[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Asharoken 6-12-1926 as Ord. No. 2, Sections 2 through 5. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Excavations — See Ch. 64.
Health and sanitation — See Ch. 79.
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 115.
Schedule of fees — See Ch. A127.
[Amended 6-4-1990 by L.L. No. 2-1990; 3-6-2006 by L.L. No. 3-2006]
A. 
Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
FOG LINE
The white line that runs down the side of the road and separates the travel surface of the road from the shoulder of the road.
OBSTRUCTION
Any structure, substance or any combination of materials that interferes with, encroaches on or encumbers the safe travel of the road, including but not limited to trees, rocks, walls, lumber, wood or logs, earth, stone or other material, statues, guardrails and posts.
B. 
No person shall encumber or obstruct or encroach upon any road or street in the Village with any material, building, automobile or vehicle or other substance or structure, or place any obstruction within four feet of the fog line, which structure or obstruction does not comply with the standards set forth below:
(1) 
No such obstruction shall exceed six inches in height, with the exception of mailboxes, fire hydrants and utility poles. Plantings, including grass and flower beds, may be included in the area within four feet of the fog line, provided such plantings do not overhang the paved surface of the road.
(2) 
The face of any mailbox installed pursuant to the standards set forth herein shall be at least six inches behind the paved edge of the road surface. Mailbox costs shall be made of four-inch-by-four-inch wooden posts, or a breakaway construction, and shall not be protected or surrounded by rocks.
(3) 
All parking areas shall be set back as provided in § 115-1 of the Code of the Village of Asharoken.
(4) 
All driveway curbing within four feet of the fog line is to be tapered down prior to entering this area so that it is at road level when it meets the paved surface of the road.
(5) 
Notwithstanding the above, any object placed within the Village right-of-way, even if more than four feet from the fog line, which exceeds three feet in height, and/or weighs more than 100 pounds, shall require review by the Village Superintendent of Highways for conformance with road safety standards prior to its installation in the right-of-way. In order to facilitate such review, the proper owner or his designee must provide to the Highway Superintendent a written description of the work to be performed and/or the obstruction to be place in the right-of-way.
C. 
If the work to be performed or the obstruction is deemed to be nonconforming with the standards set forth above, it shall require a permit. The Village Highway Superintendent shall make a recommendation to the Village Board of Trustees, based upon the impact of said obstruction, structure and/or substance on the safety of the traveled portion of the road, and based on any potential interference of the obstruction, structure and/or substance on the operation of the highway or road, as to whether it should issue a permit. In order to obtain a permit, the property owner, or his or her designee, must sign a hold-harmless agreement, in a form acceptable to the Village, wherein the property owner, or his designee, shall agree to maintain and assume responsibility for the obstruction, structure and/or substance, and release and hold harmless the Village from any damages inadvertently caused to the obstruction, structure or substance by Village equipment or by the equipment of any agency contracted by the Village in servicing the roadway. The property owner and/or his designee must also agree to hold the Village harmless from any personal injury or property damage caused by the obstruction, structure or substance to a third party and will be required to pay the fee for recording said hold harmless in the County Clerk's office so that it becomes a covenant and restriction running with the land, unless revoked or terminated in writing by the Village Highway Superintendent.
D. 
Where any encumbrance, obstruction or encroachment exists at the effective date of this legislation, or hereafter shall exist, that it not in conformance with the standards set forth in Subsection B above, or does not have a permit issued pursuant to Subsection C above, it shall be removed by the person causing the same, or by the owner of the property, within 30 days after notice by mail from the Village Board of Trustees, which said notice shall contain:
(1) 
A description of the object to be removed;
(2) 
A statement that said removal must commerce within 30 days from the service of the notice and be completed within 60 days thereafter, unless for good cause shown such time shall be extended;
(3) 
A date, time and place for a hearing before the Village Board of Trustees in relation to the removal of said object, which hearing shall be scheduled not less than five business days from the date of service of the notice; and
(4) 
A statement that in the event of neglect or refusal to comply with the order for removal, the Village Board is authorized to provide for the removal of said object that is situate in the Village right-of-way and to cause such expenses to, at the option of the Village Board of Trustees, either:
(a) 
Be assessed against the land on which such obstruction is located and shall be levied and collected as an assessment against the real property involved by duly adopted resolution. A copy of such resolution shall be mailed to the person or persons who received notice under Subsection D hereof. A lien of special assessment shall thereupon arise as provided for by the Village Law of the State of New York; or
(b) 
Be collected by commencement of a special proceeding against the owner of the the unsafe obstruction or structure pursuant to General Municipal Law § 78-b.
E. 
Any person violating the above provisions of this section shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding $250 for each offense.
No person shall deposit or allow to be deposited, throw, cast or lay or permit the same to be done any offal, garbage, refuse, ashes or rubbish of any kind in any road or street or in any vacant lot or space within the Village limits.
[Amended 9-11-1978 by L.L. No. 2-1978]
A. 
Permit.
(1) 
No person, firm or corporation, including public service companies and public authorities, shall make any excavation in any street, highway or sidewalk or in any Village property in the Village of Asharoken for any purpose without first obtaining a permit therefor from the Board of Trustees of the Village of Asharoken or its duly constituted designee, as hereinafter provided.
(a) 
Application, in writing, shall be filed with the Village Clerk on application blanks which he shall provide.
