[Adopted by the City Council of the City of Troy 7-7-1983 (Art. VI of Ch. 14 of the 1973 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Property maintenance — See Ch. 176.
Recycling — See Ch. 234.
Garbage and refuse — See Ch. 247.
[Added 9-4-2014 by Ord. No. 53]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
LITTER
For the purposes of this chapter, the term "litter" means all waste materials, including, but not limited to, bottles, glass, tobacco products, crockery, cans, scrap metal, junk, bulk refuse, paper, garbage, rubbish, old automobiles or parts of automobiles or similar refuse.
[Amended 9-4-2014 by Ord. No. 53]
It shall be the duty of the police and the Department of Public Works and Code Enforcement inspectors of the City and the Mayor and/or the Commissioner of the Department of Public Works and their duly authorized representatives to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
A. 
No person shall sweep or deposit litter in or upon any street, sidewalk or other public place within the City.
B. 
No person shall sweep into or deposit in any gutter, street or other public place within the City the accumulation of litter from any building or lot or any litter from any public or private sidewalk or driveway.
No person shall throw or deposit litter in any park within the City. Where public receptacles are not provided, all litter shall be carried away from the park by the person responsible for its presence and properly disposed of elsewhere.
No person shall transport in any truck or other vehicle or in any manner, through the public streets of the City, streets to which the public has access, or over any land owned or controlled by the City, any ashes, waste material, rubbish, discarded boxes, barrels or other containers of merchandise or discarded material of any kind or description consigned to a dump or to any other destination, unless the same is conveyed or transported in a truck, vehicle or other manner entirely covered or enclosed so that material cannot escape while being so transported. In the event the same shall be transported or conveyed other than in an entirely enclosed truck, vehicle or otherwise, such material being so transported and conveyed shall be covered by a canvas or covering of a similar nature, securely fastened so as to prevent the material from escaping the truck or other vehicle onto the streets, sidewalks, ways, public land or private property. It shall be unlawful for any person to so convey and transport ashes, rubbish, waste or discarded material of any nature through the public streets of the City, on ways open to the public or over land owned or controlled by the public, or willfully to deposit or negligently allow such material to escape onto the streets and other places while being so transported and conveyed. It shall be the duty of every person transporting and conveying such material to stop and recover the same, in the event of any escape or loss thereof, irrespective of the cause of the escape or loss.
No person shall throw, place or scatter, or cause or permit any person in his/her employ to throw, place or scatter, any dung, dead animal, carrion, putrid, decayed, diseased or stale meat, entrails or offal of fish or animals, oyster or clam shells, vegetable matter, coal or other ashes, papers, rags, straw, rubbish, the sweepings or refuse of any store, house, lot or building, dirty water, offensive substance, liquids or matter of any kind whatsoever, or anything which is a nuisance or detrimental to health, in or upon any public street in the City, except as provided and allowed in this chapter; nor shall any person in any manner obstruct the free passage of the water in the gutters along the public streets in the City; nor shall any person set fire to any such articles, matters or substances upon any public street.
No person shall throw or deposit in any pond, brook or natural waterway within the limits of the City any dead animal, dead fish or fish waste, rubbish, filth, foul or offensive substance, or any refuse matter whatsoever, fuel, lubricating oil, fish oil or other greasy substance, so that the same shall create a danger to the public health, safety and welfare.
No person shall throw or deposit or permit to be thrown or deposited in that part of the Hudson River opposite the corporate limits of the city lying between the east bank of the river and the center of the river any coal, ashes, cinders, garbage, earth, refuse or other heavy substance or litter; and no owner, lessee or occupant of any lands or buildings adjacent to the river and within the limits herein mentioned shall permit any coal, ashes, cinders, garbage, earth, refuse or other heavy substances or litter to be deposited upon such lands in such a manner that the same may fall into the river or be carried into the river in times of flood or high water.
