[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Geneseo 7-25-1983 by L.L. No. 3-1983 as Ch. 26A of the 1966
Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Property
Maintenance Code of the Village of Geneseo" and may be referred to
in this chapter as the "Property Maintenance Code" or as "this code."
The purposes of this chapter shall be to:
A.
Provide for the public health, safety and welfare.
B.
Avoid, prevent and eliminate the maintenance or creation
of hazards to the public health or safety.
C.
Avoid, prevent and eliminate conditions which, if
permitted to exist or continue, will depreciate or tend to depreciate
the value of adjacent or surrounding properties.
D.
Prevent the creation, continuation, extension or aggravation
of blight.
E.
Preserve property values in the Village.
F.
Prevent the physical deterioration or progressive
downgrading of the quality of housing facilities in the Village.
G.
Maintain the value and economic health of the commercial
properties and businesses that serve and help to support the Village
and its citizens.
H.
Prevent and eliminate physical conditions in or on
property which constitute nuisances and are thereby potentially dangerous
or hazardous to the life, health or safety of persons on or near the
premises where such conditions exist.
I.
Establish minimum standards governing the maintenance
and condition of land, buildings, structures and premises in the Village.
J.
Fix responsibilities and duties therefor upon owners,
lessees, operators and occupants of property.
K.
Provide for administration and enforcement.
L.
Fix penalties for the violation of this code.
For the specific purpose of this code, the following
terms, whenever used herein or referred to in this code, shall have
the respective meanings given to them hereunder, unless a different
meaning clearly appears from the context:
Those portions of a building or structure which are exposed
to public view or are visible from adjoining or adjacent lots, including
all outside surfaces and appurtenances thereto, and the open land
space of any premises outside of any building or structure erected
thereon.
Any public or private condition that would constitute
a nuisance according to the statutes, laws and regulations of the
State of New York or its governmental agencies or the ordinances or
local laws of the Village.
Any physical condition existing in or on the
exterior of any premises which is potentially dangerous, detrimental
or hazardous to the life, health or safety of persons on, near or
passing within the proximity of the premises where such condition
exists.
Any person having actual possession, use or occupancy of
a dwelling premises or rooming unit or any person or entity in possession
of or using any premises or part thereof, whether or not the owner
thereof and regardless of the duration of time of such possession,
use or occupancy.
Any person, persons or entity, not the owner, who has charge,
care or control of a dwelling or premises or a part thereof, with
or without the knowledge, consent or authority of the owner.
Any person, persons or entity who shall have legal title
in any form whatsoever to any premises or part thereof, with or without
accompanying actual possession thereof, or who shall have charge,
care or control of any lot, premises, building or structure or part
thereof as owner or agent of the owner or as a fiduciary, trustee,
receiver, guardian, lessee or mortgagee in possession, regardless
of how such possession was obtained. Any person, group of persons
or entity who is a lessee, sublessee or assignee of a lessee of any
part or all of any building, structure or land shall be deemed to
be a co-owner with the lessor for the purposes of this chapter and
shall have responsibility over the portion of the premises so sublet,
leased or assigned.
A lot, plot or parcel of land or right-of-way, including
the building or structures thereon.
All discarded, useless, unusable, unused or worthless solid
waste matter or materials, including but not limited to garbage, trash,
ashes, paper, paper goods and products, wrappings, cans, bottles,
containers, yard clippings, garden waste, debris, junk, glass, boxes,
crockery, wood, mineral matter, plastic, rubber, leather, furniture,
household goods, appliances, bedding, scrap lumber, scrap metal, construction
material, inoperable machinery or parts thereof, garden or farming
implements and supplies, dead or rotting vegetation, tires, abandoned,
inoperative or unusable automobiles and vehicles and solid commercial
or industrial waste.
Every residential and nonresidential building
or structure and the premises or part of the premises on which it
is situated, including vacant lots, are required to comply with the
provisions of this code.
In any case where the provisions of this code
impose a higher or stricter standard than set forth in any other ordinance,
local law or regulation of the Village or under the laws or regulations
of the State of New York or any of its agencies, then the standards
as set forth herein shall prevail.
Compliance with this code shall not constitute
a defense against any violation of any other ordinance or local law
of the Village applicable to any structure or premises, nor shall
any one act of compliance constitute a defense against any subsequent
or other violation of this code.
Owners, operators and occupants shall have all
of the duties, obligations and responsibilities prescribed in this
code, and no such person or entity shall be relieved of any such duty,
obligation or responsibility hereunder nor be entitled to assert,
as a defense against any charge made against him or them for violation
of this code, the fact that another owner, operator or occupant or
any third person or entity is also responsible therefor and in violation
thereof.
[Amended 7-5-1989 by L.L. No. 4-1989]
Any alterations to buildings, structures or
appurtenances thereto, or changes of use therein, which may be caused
directly or indirectly by the enforcement of this code shall be done
in accordance with all applicable sections of the New York State Uniform
Fire Prevention and Building Code.
