis
and subject to the following conditions in order to ascertain whether
or not such standards are met:
(1)
Complete plans and specifications of such process
must be submitted to the Bureau and, from time to time, any additional
information it may reasonably require regarding the product.
(2)
An adequate supply of the finished product must be
made available to the Bureau to conduct whatever tests it deems necessary
to establish its value as a smokeless solid fuel.
(3)
Any person, firm or corporation whose product is submitted
to such tests must pay in advance all expenses necessary to the attendant
tests.
Before engaging in or within 30 days after the
effective date of this article, if presently engaged in any business
of selling solid fuel other than anthracite coal or coke direct to
the consumer of such fuel within the corporate limits of the City
of Watertown, the fuel dealer shall obtain a permit from the Bureau
indicating the name, residence, location of place of business of the
applicant and the precise nature of the business to be carried on
by said registrant. Violation of this requirement and/or the sale
of high-volatile solid fuel to any consumer who does not have a permit
to use high-volatile solid fuel issued to him by the Bureau shall
be deemed a violation and subject to the penalties herein provided.
No fee shall be charged for this permit.
A.
No new fuel-burning plants nor reconstruction or alteration
of any existing fuel-burning plants for producing power and/or heat
nor refuse-burning equipment nor any chimney or furnace connected
with such fuel or refuse-burning equipment, except those burning anthracite
coal or natural or manufactured gas, shall be installed, erected,
reconstructed or altered in the City of Watertown until plans and
specifications of the same have been filed by the owner or installer
and have been approved by the Bureau as being so designed that same
can be managed and operated to conform to the provisions of this article
and prevent air pollution and a permit issued by it for such installation,
erection, reconstruction or alteration.
B.
Plans and specifications so filed with the Bureau
of Smoke and Air Pollution Control shall show the type of installation,
the amount of work and the amount of heating to be done by such fuel-
or refuse-burning plant and all appurtenances thereto, including all
provisions made for the purpose of securing complete combustion of
the fuel or refuse to be used and the manner in which it is to be
burned for the purpose of preventing air pollution. Said plans and
specifications shall also contain a statement of the rate of burning
and kind of fuel or refuse proposed to be used and the manner in which
it is to be burned, and said plans and specifications shall also show
that the room or premises in which fuel- or refuse-burning plants
shall be located is provided with doors, windows, airshafts, fans
or other means of ventilation sufficient to provide that the atmosphere
of any such rooms, basement or other portion of the building wherein
such fuel- or refuse-burning apparatus may be located may be changed
at least every 10 minutes. Such plans shall further show the dimensions
of such room in which such fuel- or refuse-burning apparatus is to
be located, the location and dimensions of all chimneys and smokestacks
used in connection with or as a part of said fuel- or refuse-burning
plant. Upon the inspection and approval of said plans and specifications
by the Bureau and upon the payment of the fees hereinafter provided,
a permit for the installation or for the construction, erection, reconstruction
or alteration of such fuel- or refuse-burning plant shall be issued.
As soon as the Bureau has issued the permit as above provided, the
applicant therefor may proceed with the work in conformity with the
plans and specifications approved by the Bureau and upon which the
permit was issued.
C.
It is further provided that the owner, contractor,
installer or other person making or causing alterations which change
the capacity of fuel-burning equipment and which involve change in
the method of combustion or adversely affect the emission of smoke,
dust or fumes therefrom shall first obtain a permit from the Bureau
before making such alterations or changes. Nothing in this section
shall be construed as to prohibit the making of emergency alterations
to any chimney, fuel- or refuse-burning plants or device when the
necessity for such alteration arises outside of the business hours
of the Bureau of Smoke and Air Pollution Control, provided that the
owner, contractor, installer or other person permitting or making
such alterations shall report the same to the Bureau of Smoke and
Air Pollution Control on the first business day after such emergency
alterations are commenced and apply for a permit therefor.
D.
If such plans and specifications as described above
are not submitted to the Bureau of Smoke and Air Pollution Control
for approval previous to the installation of any new fuel-burning
plant or the alteration or changing or reconstruction of any existing
fuel-burning plant for producing power or heat, or either of them,
or refuse-burning plant or any chimney connected with such fuel- or
refuse-burning plant, it shall be considered a violation.
E.
It shall be required of the owner or person making
the installation of equipment for which a permit has been issued to
notify the Office of Smoke and Air Pollution Control as soon as the
installation work has been completed and before it is put into operation,
and the Bureau shall inspect the installation to see that it conforms
to the requirements set forth in the application for permit. If, upon
inspection by the Bureau, it is found that the equipment does not
conform to the application and does not meet with its approval, the
Bureau shall notify the owner in writing that the installation as
installed is not approved and that its use will be a violation of
this article. The issuance and delivery, by the Bureau, of any permit
for the construction, reconstruction or alteration of any plant or
chimney connected with the plant shall not be held to exempt any person,
firm or corporation to whom any such permit has been issued and delivered
or who is in possession of any such permit from prosecution on account
of the emission of dense smoke, fly ash, soot, cinders, fumes or noxious
gases caused or permitted by any such person, firm or corporation.
