The storage of junk motor vehicles and the abandonment of motor vehicles
on privately owned property within the Village of LeRoy 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 often times 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 village as a whole and make the village 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 village in
violation of the chapter.
As used in the chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
The Building Inspector of the Village of LeRoy, unless the Village
Board of Trustees, by resolution, designates some other officer.
JUNKED MOTOR VEHICLES
A.
Any motor vehicle which is abandoned, stored, left or located by its
owner or any other person on public or private property in the Village of
LeRoy that:
(1)
Is unlicensed, wrecked, stored, discarded, abandoned or dismantled,
or partly dismantled, and which is no longer intended or in a condition suitable
for its original intended use;
(2)
Is being held, stored or used for the purpose of sale or resale of parts
therefrom, or for the purpose of reclaiming for use some or all of the materials
therein, or for the purpose of disposing of the same;
(3)
Is in such condition that it cannot be put into an operational condition
except at a cost in excess of its wholesale market value, as set forth in
the N.A.D.A. Official Older Used Car Guide, after repair. In any administrative
or legal proceeding under this subsection, the cited respondent or respondents
shall have the burden of proving that such vehicle can be put into operational
condition for less than such value; or
(4)
With respect to any motor vehicle not required to be licensed, or a
motor vehicle not usually used on public highways, the fact that such motor
vehicle has remained unused, or not raced, if such vehicle is used only for
auto racing, for more than eleven months and is not in condition to be moved
under its own power shall be presumptive proof that such motor vehicle is
a junk vehicle.
B.
Notwithstanding the above, a motor vehicle is not a junk vehicle if
such motor vehicle is:
(1)
Stored or deposited in a completely enclosed building;
(2)
Under repair, reconstruction or refurbishing by the owners thereof (who
must actually be residing on the premises) for a total period of time, consecutive
or nonconsecutive, not to exceed 30 days, during any one year period;
(3)
A single motor vehicle being offered for sale by a private individual
who must be actually be residing on the premises for a total period of time,
consecutive or nonconsecutive, not to exceed 30 days during any one year period;
(4)
A single motor vehicle being stored for use on a seasonal basis (i.e.,
a "winter car"), provided that such vehicle is intact, is stored in other
than a front yard of the premises where it is located, and has a New York
State motor vehicle inspection sticker issued within the previous 12 months
affixed to it; or
(5)
Temporarily stored on the premises of a duly authorized motor vehicle
service station or a auto body repair shop within the village, for a period
not to exceed 60 days, or is part of the inventory of a duly licensed new
or used motor vehicle dealer located in compliance with the laws and ordinances
of the Village of LeRoy.
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 a property interest 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 Village
of LeRoy.
PREMISES or PROPERTY
Includes all parcels of privately owned real property located within
the boundaries of the Village of LeRoy, whether occupied or vacant, irrespective
of size or topography.
VILLAGE
The Village of LeRoy, New York.
It shall be unlawful for any person 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 Village of LeRoy.
Any junked motor vehicle, as defined herein, may be removed from the
premises on which it is located by the Village of LeRoy in the manner hereinafter
provided:
A. The Enforcement Officer, upon detecting a junked vehicle,
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 Village of LeRoy.
B. In the event that said junked motor vehicle or vehicles
are not removed from the premises within the time required in the notice,
duly authorized agents of the Village of LeRoy 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 provision of this chapter.
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 $250 or by imprisonment not to exceed six months or
both. A violation of the chapter shall also subject the violator to a civil
penalty of the greater of $50 per separate violation, or of the village'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 Village of LeRoy 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 purpose 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 violations.
Notwithstanding any other provision of the chapter, the Village of LeRoy may serve such notices and do such other and further things as set forth in §
197-4 hereof and may at the same time or at any other time, without prior notice, proceed under §
197-5 concerning the imposition of penalties.