It is hereby determined by the Town Board that litter carelessly deposited
in the town is a cause of civic disgrace; that litter is a health, fire and
safety hazard and pollutant; and that litter is a matter affecting the public
interest and consequently should be subject to supervision and administrative
control for the purpose of safeguarding the health, safety and general welfare
of the people of the town.
The Town Board of the Town of Dover does hereby ordain and enact the
Town of Dover Littering Law pursuant to the authority and provisions of § 130
of the Town Law and § 10 of the Municipal Home Rule Law. This chapter
expressly supersedes and repeals the town ordinance enacted on May 12, 1975,
titled "Garbage, Rubbish and Refuse."
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
GARBAGE
Putrescible animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling,
storage, sale, preparation, cooking or consumption of food.
LITTER
Garbage, refuse, handbills, newspapers and rubbish, as such are defined,
and all other waste materials which, if thrown or deposited as herein prohibited,
tend to create a danger to public health, safety and welfare or render the
streets, private grounds or public places unsightly, including household waste.
PARK
A park, playground, recreation center or any other public area owned
or used by the Town of Dover or other public entity or government which is
devoted to recreational purposes.
PERSON
Any person, firm, partnership, association, political subdivision,
government agency, corporation or organization of any kind.
PRIVATE PREMISES
Any dwelling, house, building or other structure designated or used,
either wholly or in part, for private residential purposes, whether inhabited
or continuously uninhabited or vacant, and includes any yard, grounds, walk,
driveway, porch, steps or vestibule belonging or appurtenant to such dwelling
house, building or other structure.
PUBLIC PLACE
Any or all streets, sidewalks, boulevards, alleys or other public
ways and any and all public parks, squares, spaces, grounds and buildings.
PUBLIC STRUCTURE OF BUILDING
Any structure or building owned or operated by the federal, county
or state government or any governmental agency.
PUTRESCIBLE
Describes the tendency of organic matter to decompose with the formation
of malodorous by-products.
REFUSE
All putrescible solid wastes, except body wastes, including but not
limited to garbage, rubbish, ashes, street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned
automobiles, dismantled automobiles and parts thereof, scrap metal, junk machinery
and solid market and industrial wastes.
RUBBISH
Nonputrescible solid wastes, consisting of both combustible and noncombustible
wastes, such as papers, wrappings, cigarettes, cardboard, tin cans, glass,
bedding, crockery, building materials and similar materials.
SURFACE WATERS
Any lakes, ponds, reservoirs, perennial streams and springs, rivers,
creeks, marshes, regulated and unregulated wetlands and all other perennial
bodies of surface water, natural or artificial, public or private.
TOWN
The Town of Dover, County of Dutchess and State of New York.
VEHICLE
Every vehicle in, upon or by which any person or property is or may
be transported or drawn upon a highway, including devices used exclusively
upon stationary rails or tracks.
No person shall throw or deposit litter in or upon any street, sidewalk
or other public place or property within the town, except in public receptacles
and in authorized private receptacles for collection; provided, however, that
said public receptacles shall not be used by persons owning or occupying property
in the vicinity of said public receptacles for the deposit of domestic, commercial
and industrial litter arising from the conduct of said daily activities.
No person, while a driver or passenger in a vehicle, shall throw or
deposit litter upon any street or other public place within the town.
No person shall drive or move any truck or other commercial vehicle
unless the vehicle is to be constructed or loaded as to prevent any litter
from being blown or deposited upon any street, alley or other public place
or private premises.
No person shall throw or deposit litter in any park except in public
receptacles and in such manner as to prevent such litter from being carried
or deposited by the elements upon any part of the park or upon any street
or other public place. Where public receptacles are not provided, all litter
shall be carried from the park by the person responsible for its presence
and shall be properly disposed of elsewhere.
No person shall throw or deposit litter in any lake, pond, stream, bay
or any other body of water.
No person shall throw or deposit litter on any occupied private property,
whether owned by him or not, except that the owner or person in control of
private property shall maintain private receptacles for collection in such
a manner that litter will not be carried or deposited by the elements upon
any other public place or upon any private property.
The owner or person in control of any private property shall at all
times maintain the premises free of litter. This section shall not be construed
to prohibit the storage of litter in private receptacles for collection.
No person shall throw or deposit litter on any open or vacant private
property, whether owned by such person or not.
The owner, agent, lessee, tenant, occupant or other person who manages
or controls a building or lot shall be jointly or severally responsible for
keeping the sidewalk, flagging, curbstone and the air shafts, areaways, backyards,
courts, parking lots and alleys free from litter.
It is hereby declared to be a duty of the owner or operator of a take-out
restaurant, delicatessen or luncheonette to provide not less than one authorized
private receptacle for the receipt of trash, litter, paper, napkins, cups
and remnants of food and nonfood items at each exit available to the patrons
as they leave the premises. If the owner or operator of the same shall fail
to provide such receptacles, he shall be fined, upon conviction, as provided
in this chapter.
Any code enforcement officer or building inspector of the Town of Dover
or any police agency is hereby empowered and authorized to exercise such powers
as may be necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes
and provisions of this chapter.
Any person or persons, association, firm or corporation who or which
shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of an
offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $500 for the first
offense and $1,000 for a second offense.