This chapter is enacted in recognition of the fact that junk cars abandoned or stored on private property in the Town of Stanford can constitute both a public and private nuisance. They are a source of potential harm to children and others who may find them an attractive nuisance. They are replete with broken glass, sharp, torn metal edges and points, gasoline remaining in tanks of a highly explosive and combustible nature and hurtful acid in batteries, to mention but a few of the more obvious sources of potential physical hurt found on these junk cars. Besides this, these junk cars constitute a blight on the Town's landscape; they destroy the aesthetic qualities of the Town; and they are generally otherwise unsightly. Their existence tends to depreciate not only the property on which they are located but also the property of other persons in the neighborhood and the Town generally. They constitute to the Town a less safe and less pleasant place in which to live and to do business. They hurt the welfare of the Town as a whole. The intent of this chapter is to establish a legal procedure for the removal of these junk cars where they are found in the Town outside duly licensed establishments, pursuant to Chapter
118 of the Code of the Town of Stanford.
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.
JUNK CAR
Any motor vehicle, whether automobile, bus, truck, trailer, mobile home or any other contraption originally intended for travel on public highways, which is abandoned, stored outdoors, left or located by its owner or any other person, or is permitted or condoned to be abandoned, stored, left or located by its owner or any other person, on private property in the Town of Stanford and outside any junkyard establishment duly licensed by the Town pursuant to Chapter
118 of the Code of the Town of Stanford, which "junk car" is unregistered by the State of New York or any other state or not operable and does not bear a valid New York State inspection sticker in the current year or a valid inspection sticker of any other state for the current year. The use of the term in the singular herein is intended, where applicable, to include the plural.
PERSON
Any individual person or persons, firm, partnership, corporation,
whether business, membership, religious, charitable or otherwise,
any association or other unit or entity owning real property in the
Town of Stanford.
Any junk car, as defined in this chapter, may
be removed from the premises on which it is located by the Town of
Stanford in the manner hereinafter provided:
A. The enforcement officer, upon detecting a junk 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 30 days of the date of such
service. Such notice shall also contain a description of the premises,
a statement as to the location thereon of a junk car, reference to
this chapter and to the fact that the location of such junk car on
such premises in violation of this chapter. If such premises are owned
by more than one person, personal service on any one of such owners
shall suffice; however, as to any owner not personally served with
such notice, or if no owner can be located upon whom to make personal
service, the enforcement officer shall mail such notice to owners
not personally served or to the owner and to all the owners, if no
owner was personally served, by registered mail to their or his last
known address as shown on the latest completed assessment roll of
the Town. In addition, such enforcement officer shall post conspicuously
a copy of such notice on the premises upon which such junk car is
located.
B. At the expiration of 30 days after the service or mailing and posting of such notice, pursuant to Subsection
A, if such junk car has not been removed, the enforcement officer shall publish in the official newspaper of the Town a notice that the vehicle is to be removed from the property, with a description of the property, a complete description of the vehicle and its location on the property, any vehicle identification number of the vehicle or other numerical identification, reference to this chapter and to the fact that the location of such junk car on such premises is a violation of this chapter and a request for proposals to remove such junk car.
C. At the expiration of 10 days after the publication,
the enforcement officer may contract for the removal of such junk
car. Any expense to the Town in accomplishing such removal may be
assessed by the Town Board on the real property from which such junk
car was removed, and the expense so assessed shall constitute a lien
and charge on the real property on which it is levied until paid or
otherwise satisfied or discharged as other Town charges.
D. Upon notification from the property owner within 30 days after the service or mailing of the notice provided for in Subsection
A that the junk car was abandoned on his property by another, the following procedure shall be observed:
(1) The enforcement officer shall make an inquiry in an
attempt to identify the last registered owner of the junk car.
(2) Following identification of the last owner, the enforcement
officer shall contact the owner by registered mail, return receipt
requested, and advise said owner that the junk car shall be removed
from the property by the enforcement officer at the expiration of
10 days of the receipt of service by registered mail. The notice shall
also contain the name and address of the owner of the property, a
description of the property and a description of the junk car, including
any vehicle identification number or other numerical identification,
reference to this chapter and the fact that the location of such junk
car on such premises is a violation of this chapter.
(3) In the event that the enforcement officer cannot locate
the last owner of the junk car, he shall publish a notice in the official
newspaper having a circulation in the Town of Stanford, containing
a statement that the junk car is to be removed, allowing the owner
an opportunity to be heard regarding the removal, a description of
the property, a description of the junk car, including any vehicle
identification number or other numerical identification, reference
to this chapter and the fact that the location of such junk car on
such premises is a violation of this chapter and a request for proposals
to remove such junk car.
(4) The last registered owner of an abandoned vehicle
shall be presumed to be the owner and liable to the Town of Stanford
for the costs of removal and storage of such vehicle, unless he shall
present proof of present ownership in another person.
(5) If the enforcement officer has received proper notification
from the property owner within the thirty-day period that the junk
car was abandoned on his property by another and has been unable to
identify the last registered owner, the junk car shall be removed
from the property and the cost of removal of the junk car shall become
a charge against the Town of Stanford.