(b) 
An application to excavate in or disturb any portion of a street or any Village property shall contain or shall be accompanied by an agreement on the part of the applicant to replace the affected street, highway, pavement or property in accordance with the requirements of the Superintendent of Buildings and at no expense to the Village, and in no event with pavement of less than equal quality to that existing. Each such application shall be accompanied by a surety bond in such form and of such surety as may be approved by the Village Clerk and for an amount determined by him, which bond shall be conditioned upon the performance of the aforementioned agreement by the applicant. If the amount of such bond shall be insufficient to cover all costs of performing the work agreed to be performed by the applicant, the applicant shall be responsible for the deficiency. In the event that the work for which application is presented is done to the satisfaction of the Superintendent of Buildings, the bond shall be released and returned to the applicant.
(c) 
Public utility companies and public authorities may, at their option, file with the Village Clerk a surety bond in the amount of $5,000 to cover all applications under this section for work to be done within the term of the bond. If such blanket bond be filed, the Village Clerk may, at his discretion, require additional security by a further bond or cash should any individual application involve construction to such an extent that the blanket bond shall, in his opinion, furnish inadequate security to the Village.
(d) 
All applications shall be accompanied by a certificate of liability insurance issued to the applicant evidencing that there is then in effect a policy of liability insurance covering all risks inherent in the work to be done with minimum limits of $100,000/$300,000 bodily injury, including death, and $100,000 property damage, including certification of coverage for explosion, collapse and underground property damage and with completed operations endorsement and with the Village of Asharoken named as an additional insured. The applicant shall also keep such insurance in force at all times during the terms of the permit.
(e) 
An application fee of $25 per excavation for which permission is requested must be paid to the Incorporated Village of Asharoken in connection with each application hereunder, except that no fee shall be required of an applicant which is a public benefit corporation.
[Amended 6-4-1990 by L.L. No. 2-1990]
(2) 
Upon compliance with the foregoing requirements, a permit shall be issued.
B. 
Notice. The permittee shall give notice of such excavation to public service companies, public authorities or municipal districts or departments having lines, mains or other property in the street and within 20 feet of the proposed work; and when such notice shall have been required, no work shall be commenced or done under such permit until such requirement of notice has been fully complied with to the satisfaction of the Village Clerk. Before commencing work under any permit, the permittee shall give 24 hours advance written notice thereof to the Police and Fire Departments and the Village Clerk. Such notice shall specify the date and hour when such work will be commenced. Upon completion of such work, similar notice thereof shall be given said Departments and the Village Clerk.
C. 
Any permittee making an excavation or doing any construction covered by this section shall erect suitable barriers or guards for the protection of persons using the streets or sidewalks, shall set up and maintain, during the hours of darkness, sufficient lights or flares to properly illuminate the area, shall take all necessary precautions for the protection of all property which may be endangered by such excavation or construction or other work incident thereto and shall comply with all directions given by the Commissioner of Roads and/or Superintendent of Buildings in respect to such barriers, lights, flares and protective measures. In connection with the operations under such permit, no matter shall be deposited or piled up within 15 feet of any fire hydrant, fire-fighting facility or Village drainage facility.
[Amended 6-4-1990 by L.L. No. 2-1990]
D. 
Completion of work. Permittees shall notify the Fire and Police Departments and the Village Clerk when work has been completed, after which an inspection will be made by the Village, and, upon approval of the work, a release will be granted to the applicant. Until the granting of such release, the applicant shall remain liable for proper guarding and protection as provided herein. No approval or release shall be given by the Village until a sufficient period of time, not less than 30 days, has expired in which the actual work may be observed under normal conditions.
E. 
Emergency work. In the event that any emergency threatening damage to life or property requires prompt beginning or work covered hereby, the person, firm or utility undertaking such work shall give immediate notice thereof to the Asharoken Village Police and Fire Departments and shall make application for a permit at least on the next business day at the office of the Village Clerk. The fact that the work required, because of an emergency, to be begun or to be done without first obtaining a permit, shall not, except as in the subsection is otherwise provided, excuse noncompliance with this section.
[Added 6-4-1990 by L.L. No. 2-1990]
No concrete pavement is to be cut. Replacement pavement shall be made in kind and as directed by Superintendent of Buildings or Commissioner of Roads.
[Added 3-4-1996 by L.L. No. 1-1996]
No civil action shall be maintained against the Village of Asharoken for damages or injuries to persons or property sustained by reason of any street, highway, bridge, culvert, sidewalk or crosswalk being defective, out of repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructive or for damage or injuries to persons or property sustained solely by reason of the existence of snow or ice upon any sidewalk, crosswalk, street, highway, bridge or culvert unless written notice of the defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructive condition or of the existence of snow or ice, relating to the particular place, was actually given to the Village Clerk and there was a failure or neglect within a reasonable time after the receipt of such notice to repair or remove the defect, danger or obstruction complained of or to cause the snow or ice to be removed or the place otherwise made reasonably safe.
[Added 3-4-1996 by L.L. No. 1-1996]
A. 
In the absence of written notice that is required above, no civil claim shall be maintained against the Village of Asharoken, nor shall any civil claim be maintained based on an allegation that such defect, danger or obstruction existed for so long a period of time that the same should have been discovered and remedied in the exercise of reasonable care and diligence, nor a claim that any Village employee possessed actual knowledge of such defect, danger or obstruction, unless written notice is filed with the Village Clerk as required above.
B. 
Nothing herein shall be construed to relieve a claimant of the obligation to serve a notice of claim on the Village of Asharoken as provided in § 50-e of the General Municipal Law.
[Added 3-4-1996 by L.L. No. 1-1996]
The written notice required by § 104-6 shall state the exact location of the alleged defect, danger or obstruction and shall specifically state the condition complained of. If this requirement is not met, such notice shall be void.
[Added 3-4-1996 by L.L. No. 1-1996]
The Village Clerk of the Village of Asharoken shall keep an indexed record of all written notices pursuant to § 4-402, Subdivision g, of the Village Law.