City of Glen Cove, NY Chapter 199 Nuisances

[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Glen Cove 8-25-1981 by L.L. No. 1-1981 as Ch. 62, Arts. I and III, of the 1981 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]

Article I General Prohibitions

§ 199-1 Definitions.

As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

HEALTH NUISANCE

Includes doing any act or failing to perform any duty whereby a condition is created which may be dangerous or prejudicial to human life or health.

§ 199-2 Abatement of health nuisance.

Whenever in any place or on any premises within the city a health nuisance shall have been found and declared by the Health Officer or Building Department Administrator to exist, and an order shall have been made by said Health Officer or Building Department Administrator directing the owner, lessee, tenant or occupant of such place or premises to abate said health nuisance, and an opportunity to be heard shall have been given such owner, tenant, lessee or occupant, such health nuisance shall be fully abated within the time and in the manner specified in said order.

§ 199-3 Interference with Health Officer or Building Department Administrator.

No person shall interfere with or obstruct the Health Officer or Building Department Administrator, or any authorized representatives of said officers, when in the performance of their official duties.

§ 199-4 Tampering with notices prohibited.

A. Prohibited. No person shall interfere with, obstruct, mutilate, conceal or tear down any notice or other placard of the Health Officer or Building Department Administrator posted in or on premises except by permission of such officers.

B. Duty of occupants. In the event of such notices or placard being concealed, mutilated or torn down it shall be the duty of the occupant of the premises concerned immediately to notify the Health Officer or Building Department Administrator.

§ 199-5 Accumulations of stagnant water prohibited.

It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to permit or allow in or upon any vacant lot or land any water to collect or lie stagnant in which mosquito larvae breed or are likely to breed.

§ 199-6 Discharge of smoke, gases and wastes restricted.

No person shall allow, suffer or cause to be permitted the discharge or escape into the open air of such quantities of smoke, cinders, soot, dust, noxious gases, offensive odors, trade wastes and other pollutions in such a manner as to cause injury or nuisance to any person or persons, or to endanger the health or safety of any such person or persons, or in such manner as to cause injury or damage to business or property, real or personal, or cause or permit soot, ash, dust, cinders or other material to settle upon any private or public property of any nature in the City of Glen Cove whereby damage results to any person or property.

§ 199-7 Expectorating, urinating or defecating in public places.

[Amended 2-13-2007]

A. Expectorating in any public place, except into a receptacle provided for that purpose, is forbidden.

B. It shall be unlawful to urinate in a public place.

C. It shall be unlawful to defecate in a public place.

§ 199-8 Unsanitary buildings.

A. Authority of Health Officer or Building Department Administrator. Whenever any building or part thereof may become unsanitary, or for any reason endanger human health, and the owner shall have failed to comply with an order of the City Council to place or put the same in a safe and sanitary condition, the Health Officer, Building Department Administrator or any designee of the Mayor, when directed by resolution of the City Council, shall issue an order, to be affixed conspicuously on the building and served on the owner, agent, lessee or occupant thereof, requiring all persons to vacate such building and discontinue its use at such time as such Officer may determine, which time shall be stated in said order.

B. Effect of order. Any owner, agent, lessee or occupant of any such building or part thereof, who shall fail or refuse to comply with such order to vacate, shall be subject to the provisions and penalties provided for violations of this Code unless he or she complies with the requirements of the City Council within the time stated in the order, and it shall thereafter be unlawful to occupy or permit the occupancy of such house or part thereof until such order has been complied with. [1]

[1] Editor's Note: Former § 62.12, Poisonous polishing agents prohibited in restaurants, which followed this section, was deleted 5-27-1997 by L.L. No. 2-1997.

§ 199-9 Penalties for offenses.

[Amended 5-27-1997 by L.L. No. 2-1997]

Any person violating any provision of this article shall be liable to a penalty set in accordance with Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article II, General Penalty; provided, however, that if the person served with the notice as provided in this article corrects the condition within the time specified in the notice, or after appeal, no violation shall be deemed to have been committed.

Article II Nuisance Properties

[Added 2-13-2007]

§ 199-10 Definitions.

As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

PREDICATE ARREST

An arrest for a violation of a predicate offense.

PREDICATE OFFENSE

A violation of any one of the following: Article 220 (controlled substance offenses), Article 221 (offenses involving marijuana), Article 230 (prostitution offenses), or Article 263 (sexual performance by a child) of the New York State Penal Law, as amended, or §§ 65, 65-a, 65-b, 82, 123, or 126 of the New York State Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, as amended, or § 260.20 (unlawful dealing with a child) of the New York State Penal Law, as amended.

