[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Newark Valley 10-3-1994 by L.L. No. 1-1994. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Unsafe buildings — See Ch. 66.
Junkyards — See Ch. 95.
Solid waste — See Ch. 135, Art. II.
A. 
It is declared to be the policy of the Village of Newark Valley to consider property maintenance as part of a plan for the orderly, efficient and economic development of the Village. The purpose of these regulations is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Village of Newark Valley by regulating the accumulation of refuse on properties within the Village and by requiring proper maintenance of these properties.
B. 
In order that property maintenance may be practiced in accordance with this purpose, these regulations, which shall be known as and which may be cited as "Property Maintenance Regulations of the Village of Newark Valley, New York," have been adopted as local law.
For the purpose of this chapter, certain words and terms used herein are defined as follows:
CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
A person designated by the Board of Trustees to make the determinations required in this chapter.
PERSON
Any natural person or persons, firm, corporation, partnership, association or any other combination of two or more persons who is or are owners, owner's mortgagee, assignee of rents, receiver, executor, trustee, administrator, lessee or agent, directly or indirectly in control of a building or premises within the Village of Newark Valley.
REFUSE
All putrescible and nonputrescible solid wastes, such as garbage, rubbish, used building materials, paper, ashes, metal cans, glass, pottery, appliances, incinerator residue, dead animals, offal, furniture, recyclables, nonrecyclables, containers and commercial/industrial waste.
UNOCCUPIED HAZARD
Any building, or part thereof, which remains unoccupied with entranceways, windows or other openings broken, removed or sealed for a period of more than six months. Also, any building under construction upon which little or no construction work has been performed for a period of more than six months.
A. 
Accumulation of refuse.
(1) 
No refuse shall be allowed to accumulate on properties or on the sidewalks adjacent to such properties owned, leased, occupied or operated by said person.
(2) 
No person shall deposit or cause to deposit refuse on any property within the Village of Newark Valley except as stated in Subsection A(3) below.
(3) 
It shall not be considered a violation of this subsection if refuse accumulations are stored in garbage containers. All such containers must be removed from their regular collection points within 24 hours following collection of garbage. No garbage containers shall be placed at collection points more than 24 hours prior to regular collection. This does not apply to recyclable material collection.
(4) 
It shall not be considered a violation of this subsection if used building materials are accumulated while in the process of repair or removal of a structure and all materials are removed from the property within 30 days after completion of the repair or removal.
[Amended 10-13-2015 by L.L. No. 3-2015]
B. 
Yards, lots and open areas.
(1) 
All landscaping shall be maintained in public view. Lawn or grass height shall not exceed 10 inches. In the event that a violation has occurred per section § 122-5 below, the Village and/or its agents/directors are required to cut the grass; thereafter, such lawn height shall be maintained at no greater of six inches for the remainder of the calendar year. The maintenance shall include but not be limited to the removal of dead trees, or bushes.
[Amended 6-11-2001 by L.L. No. 1-2001; 7-9-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
(2) 
All fences shall be maintained by the person or persons responsible for the property. Such maintenance shall include but not be limited to painting, removal, replacement or repair as necessary.
(3) 
All pedestrian walkways shall be maintained so as to afford safe passage under normal usage and weather conditions, pursuant to Chapter 140 of the Village Code.[1]
[Amended 10-13-2015 by L.L. No. 3-2015]
[1]
Editor’s Note: See Ch. 140, Streets and Sidewalks.
(4) 
All yards and vacant lots shall be kept clean and free of physical hazards, rodent harborage and infestation and shall be maintained in a manner that will prevent refuse from being accumulated.
(5) 
All lights, floodlights, or spotlights shall be situated so that light from such lamps is not directly cast upon neighboring residences.
C. 
Buildings and structures.
(1) 
The owner or agent of the owner of a building shall take necessary steps and perform such acts as may be required to ensure that a building and its adjoining property remain safe and secure and do not present a hazard to adjoining properties or to the public.
(2) 
Buildings and structures shall be maintained in such condition that they shall not become unoccupied hazards. All graffiti or defacing shall be removed and the surface restored.
A. 
Based upon investigation or receipt of a written complaint and ensuing investigation, the Code Enforcement Officer of the Village of Newark Valley shall cause to be served upon the responsible property owner a written notice in the form approved by the Village of Newark Valley Board of Trustees citing the property upon which the violation occurred and directing correction of such violation. Service of such notice shall be accomplished by posting on the premises, and/or personal delivery, registered and/or certified mail to the last known address of such person. The mailing shall occur within one day of posting.
[Amended 7-9-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013]
B. 
Any property owner not fulfilling the requirements of the written violation notice as identified within the written violation notice shall, upon conviction, be punishable by a fine not to exceed $250 and/or by imprisonment not to exceed 15 days. Each additional contiguous week in violation shall be considered a separate offense.
[Added 9-10-2001 by L.L. No. 5-2001; ame nded 9-11-2007 by L.L. No. 2-2007; 7-9-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013; 9-10-2013 by L.L. No. 4-2013]
A. 
In the event that any yard, lot or open area shall not be maintained in accordance with the provisions of § 122-3B(1) of this chapter and particularly that provision relating to maximum lawn or grass height, the Code Enforcement Officer shall post a written notice on the premises, and either deliver it to persons residing at the premises or send a copy of the notice by ordinary mail to the person or premises owner demanding its correction within five days of posting such notice. The delivery or mailing shall occur within one day of posting.
B. 
If the violation continues uncorrected for more than the said five days after posting of the above-mentioned notice, the Village of Newark Valley may perform the work necessary to correct the violation by use of its agents, employees or subcontractors. The actual cost to the Village shall be an expense borne to by the property owner and shall be billed by the Village to such person or owner after the work is performed and the amount of the bill is determined.
C. 
In the event that the premises is vacant and/or the property owner does not take action to keep the property in compliance with the provisions of this Chapter, such original violation shall be deemed to be continuing to the Village until at such time the owner of the premises takes active control either by the property owners actions or the actions of his/hers/theirs/its employees, agents, and/or subcontractors that remedies the situation.
D. 
All such bills so rendered by the Village to the property owner or person shall be paid to the Village within 30 days.
E. 
Penalties for the late payment of any such bills are established as follows and shall be added to such bills:
(1) 
First 30 days: no penalty.
(2) 
First month thereafter: 10%.
(3) 
Second and any successive month thereafter: 2% each month.
F. 
A final or aggregate bill for work performed under this section shall be rendered to the property owner or person on or before November 1 of each year covering the amount of such work or services performed for the entire year preceding November 1.
G. 
Any such bill which remains unpaid for a period of 60 days after November 1 shall become a lien upon and be assessed against the real property upon which the work was performed and shall be added to the next annual tax levy as prescribed by Article 2 of the Village Law.
H. 
The filing of a lien shall not prevent the imposition of penalties under § 122-5G above.