[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of North
Syracuse 1-28-1999 by L.L. No. 1-1999 as Ch. 73 of the 1999 Code. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to promote and preserve the health, welfare
and property of residents of and owners of property located within this Village
by providing a method for the removal or repair of buildings and structures
within the limits of this Village that, from any cause, may now be or shall
hereafter become dangerous or unsafe to the public.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
A structure wholly or partly enclosed within exterior walls or within
exterior or party walls and a roof, affording shelter to persons, animals
or property.
Any assembly of materials constructed or erected, the use of which
requires location on the ground or attachment to something having location
on the ground, including but not limited to fences, satellite dishes and swimming
pools.
No person, firm, corporation or association owning, possessing or controlling
a building or structure in this Village shall permit, suffer or allow said
building or structure now or hereafter to be or become dangerous or unsafe
to the public from any cause whatsoever.
All buildings and structures which have any or all of the following
defects shall be deemed unsafe or dangerous within the meaning of this chapter:
A.
Those whose interior walls or other vertical structural
members list, lean or buckle to such an extent that a plumb line passing through
the center of gravity falls outside of the middle third of its base.
B.
Those which, exclusive of the foundation, show 33% or
more of damage or deterioration of the supporting member or members or 50%
of damage or deterioration of the nonsupporting enclosing or outside walls
or covering.
C.
Those which have improperly distributed loads upon the
floors or roofs or in which the same are overloaded or which have insufficient
strength to be reasonably safe for the purpose used.
D.
Those which have been damaged by fire, wind or other
causes so as to have become dangerous to life, safety, morals or the general
health and welfare of the occupants or the people of this Village.
E.
Those which have become or are so dilapidated, decayed,
unsafe or unsanitary or which so utterly fail to provide the amenities essential
to decent living that they are unfit for human habitation or are likely to
cause sickness or disease so as to work injury to the health, morals, safety
or general welfare of those living therein.
F.
Those having light, air and sanitation facilities which
are inadequate to protect the health, morals, safety or general welfare of
human beings who live or may live therein.
G.
Those having inadequate facilities for egress in case
of fire or panic or those having insufficient stairways, elevators, fire escapes
or other means of communication.
H.
Those which have parts thereof which are so attached
that they may fall and injure members of the public or property.
I.
Those which because of their condition are unsafe, unsanitary
or dangerous to the health, morals, safety or general welfare of the people
of this Village.
J.
Those which provide a substantial life-safety hazard
to the occupants or general public because of noncompliance with the New York
State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code.
The Codes Enforcement Officer and/or Fire Marshal shall be the enforcement
officer of this chapter and shall make inspections of all unsafe buildings
and structures within the Village. The Codes Enforcement Officer and/or Fire
Marshal shall report to the Board of Trustees all unsafe buildings and structures
which from time to time may be found within the limits of the Village. When
it is reported to the Board of Trustees that a building or structure is in
an unsafe or dangerous condition, the Board of Trustees shall direct the Codes
Enforcement Officer and/or Fire Marshal to inspect the same and to report
the condition of the same and his finding to the Board of Trustees with all
convenient speed.
The Board of Trustees shall thereafter consider the report of the Codes
Enforcement Officer and/or Fire Marshal and, by resolution, determine, if
in its opinion the report so warrants, that said building or structure is
unsafe and dangerous and order its removal or repair, if the same can be safely
repaired, and further order that a notice shall be given to interested persons
or corporations in the manner as hereinafter provided.
The notice shall contain the following:
A.
A description of the premises.
B.
A statement of the particulars in which the building
or structure is unsafe or dangerous.
C.
An order requiring the same to be made safe and secure
or removed.
D.
That the securing or removal of said building or structure
shall commence within 30 days of the serving of the notice, as hereinafter
provided, and shall be completed within 60 days thereafter.
E.
That in the event of neglect or refusal of the persons
and/or corporations served with the notice to comply with the same, a survey
of the premises will be made by an inspector and architect or engineer to
be named by the Board of Trustees and a practical builder, engineer or architect
appointed by said persons or corporations so notified.
F.
That in the event of the refusal or neglect of the persons
or corporations so notified to appoint a surveyor, the two surveyors named
by the Board of Trustees shall make the survey and report.
Said notice shall be served in the following manner:
A.
