Village of Highland Falls, NY Chapter 134 Littering

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Highland Falls 6-7-1988 as L.L. No. 1-1988 (Ch. 74 of the 1971 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Billposting — See Ch. 62.

Peddling and soliciting — See Ch. 155.

Property maintenance — See Ch. 170.

Solid waste — See Ch. 194.

§ 134-1 Purpose. [1]

The purpose of this chapter is to help preserve and maintain the clean and wholesome character of the Village and to preserve and maintain the health and welfare of Village residents by establishing regulations governing the disposal of litter within the Village of Highland Falls.

[1] Editor's Note: Section 3 of L.L. No. 1, 1988, provided as follows: "The Board of Trustees finds that sidewalks are attributes of private property and intends with this local law to supersede §§ 4-414, 5-516 and 5-518 of the Village Law to the extent said sections may be interpreted to the contrary."

§ 134-2 Word usage; definitions.

A. Word usage. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future; words used in the plural number include the singular; words used in the singular number include the plural; and words in the masculine include the feminine and the neuter. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).

B. As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

AUTHORIZED PRIVATE RECEPTACLE

A litter storage and collection receptacle of steel, aluminum or plastic, of 10 to 30 gallons' capacity, with a tight cover, or a larger steel container with a closed lid.

HANDBILL

Any printed or written matter, circular, leaflet, paper, booklet or any other printed or otherwise reproduced original or copies of any matter of literature.

LITTER

Garbage, refuse and rubbish, as defined herein, and all other waste material which, if thrown or deposited as herein prohibited, tends to create a danger to public health, safety and welfare or tends to create blight.

NEWSPAPER

A printed publication issued at regular intervals, including any periodical or current magazine regularly published with not fewer than four issues per year and sold to the public, commonly containing news, comments, features and advertisements, including any newspaper duly entered with the United States Postal Service in accordance with federal statute or regulation.

PARK

A park, reservation, playground, beach, recreation center or any other public area in the Village, owned or operated by the Village and devoted to active or passive recreation.

PERSON

Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, company or organization of any kind.

PRIVATE PREMISES

Any house, building or other structure not owned or operated by the Village, whether inhabited or temporarily or continuously uninhabited or vacant, including any yard, ground, parking lot, walk, driveway, porch, steps, vestibule or mailbox belonging or appurtenant to such house, building or other structure.

PUBLIC PLACE

Any and all streets, sidewalks, boulevards, alleys or other public ways, and any and all public parks, beaches, squares, spaces, grounds and buildings.

REFUSE

All putrescible and nonputrescible solid wastes, except body wastes, including garbage, rubbish, ashes, street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned automobiles and solid market and industrial wastes.

RUBBISH

Nonputrescible solid wastes consisting of both combustible and noncombustible wastes, such as but not limited to paper, wrappings, cardboard, tin cans, wood, glass, bedding and crockery.

VEHICLE

Every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway or public street.

VILLAGE

The Village of Highland Falls.

§ 134-3 Public places.

A. No person shall throw or deposit litter in or upon any street, sidewalk or other public place within the Village except in public receptacles or in authorized private receptacles for collection.

B. Persons placing litter in public receptacles or in authorized private receptacles shall do so in such a manner as to prevent it from being carried or deposited by the elements upon any street, sidewalk or other public place or upon private property.

C. No person shall sweep into or deposit in any gutter, street or other public place within the Village the accumulation of litter from any building or lot or from any public or private sidewalk or driveway.

D. Persons owning or occupying property shall keep the sidewalk adjacent to their premises free of litter.

E. No person, either in person or by his agent, employee or servant, shall deposit any kind of litter generated from private premises into litter receptacles either placed on Village streets or maintained by the Village for litter purposes. Nothing herein shall be construed so as to prohibit the use of such receptacles for the deposit of litter generated on or removed from a public place.

§ 134-4 Littering from vehicles.

No person shall throw or deposit litter from any vehicle upon any street or public place within the Village or upon private property.

§ 134-5 Parks, beaches and bodies of water.

A. No person shall throw or deposit litter in any park or beach within the Village except in public receptacles and in such a manner that the litter will be prevented from being carried or deposited by the elements upon any part of the park or beach or upon any street or other public or private place. Where public receptacles are not provided, all such litter shall be carried away from the park or beach by the person responsible for its presence and properly disposed of elsewhere, as provided herein.

B. No person shall throw or deposit litter in any pond, river, stream or other body of water within the Village.

§ 134-6 Private property.

A. No person shall throw or deposit litter on any private property within the Village, whether owned by such person or not and whether occupied or vacant, except that the owner or person in control of private property may maintain authorized private receptacles for collection in such a manner that litter will be prevented from being carried or deposited by the elements upon any street, sidewalk or other public place or upon private property.

B. The owner of private property or his agent shall, at all times, maintain the premises free of litter, except when stored properly in authorized private receptacles for collection.

C. If the owner of private property fails to remove all litter from the premises and/or the sidewalk adjacent to the premises within 10 days after the Village posts a notice of violation on the premises and mails a copy of said notice, return receipt requested, to the owner at its last known address, the Village is authorized to enter upon the premises and remove the litter. The costs of such removal shall be a lien against the property and, if not paid, shall be relevied as a real property tax and collected in the same manner as other Village taxes.

§ 134-7 Handbills. [1]

A. In public places. No person shall throw or deposit any handbill in or upon any sidewalk, street or other public place within the Village. No person shall hand out or distribute any handbill in any public place except to persons willing to accept it.

B. On vehicles. No person shall throw or deposit any handbill in or upon any vehicle, except it shall not be unlawful in any public place for a person to hand out or distribute a handbill to any occupant of a vehicle who is willing to accept it.

C. On private property. No person shall throw or deposit any handbill in or upon any private premises which are:

(1) Temporarily or continuously uninhabited or vacant.

(2) Posted with a sign placed in a conspicuous position near the entrance thereof, bearing the words "No Peddlers or Agents," "No Advertisements" or words of similar import indicating the desire of the occupants not to have such handbills left upon such premises, or where an occupant expressly directs the person not to throw, deposit or distribute the handbill on the premises.

(3) Inhabited but not posted or subject to any express warning by an occupant, except by handing or transmitting any such handbill directly to an occupant, unless the person so distributing places or deposits any such handbill so as to secure or prevent it from being blown or drifted about the premises or sidewalks, streets or other public ways.

D. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the distribution of mail by the United States Postal Service nor to newspapers, as defined herein, except that newspapers shall be placed on private property in such a manner as to prevent their being carried or deposited by the elements upon any street, sidewalk or other public place or upon private property.

[1] Editor's Note: See also Ch. 62, Billposting.

§ 134-8 Penalties for offenses. [1]

Any person committing an offense against any of the provisions of this chapter shall be punished, upon conviction, by a fine not exceeding $250 or by imprisonment not exceeding 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The continuation of an offense against the provisions of this chapter shall constitute, for each day the offense is continued, a separate and distinct offense.

[1] Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).