No person shall knowingly post or affix any notice, poster, sign or other paper or device calculated to attract the attention of the public, to any public lamppost, public utility pole or public shade tree, or upon any public structure or building, except as may be authorized or required by law.
No person shall throw or deposit litter on any occupied private property within the City in such a manner that it tends to create a danger to the public health, safety and welfare, whether owned by such person or not; except that the owner or person in control of private property may maintain private receptacles for collection, as authorized by this chapter. Litter will be prevented from being carried or deposited by the elements from any such occupied private property to the streets, sidewalk or other public place or upon any private property.
[Amended 10-5-1989; 9-4-2014 by Ord. No. 53]
A. 
The police and Department of Public Works and Code Enforcement inspectors of the City and the Mayor and/or the Commissioner of the Department of Public Works of the City and their duly authorized representatives are hereby authorized and empowered to notify any persons owning or occupying private property within the City, or the agent of any such person, to properly dispose of litter located on the property or the sidewalks or gutters adjoining such premises in violation of §§ 188-11, 188-12, 188-13 and 188-14 of this chapter.
B. 
Said persons shall have 24 hours from the time such notice is made to do so to dispose of the litter. Persons receiving notices given on a Friday shall have 48 hours to comply. However, depending on the severity of the conditions observed at the time of inspection, the City reserves the right to immediately order the collection of the litter and any associated debris and subsequently invoice the owner for the services provided by the City.
C. 
The notices prescribed herein shall apply only to violations of §§ 188-11, 188-12, 188-13 and 188-14 of this chapter; it shall be sufficient if such notice is oral and communicated to the person owning or occupying the private property or to the agent of such person.
Private solid waste collectors shall not permit solid wastes of any kind to fall or collect upon the highway, roadway, street or ground from which they are collecting or over which route they are traveling, nor shall they permit solid wastes to set out or to fall from any vehicle or in any way become distributed upon or along private property or on the public highways, roadways, streets or thoroughfares. Such littering shall be cause for revocation of their permit.
No person shall break, leave, discard or deposit in any manner any glass bottle, glassware, crockery, can or container of any kind, make or description in or on any public place of any nature within the City or on any private property unless and except that it is part of the act of depositing the same in a trash device specifically designed for the retention of trash.
[Amended 7-7-1988; 10-2-2003 by L.L. No. 4-2003; 9-4-2014 by Ord. No. 53]
All categories of waste material, including but not limited to garbage, rubbish, bulk refuse, construction and demolition material, scrap metal or any similar type of waste material, shall only be placed for collection, either by private or municipal services, at the location from which the waste material was generated. Waste material deposited at a location within the City other than the location/property address from which the waste material was generated shall be considered illegal dumping and shall be subject to all appropriate fees, fines and penalties provide for in this chapter.
[Amended 4-1-2004 by Ord. No. 3; 9-4-2014 by Ord. No. 53]
A. 
Collection fees:
(1) 
Except as provided in Subsection C, any person committing an offense of any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a violation of the City Code, and in the event that municipal collection of the waste identified as being in violation is authorized in accordance with § 188-1A, the owner of the property in violation shall be subject to collection fees.
(2) 
The minimum collection fee for all municipal collection services shall be $75, with the exception of construction and demolition material, which shall carry a minimum fee of $150. Collection fees in excess of the minimum fees shall be based on both the volume of waste to be collected and the sanitary conditions of the waste. A determination on additional fees shall be made by the inspecting officer, sanitation inspector, or code inspector in consultation with the Mayor and/or the Commissioner of the Department of Public works and their duly authorized representatives.
(3) 
Written notice of collection fees shall be provided, via regular mail, to the property owner of the property in violation. Said notice shall include a photograph of the waste violation. Property owners shall have 45 days to make payment from the date of the notice. All unpaid collection fees shall be relevied, plus penalties, on the property owner's property taxes for the subsequent year to the date the collection notice was issued. Collection fees delinquent for 45 days or more will be relevied to the City of Troy Tax bill after November 1. For the purpose of this chapter, the calendar year for collection fees shall be November 2 through November 1.