By personal service of a copy thereof upon the owner
or some one of the owners, executors, legal representatives, agents, lessees
or any other person having a vested or contingent interest in the premises
as shown by the last preceding completed assessment roll of the Village, such
service to be complete and the thirty-day time period recited in said notice
to commence upon the filing of an affidavit of personal service upon the owner
with the Village Clerk; or
B.
By mailing a copy of said notice to such owner as aforesaid,
by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the last known address
of the owner, and by affixing a copy of said notice to the premises, such
service to be complete and the thirty-day time period recited in said notice
to commence 10 days after filing of the return receipt and the affidavit of
posting with the Village Clerk; and
C.
By personal service of a copy of said notice upon any
adult residing in or occupying said premises or, if no such person can be
reasonably found, by posting a copy of said notice upon the premises.
In the event of neglect or refusal of the persons so notified to comply
with said order of the Board of Trustees, a survey of said premises shall
be made in the following manner. The Board of Trustees shall appoint an inspector
and architect or engineer and the persons so notified shall appoint a practical
builder, engineer or architect who shall make said survey and submit a written
report thereon in regard to the unsafe or dangerous condition of said building
or structure. If the persons so notified shall refuse or neglect to appoint
a surveyor within 40 days after service of the notice, the two surveyors appointed
by the Board of Trustees shall proceed and report. A signed copy of such report
shall be posted on said structure.
In the event that the building or other structure shall be reported
unsafe or dangerous under such survey, the Board of Trustees may pass a resolution
directing the Mayor to make an application to the Supreme Court for an order
determining the building or other structure to be a public nuisance and directing
that it shall be repaired and secured or taken down and removed.
Said surveyors shall be paid reasonable compensation for the service
performed by them in making their survey and in preparing the report thereof.
All costs and expenses incurred by the Village in connection with the
proceedings to remove or secure, including the cost of actually removing said
buildings or structures, shall be assessed against the land on which said
buildings or structures are located.
A.
In case there shall be, in the opinion of the Codes Enforcement
Officer and/or Fire Marshal, actual and immediate danger of the falling of
a building or structure so as to endanger public safety, life or property
or actual or immediate menace to health or public welfare as a result of the
conditions present in or about a building or structure, he shall cause the
necessary work to be done to render such building or structure temporarily
safe, whether the procedure prescribed in this chapter for unsafe or dangerous
buildings or structures has been instituted or not.
B.
When emergency work is to be performed under this section,
the Codes Enforcement Officer and/or Fire Marshal shall cause the owner thereof
to be served, personally or by registered mail, return receipt requested,
and if served by registered mail shall post on the premises, notice to comply
containing a description of the premises, a statement of the facts in which
the structure is unsafe or dangerous and orders and directions to correct
said conditions which constitute an emergency within a specified period not
to exceed three days from actual or constructive receipt of the notice.
C.
In the event that the emergency does not permit any delay
in correction, the notice shall state that the Village has corrected the emergency
condition.
D.
In both cases, the notice shall state that the corrective
costs of the emergency will be assessed against the owner pursuant to the
provisions of this chapter.
E.
In any case where the Codes Enforcement Officer and/or
Fire Marshal finds a building or conditions within a building wherein there
is an imminent hazard to life safety, the Codes Enforcement Officer and/or
Fire Marshal shall immediately close the building or dwelling and order the
occupants to vacate the building until the conditions are corrected and inspected
for compliance with all applicable codes, rules and regulations. Signs reading
"No Admittance" shall be posted at all entrances to such building. Only persons
permitted by the Codes Enforcement Officer and/or Fire Marshal to enter the
building shall be allowed in the building and only to secure the building
or perform necessary corrections. As soon as practically possible, the Codes
Enforcement Officer and/or Fire Marshal shall notify the Mayor, in writing,
of the action that was taken under this subsection and the reasons therefor.
F.
Upon correction of the hazards and upon inspection and
verification by the Codes Enforcement Officer and/or Fire Marshal, the Codes
Enforcement Officer and/or Fire Marshal shall permit the signs to be removed
and the building to be occupied. The Codes Enforcement Officer and/or Fire
Marshal shall then notify the Mayor of the disposition of conditions of the
building.
Pursuant to the authority and powers granted in the Municipal Home Rule
Law, the following alternate or additional procedures may be followed:
A.