PUBLIC NUISANCE

Any building or structure in the City of Glen Cove wherein at least two predicate offenses have been alleged to have occurred by the Glen Cove police, or by any peace officer acting pursuant to his or her special duties, resulting in at least two predicate arrests within any twelve-month period, but not including any case in which each of the predicate offenses has been alleged to have occurred during any single twenty-four-hour period.

§ 199-11 Prohibited conduct.

It shall be unlawful, and a violation of this article, for any person or legal entity to be the owner, lessee or otherwise in control of a building or structure which has become a public nuisance as defined herein.

§ 199-12 Notice.

A. Upon the occurrence of any first predicate arrest, it shall be the duty of the Building Department to provide, within 30 days thereafter, a written notice as described hereinafter to the owner, lessee or other person or legal entity in control of the building or structure where the predicate offense leading to such arrest has been alleged to have occurred. This notice shall have affixed to it a copy of this chapter, shall identify the date and underlying charge of the first predicate arrest, as well as the name and, if known, the address of the arrestee, and shall declare that if any second predicate arrest shall occur within 12 months after the first, resulting from a second predicate offense having been alleged to have occurred at said building or structure, by the Glen Cove police or by any peace officer acting pursuant to his or her special duties, then the City and/or its various appropriate departments shall be empowered to proceed as provided in § 199-13 below.

B. This notice shall be sent by personal delivery, or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to such owner, lessee or other person or legal entity at its last known address. Upon the occurrence of any such second predicate arrest, the City shall be authorized to proceed with its enforcement powers provided herein, without need for further notice, except as required in the event that the City shall take action pursuant to § 199-13B below or except as otherwise provided by law.

§ 199-13 Enforcement.

A. In the event that any building or structure shall be maintained as a public nuisance as defined herein, then, in addition to any City Court prosecution available to it, the City shall hereby be empowered to institute an action in any court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin further occupancy of the building or structure in question, for a period of up to three years from the date of the second predicate arrest, and shall be further empowered to seek a temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction to remove such occupancy and secure the premises therefrom at the earliest possible time. The Building Department shall also be empowered to proceed with Glen Cove City Court prosecutions.

B. Upon completion of notice and hearing as provided in Subsection C hereof, the City Council shall be empowered to declare a public nuisance to be an immediate and substantial threat to the safety and well-being of the inhabitants of the building or structure in question, or of the residents or other occupants of the surrounding vicinity, and to direct that such building or structure be physically boarded up and secured from further occupancy for a period of up to one year from the date of such declaration and to direct that a sign be posted upon all exterior doors of such building or structure, declaring with bold lettering that occupancy thereof is prohibited until further order of the Building Department Administrator.

C. In the event that the City Council shall take action pursuant to Subsection B above, then the notice and hearing shall be undertaken pursuant to the following requirements:

(1) The notice shall be in writing and shall be provided not less than 10 days prior to the scheduled conduct of the hearing to the owner, lessee or other person or legal entity in control of the building or structure in question by personal delivery to the front door of the premises in question or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to such person(s) or legal entities at their last known address(es).

(2) The notice shall state the prerogatives of the City Council under Subsection B hereof and shall direct all persons receiving notice to provide good cause why the City Council should not proceed with the ordering of any action authorized under Subsection B.

(3) In the event that Glen Cove City Court or the City Council authorizes action by City departments to effectuate its directives pursuant to Subsection A or B above, respectively, and in the event that such actions by City departments are undertaken in accordance therewith, then the City shall be entitled to assess the cost to the City of the actions and to charge and file a tax lien for that amount against the tax lot(s) upon which said building or structure is situate, for the amount of such cost, to be collected in the same manner as provided for the collection of property taxes in the City, generally.

§ 199-14 Penalties for offenses.

A. In the event of a prosecution in Glen Cove City Court of any owner, lessee or other person in control of a building or structure for the violation of § 199-11 of this article, the penalty shall be a fine of $1,000 and/or 15 days' imprisonment, and for the purpose of prosecution, the violation of § 199-11 shall be deemed to have been committed at the time of the second predicate arrest.

B. It shall be a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and/or imprisonment for not more than six months, for any person to enter upon any building or structure which has been posted and secured pursuant to the provisions of this article, except upon written permission of the Building Department Administrator, and it shall be a violation punishable by a fine of up to $250 and/or imprisonment for 15 days for any person to remove or deface any notice posted pursuant to the provisions of this article.