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Town of Owasco, NY
Cayuga County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Owasco 7-5-1949. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building construction and fire prevention — See Ch. 50.
Dogs — See Ch. 68.
Environmental quality review — See Ch. 72.
Flood damage prevention — See Ch. 78.
Freshwater wetlands  —  See Ch. 82.
Sewers  —  See Ch. 116.
Subdivision of land  —  See Ch. 126.
Water  —  See Ch. 144.
Zoning  —  See Ch. 150.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AUTOMOBILE TOURIST PARK OR CAMP
Any plot of ground where accommodation is provided for one or more automobile trailers or house cars used or arranged to be used for living or sleeping quarters.
AUTOMOBILE TRAILER OR HOUSE CAR
Any vehicle used or arranged to be used for living or sleeping quarters, mounted on wheels and movable or propelled either by its own power or drawn by another vehicle.
TOURIST PARK OR CAMP
Any plot of ground upon which is located one or more camp cottages, cabins or tents used or arranged to be used for the accommodation of transients by the day, week or month.
UNIT
That portion of a tourist park or camp or automobile tourist park or camp set apart for the use of an individual cottage, cabin, tent automobile trailer or house car.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to establish, maintain, operate or conduct within the Town of Owasco any tourist park or camp or any automobile tourist park or camp, or any combination of such, unless duly licensed so to do as hereinafter provided and in strict compliance with this chapter and all other provisions of law and ordinances applicable thereto.
[Amended 5-9-2013 by L.L. No. 4-2013]
A. 
An application for a license provided for under § 136-2 shall be made to the Town Clerk upon a form to be furnished by him. Said application shall state the name and address of the owner of the premises, the name and address of the applicant and the nature and extent of his interest in the business for which a license is desired, the location and plot plan of the tourist park or camp or automobile tourist park or camp and the number of units to be provided for therein, detailed plans and specifications of all buildings, structures, plumbing, sewer and drainage systems and lighting and any other information required by the Town Clerk.
B. 
Such application shall be accompanied by a fee of $5 for every five units or fewer, plus $1 for each additional five units or fraction thereof, which shall cover the required investigation; but if a license is subsequently issued, said fees shall be applied on account of the license fee; but in the event that a license is not issued, such investigation fee shall be retained by the Town. Said fee may be adjusted by resolution of the Town Board.
The Town Clerk shall examine and investigate the statements contained in such application together with the plans and specifications. He may refer such applications to the Town Health Officer and may adopt any or all of his suggestions for a report on his recommendations, which he shall make to the Town Board.
[Amended 5-9-2013 by L.L. No. 4-2013]
A. 
The Town Board shall consider the report of the Town Clerk and shall, for that purpose, hold a public hearing upon notice prescribed by said Board upon such application and shall determine whether the proposed tourist park or camp or automobile tourist park or camp complies with this chapter.
B. 
If such application is acted upon favorably by the Town Board, it shall direct the Town Clerk to issue a license to the applicant upon the payment of the following fees:
(1) 
For a tourist park or camp or automobile tourist park or camp or any combination of such: $150.
(2) 
For each trailer: $100 per unit.
C. 
Each license shall be for a period from April 1 to March 31. The fee for such license shall not be prorated for any lesser period.
D. 
Such license shall always be on display in the office of the tourist camp or park or automobile tourist camp or park.
E. 
Said fees may be adjusted by resolution of the Town Board.
A tourist park or camp or automobile tourist park or camp shall be located on a well-drained site of adequate size, the land of which shall be free from heavy or dense growth of brush or weeds. The land shall be properly graded so as to ensure rapid drainage during and following rain and free from stagnant pools of water.
A. 