(4) 
For the purposes of this chapter, the following guidelines shall be followed relative to waste collections.
(a) 
Collection of a quantity of waste that is reasonably judged to fit inside the box of a standard size City pickup truck shall be collected at no charge, provided that the waste was generated from an owner-occupied single-, two-, three- or four-unit residence.
(b) 
Collections that exceed a pickup truck volume from an owner-occupied single-, two-, three- or four-unit residence shall be collected and an appropriate charge, in accordance with § 188-19A(2), shall be billed to the property owner of said property.
(c) 
Properties, including residential rental properties containing single, two, three or four units, where the property owner does not reside shall be treated as a commercial property (business). Collections of any quantity of waste, including but not limited to bulk refuse, shall be collected, and an appropriate charge, in accordance with § 188-19A(2), shall be billed to the property owner of said property.
(d) 
The following classification of properties, including but not limited to commercial rental properties (offices, wholesale/retail businesses, apartment buildings), tax-exempt properties and not-for profit agencies, shall not receive municipal bulk refuse collections. These properties shall be responsible for bulk refuse removal through the use of private contractors.
B. 
Any person committing an offense of illegal dumping as set forth in § 188-18 shall be guilty of a violation punishable by a fine, imprisonment, or both, for each offense. The fine shall be a minimum fine of $200 for each occurrence, with the maximum fine not to exceed $500 per offense. A sentence of incarceration shall not exceed 15 days per offense.
C. 
Fine; civil penalty. In addition to the collection of costs associated with the removal or cleanup of garbage, refuse or waste materials found in violation of this chapter by the City, any person violating this chapter shall be punished by a fine in City Court pursuant to Subsection A or B of this section or a civil penalty recovered in accordance with § 188-20 of this chapter in the following amounts:
Violation
Penalty
First
$100
Second
$125
Third
$225
Fourth
$300
Fifth
$350
D. 
Fine; civil penalty options. In daddition to the penalties imposed in § 188-19 of this chapter, the City Court may order a person to perform one or more of the following:
(1) 
Perform public service relating to the removal of litter or to the restoration of an area polluted by litter;
(2) 
Pay the person, or in the case of public property, the City, sustaining damages arising out of a violation of this chapter, plus the injured party's court costs and attorney's fees if action results in a civil proceeding.
[Added 7-2-1998]
A. 
Whenever the police and the park rangers of the City or Commissioner of Public Works or a designee determines that there has been a violation, or that there are reasonable grounds for belief that there has been a violation, of any provision of this chapter, they shall give notice of such violation or violations and an order to pay a civil penalty as prescribed herein to the person or persons responsible for such violation or violations, who may be the owner, occupant, operator or agent of a dwelling as the case may require, in accordance with the requirements hereinafter set forth.
[Amended 9-4-2014 by Ord. No. 53]
B. 
Such notice shall be deemed to be properly served upon such person, owner, agent, occupant or operator if a copy is served upon such person, owner, agent, occupant or operator personally; or if a copy thereof is sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known address of such person; or if a copy is posted in a conspicuous place in the building affected by the notice and a copy of said notice is mailed by certified mail, return receipt requested, on the same day as it is posted to the person, owner, agent, occupant or operator; or such other method of service authorized by the Civil Practice Law and Rules of the State of New York. Such notice shall inform the person to whom it is directed of his/her right to apply for a hearing as provided in this section.
C. 
Following receipt of the notice of violation with notice of right to a hearing, the person responsible for such violation shall have 10 days from the date of the notice to request a hearing in the manner provided herein. In the event that said person fails to request said hearing as so provided, he/she shall be deemed to have waived his/her right to a hearing and to any further administrative remedies, and the determination of police and the park rangers of the City, the Commissioner of Public Works or a designee shall be deemed final and conclusive.
[Amended 9-4-2014 by Ord. No. 53]
D. 
