[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Rensselaer 2-20-1991 by L.L. No.
3-1991.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law was originally adopted
as Ch. 246 but was renumbered to maintain the alphabetical organization
of the Code.
This chapter shall be called the "Unsafe Buildings Law."
The purpose of this chapter is to promote and preserve the health,
safety and welfare of the public and residents and/or owners of property
located within this City by providing a method for the removal or
repair of buildings and structures within the limits of this City
that, from any cause, may now be or shall hereafter become dangerous
or unsafe to the public and residents and/or owners of property within
the City.
No person, firm, corporation or association owning, possessing
or controlling a building or structure in this City shall permit,
suffer or allow said building now or hereafter to be or become dangerous
or unsafe to the public and/or residents 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 the middle third of its base.
B.
Those which, exclusive of the foundation, show 33% or more of damage
to or deterioration of the supporting member or members or 50% of
damage to 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 or the general health and
welfare of the occupants or the people of this City.
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, safety
or general welfare of those living therein or adjacent thereto.
F.
Those having light, air and sanitation facilities which are inadequate
to protect the health, safety or general welfare of human beings who
live or may live therein, with particular reference to the requirements
of the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code as
a determinant.[1]
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, again referencing the New York State
Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code as a determinant.
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, safety or general welfare of the people of
this City.
The City Engineer shall be the enforcement officer of this chapter
and shall direct the Building and Zoning Administrator to make inspections
of all unsafe buildings and structures within the City. The Building
and Zoning Administrator shall report to the City Engineer all unsafe
buildings and structures which from time to time may be found within
the limits of the City. When it is reported to the City Engineer that
a building or structure is believed to be in an unsafe or dangerous
condition, the City Engineer shall direct the Building and Zoning
Administrator to inspect the same and to report the condition of the
same and his finding to the City Engineer with all convenient speed,
and further, said inspection shall be conducted only after proper
notice has been made to the owner of the building or structure, with
the subsequently scheduled inspection to be conducted in the presence
of the owner or owner's agent.
A.
The City Engineer shall thereafter consider the report of the Building
and Zoning Administrator and, if in his opinion the report so warrants,
shall determine that the 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.
B.
The notice shall contain the following:
(1)
A description of the premises.
(2)
A statement of the particulars in which the building or structure
is unsafe or dangerous.
(3)
An order requiring the same to be made safe and secure or removed.
(4)
That the securing or removal of the buildings or structures shall
commence within 30 days of the serving of the notice, as hereinafter
provided, and shall be completed within 60 days thereafter.
(5)
That, in the event of neglect or refusal of the persons and/or corporations
served with the notice to comply with the same, an inspection of the
premises will be made by the Building and Zoning Administrator and
an inspector, architect or engineer to be named by the City Engineer
and a practical builder, engineer or architect appointed by said persons
or corporations so notified.
(6)
That, in the event of the refusal or neglect of the persons or corporations
so notified to appoint an inspector, the two inspectors named by the
City Engineer shall make the inspection 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 City,
such service to be complete and the thirty-day time period recited
in said notice to commence upon filing of an affidavit of personal
service upon the owner with the City Clerk and County Clerk; or
B.
By mailing a copy of said notice to such owner as aforesaid, by registered
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 the filing of the return
receipt and the affidavit of posting with the City Clerk and County
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 City Engineer, a survey of said premises
shall be made in the following manner:
A.
The City Engineer shall appoint the Building and Zoning Administrator,
architect or engineer, and the persons so notified shall appoint a
practical builder, engineer or architect who shall make said report
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 an inspector within 40 days after
service of the notice, the two inspectors appointed by the City Engineer
shall proceed and report.
B.
A signed copy of such report shall be posted on the structure.
In the event that the building or other structure shall be reported
unsafe or dangerous under such report, the City Engineer may request
the Corporation Counsel 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.
The inspectors shall be paid reasonable compensation for the
service performed by them in making their report and in preparing
the report thereof.
All costs and expenses incurred by the City in connection with
the administratively and/or judicially substantiated proceedings to
remove or secure, including the cost of actually removing said building
or structure, shall be assessed against the land on which said building
or structure is located.
A.
In case there shall be, in the opinion of the Building and Zoning
Administrator, 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 Building
and Zoning Administrator 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 a 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 the 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 City 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.
Pursuant to the authority and powers granted in the Municipal
Home Rule Law, particularly § 10 thereof, the following
alternate or additional procedures may be followed:
A.
Upon the making of a report by the Building and Zoning Administrator
that the building or structure is reported unsafe or dangerous to
the public, the City Engineer may direct the Building and Zoning Administrator
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 their last known addresses as shown by the records
of the City 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
Building and Zoning Administrator requiring the same to be repaired
or removed and, if such service is made by registered mail, the posting
of 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 City Engineer at a time and place
specified in the notice to repair or demolish, not sooner than two
weeks nor later than the date given to commence repair or removal,
if the owner requests the same. If no hearing is requested, the order
so served shall take effect as provided in the notice.
D.
At the hearing, the owner, the City 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 City Engineer 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 report is sustained,
modified or reversed. If reversed, no further proceeding shall be
had.
G.
If the original report is sustained, in whole or in part, the City
Engineer 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 City Engineer shall designate,
the penalties hereinafter provided shall be invoked.
A.
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 City Engineer shall report
the same to the Common Council. The Common Council may direct that
the City shall cause the repair or removal of the unsafe building.
After the work has been completed, the City Engineer shall file with
the Common Council a verified statement of all of the direct costs
of the same, together with a charge of 50%, in addition thereto, as
compensation to the City for administering, supervising and handling
said work.
B.
Upon receipt of the verified statement, the Common Council shall
direct that the amount thereof, including the charges added thereto,
shall constitute a lien against the premises and direct that the same
shall be added to the next assessment roll of general City 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 City
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.
C.
Notwithstanding any provision herein to the contrary, the City may,
at its election, institute suit against the owner of the premises
for the direct costs, together with a charge of 50% in addition thereto
as compensation to the City for administering, supervising and handling
said work, and enter 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 City
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 City Engineer 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 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 more than $250
or by imprisonment for not more than 15 days, or by both such fine
and imprisonment. Each day in which such offense continues shall constitute
a separate violation.