Each unit in which a camp cottage, cabin or tent is erected or placed or which accommodates an automobile trailer or house car shall be not less than 30 feet x 40 feet in area, which area shall be clearly defined by markers at each corner. No cottage or cabin used or arranged for use for living quarters or sleeping quarters shall be less than 280 square feet, of which no dimension shall be less than 14 feet, and shall not be less than eight feet high from the floor to the ceiling and shall not have less than 27 square feet of ventilating openings or windows, all being adequately screened. If the floor is of wood, it shall be not less than 12 inches above the level of the ground. The roof of each cottage, cabin or tent shall extend sufficiently beyond the exterior walls so that all roof water shall fall free of the walls.
B. 
Each cottage, cabin or tent and each automobile trailer or house car shall not be less than 10 feet from any property line and from any other building, structure, cottage, cabin, tent, automobile trailer or house car.
All entrances and exits from any park or camp shall be well marked and so arranged as not to constitute a traffic hazard. All driveways within the tourist park or camp or automobile tourist park or camp shall be hard surfaces not less than 18 feet in width, well marked in the daytime and lighted at night and so located that each unit in the park or camp is readily accessible to a driveway.
Every tourist park or camp and every automobile tourist park or camp shall be provided with toilets, urinals, wash basins, slop basins, showers, water faucets, etc., in accordance with the following specifications:
A. 
One toilet for each sex shall be provided for every five units or fraction thereof.
B. 
Each toilet room for men shall have in addition one urinal stall.
C. 
One lavatory shall be provided for each unit of three toilets or fewer and one lavatory for every three toilets where additional toilets are provided.
D. 
One shower for each sex shall be provided for every five units or fraction thereof. Bathtubs are prohibited.
E. 
Slop sinks or basins and laundry tubs with water supply shall be provided to serve each five units.
F. 
All toilets, sinks, showers, urinals, etc., shall be placed in properly constructed buildings located not more than 150 feet from each unit intended to be served thereby.
G. 
Toilet buildings shall be well lighted at all times, day and night, well ventilated with screened openings and constructed of such moisture proof material as shall permit rapid and satisfactory cleaning, scouring and washing.
H. 
The floors shall be of concrete or similar material, elevated not less than four inches above grade, and shall slope to a floor drain located in each room.
I. 
All fixtures discharging waste liquids shall be properly trapped and connected with the public sewer. No flush toilet in an automobile trailer or house car shall be used within the Town except when in a trailer camp and the discharge outlet is connected directly to a sewer or septic tank. All trailer toilets, unless sewer-connected, shall be sealed while transiently parked within the Town limits. Disposal of chemical toilet wastes to septic tanks will effect the septic action and seriously damage the system, and such disposal is therefore prohibited.
J. 
All plumbing installation except as herein provided shall be made in accordance with the Building Code of the Town of Owasco,[1] and all sewers, drains, etc., shall be connected to the Town sewer system if the park or camp is located on a street which has such sewer available or to a properly constructed septic tank and adequate absorption area and constructed in accordance with the requirements of the Town Health Officer and the Building Code of the Town and with the approval of the Water Department of the City of Auburn.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 50, Building Construction and Fire Prevention.
K. 
Automobile trailers or house cars equipped with running water not sewer-connected shall be provided with an adequate receptacle underneath the body of the vehicle for collection and storage of liquid waste other than toilet waste.
L. 
All garbage and refuse shall be stored separately in adequate, tightly covered metal receptacles and removed from the premises daily. At least one receptacle shall be provided for every four units or part thereof.
M. 
Only the Town water supply or other supply approved by the Town shall be used at any tourist park or camp or automobile tourist park or camp. If a private supply is used, arrangements must be made for a weekly bacteriological analysis by a laboratory approved by the Town Health Officer at the expense of the licensee and report thereof filed with the Town Board within 24 hours of completion of the analysis.
N. 
Where toilet and bathing facilities are provided for both sexes in the same building, a tight, soundproof wall shall be constructed between the male and female sections.
A. 