Any person affected by any notice of violation issued in connection with the enforcement of any provisions of this chapter or of any rule or regulations adopted pursuant thereto may request and shall be granted a hearing before a hearing officer to be appointed by the Mayor, provided that such person shall file, within 10 days of the date of the notice of violation, in the office of the Commissioner of Public Works, a written request for such hearing, setting forth a brief statement of the grounds therefor, designating the person and his/her address upon whom orders may be served and setting forth the reasons why such notice of violation should be modified or withdrawn, on a form as provided by the Commissioner of Public Works. If this request is filed within such ten-day period, no action to collect the civil penalty shall be taken while the hearing is pending.
E. 
Upon receipt of a request for a hearing, the Commissioner of Public Works or a designee shall set a time and place for such hearing and shall give the applicant at least 10 days' written notice thereof. Such hearing shall commence not later than 30 days after the date on which the request was filed; however, hearings may be postponed by the hearing officer beyond such thirty-day period for good and sufficient reason. At such hearing, the applicant or his/her representative shall be given an opportunity to show cause why such notice of violation should be withdrawn. The applicant shall be entitled to be represented by legal counsel of his/her choosing at such hearing and to cross-examine all witnesses against him/her.
F. 
After a hearing held in accordance with this section, and on consideration of the evidence presented, the hearing officer shall sustain, modify or withdraw the notice. If the notice of violation is sustained or modified, such final determination shall be deemed a final order and shall be served on the parties. The hearing officer shall keep a written summary of testimony and a copy of every notice or order, records of appearances, findings of fact and final determination, and such hearing shall be made and filed in the office of the Commissioner of Public Works. Such minutes shall be made available to any person requesting the same upon payment of a reasonable charge for copying, pursuant to law. A copy shall be furnished to the appellant upon request, free of charge.
G. 
Any person or party aggrieved by an order of the hearing officer may seek to have such order reviewed by the Supreme Court in the manner prescribed by Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
H. 
The civil penalty assessed pursuant to the notice of violation, if no hearing is requested pursuant to this section, or as modified or sustained by the hearing officer if a hearing is requested and held, shall be recoverable in a civil action in court by the Corporation Counsel, together with costs and disbursements. When the Corporation Counsel obtains a judgment in an action under this section, in addition to the appropriate methods of enforcement for judgments established in the Civil Practice Law and Rules, such judgments for civil penalties shall constitute a lien against the affected property and shall be filed with the office of the City Comptroller within one year from the entry of judgment, and the total amount thereof shall be added to and become part of the next annual assessment roll for the affected property at the time and in the manner prescribed by the Charter of the City and subject to all the provisions thereof.
[Added 10-5-1989]
Where information furnished by an individual to the City has, in the opinion of the Mayor, resulted in a fine of civil penalty for unlawful littering or dumping in violation of § 188-2, 188-3, 188-4, 188-5, 188-7, 188-8, 188-9, 188-11, 188-12 or 188-18, the Mayor shall be authorized to offer as a reward to said individual a sum equal to 25% of such fine or civil penalty.
[Added 10-5-1989]
If the Director of Code Enforcement shall find litter on private property or sidewalks as prohibited by §§ 188-13 and 188-14 and if the owner or person in control has failed to dispose of the litter after notice as set forth in § 188-15 or if such notice cannot be made with due diligence, the Director of Code Enforcement shall promptly cause such litter to be removed and may enter upon private property if necessary for this purpose. Such removal may be done by the City or by a private contractor under the supervision of the Director of Code Enforcement. The reasonable costs incurred for the removal, whether done by City employees or by a private contractor, shall be charged to the owner of the private property described in § 188-13 or 188-14, and the amount thereof shall be levied in the same manner as a tax against the property or may be collected by summary proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction.
[Added 9-4-2014 by Ord. No. 53]
Violations of any provision of this chapter shall also be considered a violation of Chapter 205, Nuisances, Article III, Mayor's Powers; Assignment of Points for Offences, §§ 205-17 through 205-28, and shall be documented and enforced in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 205.