[Amended 9-19-2016]
The fees for the inspection of plans, issuing
of permits and for the inspection of furnaces or other fuel-burning
apparatus or devices shall be payable by the applicant upon acceptance
of the application by the Bureau. Such fees shall be established at
least annually by the Watertown City Council through a budget resolution
that adopts a City Fees and Charges Schedule. Such schedule shall
be available to the public at the office of the Watertown City Clerk.
Acceptance of an inspection by the Bureau does not necessarily mean
that the permit will be granted. No refunds of permit fees will be
made.
[Added 10-20-2003 by L.L. No. 3-2003]
No person shall operate, in the City, any freestanding
fuel-burning heat-producing equipment, not enclosed in a structure,
which is designed to provide hot water or heat source for a structure
on the property.
After any owner, agent, occupant, manager or
lessee of any premises has been previously notified of violations
of this article in respect to the emission of dense smoke, soot, cinders,
fly ash, fumes or noxious gases, the owner or agent of said premises
shall be notified to show cause at a hearing before the Bureau on
a day certain, not less than 10 days from the date of notice, why
the violations of dense smoke continue and what, if any, remedial
measures have been taken. If no remedial action has been taken by
the violator within 10 days after such hearing, it shall be the duty
of the Bureau to institute court proceedings against the violator
to invoke the penalties to this article for all violations thereof.
If, after a permit for such work as is necessary to eliminate the
emission of dense smoke in violation of this article has been issued
by the Bureau, it becomes evident that the work is not progressing
to the satisfaction of the Bureau, it shall be the duty of the Bureau
to institute such court proceedings as herein provided. The Bureau,
however, shall have the right to institute court proceedings, as herein
provided, for any one violation of this article, and nothing herein
shall waive that right.
[Amended 12-1-1986 by L.L. No. 1-1986]
A.
Any person or persons, firm or corporation violating
the provisions of this article, and all persons participating in any
such violation either as owners, proprietors, lessees, agents, tenants,
managers, superintendents, engineers, firemen or janitors or otherwise,
shall severally be liable therefor and subject to the penalties fixed
by this article. Violations, regardless of the number of any one day,
shall be considered as one violation for that day.
B.
Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision
of this article shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of not
less than $50 nor more than $250 for a first offense; not less than
$100 nor more than $250 for a second offense; and not less than $200
nor more than $250 for a third, or more, offenses, all within the
same calendar year.
[Amended 4-2-2007 by L.L. No. 5-2007]
It shall be unlawful for any person to refuse
to comply with or to assist in the violation of any of the provisions
of this article or in any manner hinder, obstruct, delay, resist,
prevent or in any way interfere or attempt to interfere with the Bureau
or its duly authorized representatives or police officers in the performance
of any duty herein enjoined or refuse to permit such inspectors or
officers to perform their duty by refusing them or either of them
entrance to any premises at reasonable hours in which the provisions
of this article are being violated or refuse to permit the inspection
or examination of such building, establishment, premises or enclosures
for the purpose of the enforcement of this article.
[Added 6-7-2004 by L.L. No. 2-2004]
A.
No person or persons, firm or corporation shall cause,
permit or allow the bulk storage of particulate matter on property
in the City without providing adequate cover to insure that it is
not blown or carried off the property onto properties dedicated to
a residential use.
B.
The accumulation of particulate matter emanating from
uncovered bulk storage of particulate matter upon the properties dedicated
to a residential use is deemed detrimental to the comfort and property
of the citizens of the City and is deemed a public nuisance.
C.
If particulate matter emanates from the uncovered
bulk storage of particulate matter and is caused by wind or otherwise
to accumulate to an unreasonable degree upon properties dedicated
to a residential use, the person or persons, firm or corporation violating
the provisions of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty
of not less than $250, nor more than $500. For the purposes of this
section, each day's violation shall be deemed a separate violation
subject to a separate civil penalty.
D.
Nothing in this section shall be deemed to create
a private cause of action in favor of one party against another.
E.
Notwithstanding the civil penalties called for by
this section, the City Code Enforcement Supervisor may, in an appropriate
case, seek to abate any public nuisance created by the bulk storage
of particulate matter by seeking injunctive relief in a court of competent
jurisdiction.