Every tourist park or camp or automobile tourist park or camp shall be under the management of the licensee, who must be of good reputation and character and who shall manage such park or camp from an office located on the premises. There shall be maintained in such office a bound book containing a record of the names of any persons accommodated at the park or camp, their home addresses, the license number and make of their automobile or other vehicles. Such record shall be available at all times for inspection by the Town Clerk and any police officer.
B. 
It shall be the duty of the licensee of any such park or camp to:
(1) 
Provide for the collection and removal of garbage and any other waste material.
(2) 
Prohibit the placing or storage of unsightly material or vehicles of any kind.
(3) 
Provide for cleaning, painting, repairing and disinfecting of all buildings.
(4) 
Take such other measures which shall be deemed necessary by the Town Health Officer and the Town Clerk to preserve the health, comfort and safety of all persons accommodated in the park or camp and of the general public.
(5) 
Prevent any animal to run at large within the park or camp.
(6) 
Report to the Town Health Officer all cases of communicable diseases or suspected cases of communicable diseases affecting any inmate of the park or camp.
(7) 
Prevent the committing of any nuisance on the park or camp premises and to report immediately to the proper authorities all acts of a disorderly character committed by any person or persons inside the park or camp and, to that end, to maintain proper policing thereof.
(8) 
When the camp is not under full public fire protection of the Town, provide adequate protection by a standard system of yard hydrants and hose houses or a standard complement of extinguisher on wheels, so located that all trailers shall be within 300 feet of an extinguisher; in either case supplemented by an adequate supply of such hand fire extinguishers suitable for use on flammable liquid fires as may be required by the size of the camp.
(9) 
Provide at least one standard fire alarm box, depending upon the size of the camp, connected with the Town fire alarm system or, in the absence of such system, suitable telephone facilities accessible at all times.
(10) 
Provide standard watchman and clock supervision when the camp is not under police protection.
(11) 
Provide underground storage and handling of gasoline.
(12) 
Comply with the National Electrical Code with respect to electric wiring and equipment.
No license shall be granted for the construction of such a park or camp in violation of Chapter 150, Zoning, or other ordinances of the Town of Owasco.
No person shall use or park any automobile trailer or house car for living or sleeping quarters within the Town of Owasco except when parked in a licensed automobile tourist park or camp, except that not more than one automobile trailer or house car of a nonpaying guest of a resident of the Town may park on the property of said resident for not exceeding 72 hours in any one month unless such time is extended by a majority of the Town Board and except that a resident of the Town may park or store not more than one automobile trailer or house car belonging to him on his own premises, provided that it is not used for living quarters and the location of the automobile trailer or house car complies with the setback requirements of the Building Code[1] and is not less than 10 feet from any building or other such vehicle.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 50, Building Construction and Fire Prevention.
The Town Clerk may, upon his own initiative or upon the recommendation of the Health Department of the State of New York or the Town Health Officer, revoke or suspend the license granted under authority of this chapter for the failure to comply with any provision of this chapter or any laws or regulations relating to such park or camp.
A. 
The owner, lessee, licensee, occupant of or a person accommodated in any such park or camp who commits any act in violation of such provisions of this chapter shall be liable for any such violation and the penalty therefor.
B. 
Each day such violation shall continue or be permitted to exist shall constitute a separate violation.
C. 
A violation of this chapter is punishable by a fine not exceeding $150 or by imprisonment not exceeding 150 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment or by a penalty of not less than $5 nor more than $500, to be recovered by the Town of Owasco in a civil action.
Removal of the wheels of an automobile trailer or house car, except temporarily for repairs, or the permanent blocking up of an automobile trailer or house car or enclosure of the space beneath an automobile trailer or house car, whether situated in a camp or elsewhere, is to be construed to automatically convert the automobile trailer or house car into a permanent structure subject to the requirements of the Building Code[1] and all other laws and ordinances applicable to dwellings. Notice of such removal of wheels, blocking up or enclosure must be given forthwith to the Town Clerk of the Town of Owasco.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 50, Building Construction and Fire Prevention.