Upon making of a survey report by the Codes Enforcement
Officer and/or Fire Marshal that the building or structure is reported unsafe
or dangerous to the public, the Board of Trustees may direct the Codes Enforcement
Officer and/or Fire Marshal to serve a notice upon the owner and all other
persons having an interest in such property or structure, either personally
or by registered mail, addressed to his last known address as shown by the
records of the Village Assessor and/or in the office of the County Clerk,
containing a description of the premises, a statement of the particulars in
which the building or structure is unsafe or dangerous and an order of the
Codes Enforcement Officer and/or Fire Marshal requiring the same to be repaired
or removed, and if such service is made by registered mail, to post such notice
on the premises.
B.
Such owner so served shall commence the repair or removal
of such building or structure within 30 days after service of such notice.
C.
A hearing shall be held before the Codes Enforcement
Officer and/or Fire Marshal at a time and place specified in the notice to
repair or demolish not sooner than two weeks before nor later than the date
given to commence repair or removal, if the owner requests the same at least
one week before the scheduled date for the hearing. If no hearing is requested,
the order so served shall take effect as provided in the notice.
D.
At the hearing, the owner, the Village and any other
interested parties may present witnesses and any other proof relating to the
matters and all parties may appear in person or with their attorneys.
E.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the Codes Enforcement
Officer and/or Fire Marshal shall make a determination in writing and a copy
of the same shall be served either personally or by registered mail on all
parties who appeared therein.
F.
The determination shall state whether the original survey
report is sustained, modified or reversed. If reversed, no further proceeding
shall be had.
G.
If the original survey is sustained, in whole or in part,
the Codes Enforcement Officer and/or Fire Marshal shall also include an order
directing the owner to proceed in accordance therewith and shall further specify
that unless the work is commenced within 10 days after service and completed
within a reasonable time thereafter, which the Codes Enforcement Officer and/or
Fire Marshal shall designate, the penalties hereinafter provided shall be
invoked.
Upon notification that the owner of the unsafe building or structure
has failed or refused to repair the unsafe building or structure within the
time specified in the final order, the Codes Enforcement Officer and/or Fire
Marshal shall report the same to the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees
may direct that the Village shall cause the repair or removal of the unsafe
building. After the work has been completed, the Codes Enforcement Officer
and/or Fire Marshal shall file with the Board of Trustees a verified statement
of all expenses incurred in the removal or repair of the unsafe or dangerous
building or structure, which will be assessed against the land as compensation
to the Village.
Upon receipt of the verified statement, the Board of Trustees shall
direct that the amount thereof, including the charges added thereto, shall
constitute a lien against said premises and direct that the same shall be
added to the next assessment roll of general Village taxes and shall be collected
and enforced in the same manner, by the same proceedings, at the same time
and under the same penalties as the general Village tax and as a part thereof.
In addition thereto, interest shall run thereon from the date of filing the
verified statement to the date of actual payment at 7 1/2% per annum.
Notwithstanding any provision herein to the contrary, the Village may,
at its election, institute suit against the owner of said premises for all
expenses incurred in the work and which will be assessed against the land
as compensation to the Village for said work performed and enter a judgment
thereon against the owner personally for the aforesaid amount. The imposition
and collection of any fine or penalty hereinafter prescribed shall not bar
the right of the Village to collect the costs of the removal or repair of
any unsafe building or structure as herein prescribed.
The failure of the owner to complete the repairs or to remove the unsafe
building or structure as specified in the final notice of the Codes Enforcement
Officer and/or Fire Marshal shall subject the owner to the same procedure
and penalties as herein set forth.
The transfer of title by the owner of premises upon which an unsafe
building or structure is located shall be no defense to any proceedings under
this chapter.
Any person upon whom a notice as provided in this chapter has been served
who fails, neglects or refuses to place such unsafe building or structure
in a safe condition as designated in such notice or who shall violate any
of the provisions of this chapter or orders given pursuant thereto or who
shall resist or obstruct the Codes Enforcement Officer and/or Fire Marshal
in carrying out the provisions of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof,
be subject to a fine of not more than $250 or a term of imprisonment not to
exceed 15 days, or both. Each week in which such violation continues shall
constitute a separate offense.
