[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Gloversville
12-22-1971 as L.L. No. 1-1971. Amendments noted where applicable.]
It is the established policy of the City of Gloversville that the natural
topography of the land of the city is a public asset which should be preserved
and safeguarded. Unsightly conditions, which are either detrimental to or
mar the environment, and also hazardous, indiscriminate or uncoordinated excavation
and regrading pose substantial dangers to the public health, safety and welfare,
which ought to be minimized for the safeguarding of its inhabitants.
For the purpose of this chapter, the meanings of the words and expressions
set forth below shall be as follows:
The creation, by any process or means, mechanical or otherwise, including,
without limiting the generality of the foregoing, pile driving, boring, preparing
for footings, demolition of buildings below ground level, swimming pools or
foundations, laying of cable or pipe, draining and diverting watercourses,
of any hole, pit, trench, shaft, tunnel or other aperture in the ground or
elsewhere.
The lot or parcel of land on which the excavation was performed.
No excavation of land which shall leave or have left a dangerous or
unsightly condition shall be permitted within the City of Gloversville.
A.
The City Engineer shall, upon the direction of the Common Council, fill in such excavated lands or property in the City of Gloversville as may be determined by the Common Council, after a hearing held as provided in § 139-5 hereof, to constitute a hazard to the public safety, or is an unsightly condition, if the owner of record thereof shall not fill or cause the same to be filled after notice to fill the same, given as provided in §§ 139-7 and 139-8 hereof.
B.
Such lands shall be filled with such materials, at such
times and by such methods as the City Engineer shall determine to be in the
best interests of the public safety, health and welfare.
The Common Council may, upon its own motion or the complaint of any
resident of the city, call a public hearing to determine whether any excavated
land or property in the city constitutes a hazard to public safety, or is
an unsightly condition, upon not less than ten (10) nor more than twenty (20)
days' notice mailed to the record owner of such land or property at his last
known address and published at least once prior to such hearing in a newspaper
of general circulation in the city, stating the purpose of the hearing, describing
in general terms the land or property which shall be the subject of the hearing
and stating that all persons interested in the subject matter thereof shall
be given an opportunity to be heard.
The Common Council shall not be required to entertain any complaint
that any excavated land or property is a hazard to public safety or an unsightly
condition unless the complaint is in writing, signed by the complainant, describes
the land or property either by courses or distances or by reference to the
Gloversville Tax Map, states the respects in which such land or property is
a hazard to the public safety or an unsightly condition and states the complainant's
residence post office address.
If the Common Council, after a public hearing pursuant to § 139-5 hereof, shall determine that the land or property which was the subject of such hearing constitutes a hazard to public safety, or is an unsightly condition, it shall notify the owner thereof to fill the same in accordance with the specifications and directions prescribed by the City Engineer in the interests of the public safety, health and welfare and within such time as the Common Council may determine to be reasonable, depending upon the size, location and nature of the excavation and the availability of suitable fill and, if said land or property is not filled according to such specifications and directions and within such time, shall direct the City Engineer to fill such land or property or cause the same to be filled.
The notice provided in § 139-7 hereof shall be mailed to the owner of record of such lands and property at the address shown on the last preceding assessment roll, by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, at least thirty (30) days prior to the date on which such owner is required to commence the filling of such lands or property, shall describe the property by courses and distances or by reference to the Gloversville Tax Map, and shall state that if the filling of such land or property in accordance with the provisions of this chapter shall not be completed on or before the date specified in such notice by the Common Council for such completion, the City Engineer shall fill the same, and the expense thereof shall be assessed against such lands and property, as provided in § 139-9 hereof.
[Amended 12-3-1974 by L.L.
No. 13-1974]
The expense of such filling shall be charged against the land on which the excavation exists, as a special assessment, which special assessment shall be made, levied and collected in the same manner as the special assessment provided for in § C-100 of the Charter of the City of Gloversville, provided that in cases where such procedure is desirable and any delay thereby caused will not be dangerous to the health, morals, safety or general welfare of the people of this city, the Common Council may direct the City Attorney to take legal action to force the owner to fill said excavation.
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to excavations existing on
and after the effective date of this chapter.
The failure of the owner to fill in an excavation as specified in the
notice of the City Engineer shall subject the owner to the same procedure
and penalties as herein set forth.
The transfer of title by the owner of the premises upon which an unsafe
excavation 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 excavation in a
safe condition, as designated in such notice, or who shall commit an offense
against any of the provisions of this chapter or orders given pursuant thereto
or who shall resist or obstruct the City Engineer in carrying out the provisions
of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a violation pursuant
to the Penal Law of the State of New York, punishable by a fine of not less
than fifty dollars ($50.) nor more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.)
or by imprisonment for not more than fifteen (15.) days, or by both such fine
and imprisonment. Each day in which such offense continues shall constitute
a separate violation.