Nothing contained in this code or any requirement
of compliance herewith shall be deemed to alter, impair or affect
the application of the Zoning Ordinance or zoning laws of the Village.[1]
Nothing in this code shall be deemed to abolish
or impair existing remedies of the Village or its officers or agencies
relating to the removal or demolition of any buildings or structures
which are deemed to be dangerous, unsafe or unsanitary.
In furtherance of the purposes of this chapter,
it shall be the duty and responsibility of the owner, operator or
occupant of premises to comply with any or all of the requirements
and standards of this chapter to keep the premises free from conditions
which constitute violations hereof and to promptly remove, prevent
or abate such conditions.
The exterior of all premises shall be kept free
of the following matter, material or conditions:
A.
Refuse or rubbish as hereinbefore defined.
B.
Abandoned, uncovered or structurally unsound wells,
shafts, towers, exterior cellar openings, basement hatchways, foundations
or excavations.
C.
Abandoned iceboxes, refrigerators, heaters, television
sets and other similar major appliances.
D.
Structurally unsafe or unsound buildings, structures
or fences.
E.
Rodents, vermin, pest infestations or rodent harborages.
F.
Nuisances as hereinbefore defined.
G.
Vehicles or parts thereof, including boats and trailers,
motorized or not, licensed or unlicensed, registered or unregistered,
which vehicles or parts thereof are or have been junked, abandoned,
dismantled or are in a state of visible disrepair.
H.
Dangerously loose and overhanging objects, which would
threaten the health and safety of persons if caused to fall, or other
similar dangerously loose and overhanging objects which, by reason
of their location above ground level, constitute an actual hazard
to persons or vehicles in the vicinity thereof.
I.
Inadequate or unsafe foundation walls, retaining walls,
piers and columns and other similar structurally unsound, damaged
or defective load-bearing components which are incapable of bearing
imposed loads safely at all points.
Without limitation by the foregoing, it shall
also be the duty and responsibility of owners, occupants and operators
to keep the exterior of all premises structurally sound, in good general
repair and sufficiently maintained, to an extent so as to prevent
and avoid conditions that violate the purpose of this chapter as hereinabove
set forth.
[Amended 7-5-1989 by L.L. No. 4-1989]
The Zoning Enforcement Officer of the Village
is hereby designated as the officer charged with the enforcement of
this chapter and is hereinafter referred to as the "Zoning Enforcement
Officer."
A.
Whenever the Zoning Enforcement Officer determines
that there is or has been a violation of any provision of this chapter,
he shall give notice of such violation to the person, persons or entities
responsible therefor under this chapter. Such notice shall be in writing
and shall include a concise statement of the reasons for its issuance.
Such notice shall be deemed to be properly and sufficiently served
if a copy thereof is sent by registered mail to the last known address
of the person or entity upon which the same is served, as shown by
the most recent tax lists of the municipality, or a copy thereof handed
to such person or persons, or a copy thereof left at the usual place
or abode or office of such persons or entities. Notice shall be given
as aforesaid within or without the municipality. The notice shall
also state that unless the violation is abated, removed, cured, prevented
or desisted from within 10 days of the date of service of such notice
(exclusive of the date of service) a summons shall be issued for such
violation. The Zoning Enforcement Officer may, at the time he issues
the notice, extend the period for compliance with the violation stated
in the notice for a period in excess of the aforesaid 10 days if,
in his judgment, the abatement, removal, prevention, cessation of
or cure of the condition violated cannot reasonably be effected within
the ten-day period. In such cases, the Zoning Enforcement Officer
shall state such reasonably required extended period in the notice,
which shall then be applicable instead of the aforesaid 10 days.
[Amended 7-5-1989 by L.L. No. 4-1989]
B.
In the event that the violation is not abated, removed,
cured, prevented or desisted from or otherwise fully remedied within
the ten-day period or within such period as set forth in the notice,
pursuant to the foregoing, a summons shall then issue against the
person, persons, entity or entities so notified.
[Amended 7-5-1989 by L.L. No. 4-1989]
Whenever the Zoning Enforcement Officer finds that an emergency condition in violation of this chapter exists, which condition requires immediate attention in order to protect the public health or safety, he may issue an order by service of notice as set forth in § 86-15 reciting the existence of such an emergency condition and requiring that such action be taken by the violator as soon as is reasonably necessary to meet the emergency. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, such order shall be effective immediately. Any person to whom such an order is directed shall comply therewith immediately, but, upon objection in writing to the Zoning Enforcement Officer, any such persons shall be afforded a hearing before the Village Board of Trustees as soon as is reasonably possible. After such a hearing and decision by the Trustees as to the existence or nonexistence of the emergency condition, the Village Board of Trustees may continue such order in effect, or modify or withdraw it, subject to issuance of a summons for violation thereof, if such order is continued.
A.
Any person or entity who shall violate any of the
provisions of this chapter or any order promulgated hereunder shall,
after a summons is issued and upon conviction, be punishable by a
fine of not more than $1,000 per day of violation in accordance with
§ 382 of the Executive Law.
[Amended 7-5-1989 by L.L. No. 4-1989; 9-14-2020 by L.L. No. 3-2020]
B.
Each violation of any of the provisions of this chapter
and each day that each such violation shall continue shall be deemed
to be a separate and distinct offense.