[Adopted 6-5-1989]
The outdoor storage of junked, abandoned, unused
or dangerous motor vehicles or the parts therefrom within the City
of Watertown is a hazard to the preservation of the public health,
welfare and safety in that it constitutes a health, fire and safety
hazard and is an attractive nuisance to children, which is a peril
to their safety. Such outdoor storage constitutes a blight on the
City's landscape, and it is generally unsightly, and its existence
tends to depreciate the value of property in the neighborhood and
the City generally. The control of the outdoor storage of junked,
abandoned, unused or dangerous motor vehicles or parts therefrom within
the City of Watertown is therefore regulated for the preservation
of the public health, safety and welfare of its residents.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any motor vehicle, the ownership of which cannot be reasonably
determined or of which the owner does not intend to recover possession
or of which the owner does not intend to use on a public highway,
excepting competition vehicles. The intent of the owner of a motor
vehicle may be determined by the physical condition of the motor vehicle,
the length of time since the motor vehicle has last been used on a
public highway and whether the motor vehicle is licensed or unlicensed.
Those vehicles which have been so modified for use on a track
or dragstrip that they cannot be legally operated on a public way.
Any motor vehicle which has smashed and broken windows and/or
areas of sharp and torn metal edges and points and which cannot legally
be operated upon a public way.
A motor vehicle manufactured more than 25 years prior to
the current calendar year, which is owned and operated as an exhibition
piece or collectors item and is used for participation in club activities,
exhibits, tours, parades and for occasional transportation and similar
uses, but not generally used for daily transportation.
Any motor vehicle which is unregistered by the State of New
York or any other state and is not operable.
A parcel of land as described on the City of Watertown Tax
Map.
A motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for the use of the
rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact
with the ground, but excluding a tractor.
Every vehicle which, if operated on the highways of this
state, would be required by law to be licensed by the Department of
Motor Vehicles of the State of New York.
Any motor vehicle which can be registered in the State of
New York and which can be legally operated upon a public way. A vehicle
which is in a condition to pass the requirements for the New York
State motor vehicle inspection sticker shall be deemed in a condition
for legal use upon a public highway.
Those vehicles which are either propelled by their own power
or drawn on the public highways and which are used as temporary residences,
such as tent trailers, travel trailers, campers or mini- and motor
homes.
Any operable motor vehicle which is unregistered by the State
of New York or any other state and/or upon which is not displayed
a valid state inspection sticker.
Those vehicles having a seasonal or limited use, such as
box trailers and construction trailers, and snow removal or snowplowing
equipment.
A person, other than a lienholder, having the property in
or title to a vehicle. The term includes a person entitled to the
use and possession of a vehicle subject to a security interest in
another person and also includes any lessee or bailee of a motor vehicle
having the exclusive use thereof, under a lease or otherwise, for
a period greater than 30 days.
This article does not apply to competition vehicles,
recreational vehicles, utility vehicles, motorcycles or historic vehicles,
unless such vehicle is abandoned or dangerous.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation,
either as owner, occupant, lessee, agent, tenant, trespasser or otherwise,
of or on any property within the City of Watertown to store or deposit
or cause or permit to be stored or deposited a junked, abandoned or
dangerous motor vehicle or vehicles or parts therefrom in the City
of Watertown, except:
(1)
That no more than 10 such motor vehicles may be stored
at one time in an open area at a gasoline filling station or outdoors
at a New York State licensed repair shop for the purpose of repair
or reconditioning, only provided that the outdoor storage of a specific
vehicle shall not exceed 30 days.
(2)
That nothing herein shall restrict the storage of
unused motor vehicles for sale by a duly licensed new or used car
dealer.
(3)
As otherwise provided by law.
B.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation,
either as owner, occupant, lessee, agent, tenant, trespasser or otherwise,
or on any privately owned lot within the City of Watertown to store
or deposit or cause or permit to be stored or deposited more than
one of either one unused vehicle or one competition vehicle in the
City of Watertown. This prohibition does not apply to the one allowable
vehicle so long as the one vehicle stored or deposited on the lot
is not stored or deposited in a manner which creates a hazard to the
health, safety or morals of the occupant of a building or the public,
and he shall place the vehicle out of public view. The storage of
this vehicle shall be within a wholly enclosed building or in an area
enclosed by a secured wall or fence to be screened by natural objects,
plantings or other appropriate means so as to not be visible from
any highway, street, sidewalk or other location.
C.
Any junked, abandoned, unused or dangerous motor vehicle
or vehicles or parts therefrom stored or deposited in violation of
this article on any land in the City of Watertown shall be removed
by the vehicle owner, property owner, occupant, lessee, agent, tenant
or other person, firm or corporation occupying, managing or controlling
such land or vehicle.
A.
This article shall be enforced by the City Engineer.
B.
The City Engineer shall receive the assistance of
the Building Inspector, the Department of Public Works, the Fire and
Police Departments or officers and all other municipal officials as
may be required for the total enforcement of this article, to the
extent and limit determined by the Mayor.
