This chapter shall be known as the "Junked and Abandoned Motor Vehicle
Ordinance of the Town of Gates."
The storage of junk motor vehicles and the abandonment of motor vehicles
on privately owned property within the Town of Gates is a threat to the health,
safety and general welfare of the community. Junked and abandoned vehicles
are a safety hazard to members of the community and especially younger children.
These vehicles oftentimes are replete with broken glass, gasoline fumes and
gasoline still existing in tanks, and harmful acids which can cause injury.
Such vehicles are unsightly and depreciate the property on which they are
located as well as the property in the community in general. They destroy
the aesthetic quality of the town as a whole and constitute the town a less
safe and pleasant place in which to live and do business. The control of the
storage of junked motor vehicles outdoors on privately owned property as well
as abandoned vehicles on privately owned property is therefore a necessity
for the preservation for the health, safety and welfare of the community.
The intent of this chapter is to establish procedures for the control and
the removal of junked and abandoned motor vehicles found in the town in violation
of this chapter.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
The Building Inspector of the town unless the Town Board, by resolution,
designates some other town officer as enforcement officer.
JUNKED MOTOR VEHICLE
A.
Any motor vehicle that:
(1)
Is unlicensed, old, wrecked, stored, discarded, abandoned or dismantled
or partly dismantled, which is not intended or in any condition for legal
use upon the public highway.
(2)
Is being held or used for the purpose of resale of used parts therefrom
or for purposes of reclaiming for use some or all of the materials therein
for the purpose of disposing of the same.
(3)
Is in such condition as to cost more to repair and place in operating
condition than its reasonable market value at that time before such repair.
B.
With respect to any motor vehicle not required to be licensed or motor
vehicle not usually used on public highways, the fact that such motor vehicle
has remained unused for more than six months and is not in condition to be
removed under its own power shall be presumptive evidence that such motor
vehicle is a junked motor vehicle.
C.
The fact that a motor vehicle may be licensed or registered with the
State of New York, but does not display a current license plate, shall be
presumptive evidence that such motor vehicle is unlicensed.
D.
The use of the term in the singular herein is intended, where applicable,
to include the plural.
MOTOR VEHICLE
Any vehicle originally designed and intended to be operated, drawn
or driven, or capable of being operated, drawn or driven, on a public highway
by any power other than muscular power.
OWNER OF MOTOR VEHICLE
A person, firm or corporation having the property in or title to
a motor vehicle, including a person entitled to the use and possession of
a vehicle subject to a security interest in another person, and also including
any lessee or bailee of a motor vehicle having the use thereof under lease
or otherwise.
OWNER OF PRIVATE PROPERTY
Any person, firm, partnership or corporation, whether business or
membership, or religious, charitable or otherwise, any purchaser, tenant,
lessee, occupant, undertenant, receiver or assignee of private premises or
private property or any other unit or entity owning real property in the Town
of Gates.
PREMISES or PROPERTY
Includes all parcels of privately owned real property located within
the boundaries of the Town of Gates, whether occupied or vacant, irrespective
of size or topography.
It shall be unlawful for any person within the Town of Gates to store
or deposit, or cause, suffer or permit to be stored or deposited, a junked
vehicle or part or piece thereof on any private property within the Town of
Gates unless:
A. Such motor vehicle is stored or deposited in a completely
enclosed building.
B. Such motor vehicle is under repair, reconstruction or
refurbishing by the owners thereof who must actually be residing on the premises.
Not more than one such motor vehicle shall be permitted at any one time on
any premises. Such motor vehicle must be so maintained and protected as to
not create any safety hazard or nuisance to surrounding property owners, and
shall not remain on the premises more than 90 days.
C. Such motor vehicle is temporarily stored on the premises
of a duly authorized motor vehicle service station or a body repair shop within
the town or is the inventory or part of the inventory of a new or used motor
vehicle dealer or a duly licensed junk dealer located in compliance with the
laws and ordinances of the Town of Gates.
Any junked motor vehicle, as defined herein, may be removed from the
premises on which it is located by the Town of Gates in the manner hereinafter
provided:
A. The enforcement officer upon detecting a junked car shall
serve written notice on the person owning the premises on which the same is
located, ordering such person to remove the same or cause the same to be removed
therefrom within 10 days of the date of said service. The enforcement officer
may determine ownership of any parcel of land in the Town of Gates from the
current assessment roll.
B. In the event that said junked motor vehicle or vehicles
are not removed from the premises within the time required in the notice,
the Town of Gates shall have the right to enter upon the premises and to remove
and dispose of the junked motor vehicle or vehicles. The expense of such removal
and disposal shall be a lawful charge against the owner and occupant of the
premises and may be collected, if necessary, in a civil action instituted
in the name of the town or in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
[Amended 9-7-1999 by L.L.
No. 2-1999]
A violation of this chapter or any provision or part thereof by any
person, firm or corporation is hereby declared to be an offense, punishable
by a fine not to exceed $1,000 or by imprisonment not to exceed one year,
or both such fine and imprisonment. A violation of this chapter shall also
subject the violator to a civil penalty of the greater of $50 per separate
violation, or the town's costs of inspection, service of notice, removal,
towing and permanently disposing of such vehicle, less any penal monetary
fine which may have been imposed. Any person who shall resist or obstruct
the duly authorized agents, servants, officers and employees of the Town of
Gates or other duly authorized law enforcement officers in removal and disposal
of motor vehicles, as provided in this chapter, shall be in violation of this
chapter and subject to the fines and penalties provided herein. Each day's
continued violation shall constitute a separate and additional offense. For
the purposes of conferring jurisdiction upon courts and judicial officers
generally, violations of this chapter or any provisions or parts thereof shall
be deemed misdemeanors, and for such purpose only all provisions of law relating
to misdemeanors shall apply to such violation.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Town of Gates may serve such notices and do such other and further things as set forth in §
179-5 hereof, and may at the same time or at any other time, without prior notice, proceed under §
179-6 concerning the imposition of penalties.
The provisions of § 1224 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law of
the State of New York shall govern removal and disposition of abandoned motor
vehicles.