A.
During regular business hours or in an emergency at
any hour whatsoever, the City Engineer or his representative or any
duly authorized City representative, upon the showing of proper credentials
and in the discharge of his duties, may enter upon any premises where
a motor vehicle is stored. If access to such property is refused,
the City Engineer shall apply for a search warrant in an appropriate
court, and a warrant shall be issued upon a showing that there are
reasonable grounds to believe that a junked, abandoned or dangerous
vehicle or parts therefrom are stored or deposited on the property
or that the owner of the property or the owner of the vehicle is in
violation of this article.
B.
The City Engineer or his representative or any duly
authorized City representative may enter the premises without a search
warrant in the case of an emergency which requires immediate action
to abate a direct hazard or imminent danger to the health, safety,
morals or welfare of the occupants of a building or the public.
A.
Notice of violation. Whenever the City Engineer determines
that there has been a violation of this article, he shall serve written
notice upon the property owner, occupant or person having charge of
such land upon which any vehicle is illegally stored or deposited
and upon the vehicle's owner, if such party can be determined. Such
notice shall specify the alleged violation, shall provide a ten-day
time limit for compliance and shall advise the party of his right
to appeal.
B.
Notice shall be served, either personally or by certified
mail, return receipt requested, to the property owner at his last
known address, as shown upon the latest assessment roll, and to the
vehicle's owner at his last known address, as shown upon the latest
records of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. If, after
due diligence, an address for either party cannot be determined or
if either party cannot be served in the above-stated manner, then
the City Engineer shall cause a copy of such notice to be posted on
the property or on the motor vehicle, or both. The notice shall be
in substantially the following form:
|
TO THE OWNER OF THE MOTOR VEHICLE OR THE OWNER,
OCCUPANT, LESSEE OR TENANT OF THE PROPERTY WITHIN THE CITY OF WATERTOWN,
KNOWN AS:
|
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NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that an abandoned, junked,
unused or dangerous motor vehicle has been stored or deposited on
the above-described property in the City of Watertown in violation
of ________________ of the Code of the City of Watertown. Violation
of ____________________ constitutes an offense. The automobile must
be removed within 10 days from the date of this notice. Failure to
remove in accordance with this notice may subject you to a fine of
not to exceed $150. In addition, the City Engineer may cause the abandoned,
junked, unused or dangerous vehicle to be removed at the property
owner's expense.
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Please advise the Engineering Department, Telephone
No. 785-7740 of your compliance with this notice.
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Dated: _______________________
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City of Watertown
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By
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City Engineer
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C.
Right of appeal. Any person affected by a notice of
violation issued in connection with the enforcement of any provision
of this article or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto
may request and shall be granted a hearing before the Assistant City
Manager if such person shall file with said officer a written request
for a hearing, setting forth the following: a brief statement of the
grounds for the appeal, the name and address of a party upon whom
orders may be served and the reasons why such notice of violation
should be modified or withdrawn. This request must be filed within
10 days after the service of the notice of violation, and compliance
with such notice shall not be required while the hearing is pending.
D.
Failure to abate violations. In case the property
owner, agent, operator, vehicle owner or occupant cannot be found
within the time limit set for the abatement of said violations or
if such owner, agent, operator, vehicle owner or occupant shall fail,
neglect or refuse to abate such violations, the Corporation Counsel
shall be advised of all facts in the case and shall institute appropriate
action in the court to compel compliance.
[Amended 4-2-2007 by L.L. No. 5-2007]
Each violation of this article shall be deemed
an offense and shall be punishable by a fine not less than $50 nor
more than $250 for a first offense; not less than $100 nor more than
$250 for a second offense; and not less than $200 nor more than $250
for a third, or more, offenses, all within the same calendar year;
or by a civil penalty of not less than $50 nor more than $500 to be
recovered by the City in a civil action.
In cases in which the City Engineer determines
that immediate action to abate a direct hazard or imminent danger
to the health, safety, morals or welfare of the occupants of a building
or the public is required, he shall promptly cause the removal of
the motor vehicle, vehicles or parts presenting such hazard or danger
as a public nuisance and the expense incurred by the City shall be
assessed against the property upon which such vehicle was found, which
assessment shall constitute a lien and charge on such property and
be collected as provided by law for the collection of delinquent taxes.
The City Engineer or his representative or any
duly authorized City representative is hereby authorized to remove
any junked, abandoned, unused or dangerous motor vehicle or the parts
thereof at the request of the property owner on whose property said
vehicle or parts are stored. The cost of such removal shall be borne
by the property owner making such request and shall be payable to
the City Comptroller. In the event of nonpayment, the cost may be
assessed against the property upon which such vehicle was found, which
assessment shall constitute a lien and charge on such property and
be collected as provided by law for the collection of delinquent taxes.
