[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Johnstown 1-19-1981 by L.L. No.
1-1981. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
The Town of Johnstown finds that industrial waste disposal and recycling
facilities and sanitary landfills are by their very nature potentially
dangerous to both the town citizenry and their surrounding natural
environment. The contamination of groundwater tables, nearby creeks
and streams and the pollution of the air are very real threats which
are posed by such operations.
B.
It is the duty and intent of the Town Board to protect the inhabitants
of the Town of Johnstown through an exercise of its police powers
by regulating waste disposal and recycling operations and sanitary
landfills and by requiring maximum utilization of safety and health
factors to ensure the continued well-being of the town citizenry.
This chapter shall apply to all territory within the confines
of the Town of Johnstown.
Unless the context shall otherwise require, the terms and words
used in this chapter shall have the same meaning as those defined
in Article 27 of the Environmental Conservation Law and Parts 360
and 364 of Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (6
NYCRR).
Any person who designs, constructs, maintains or operates any
solid waste management facility shall do so in conformance with the
requirements of this chapter, the relevant sections of Article 27
of the New York State Environmental Conservation Law and 6 NYCRR Parts
360 and 364, as amended, which are incorporated by reference into
this chapter and shall have the same effect as if fully set forth
herein.
No person being the owner, driver, helper, manager or operator
of any truck or other vehicle used in the collection or transportation
of solid waste shall allow any of said material on said vehicle to
become dislodged or to fall or blow from such vehicle upon any of
the streets, highways, sidewalks or public places in the town, or
upon any property in the town, whether real or personal, public or
private. Solid waste must be appropriately covered or confined in
the vehicle transporting the waste to prevent blowing papers and litter
or other spillage.
All solid waste management facilities must be operated in such
a manner as not to impede traffic flow on any adjoining public highway,
and the intensity of such operations shall be such that traffic to
and from the facility will not be hazardous or conflict with the normal
traffic in the neighborhood.
Any solid waste management facility which violates any provision
of this chapter is hereby declared to be a public nuisance.
Every solid waste management facility shall be subject to periodic
inspections by officials of the Town of Johnstown, their agents or
employees without notice. The owner and operator of each such facility
shall allow outside inspection thereof upon demand by any such duly
authorized representative of the town.
A.
Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be guilty
of a Class A misdemeanor and shall be punished by such fine or imprisonment,
or both, as shall be provided by the New York State Penal Law. Each
day of continued violation shall be deemed a separate violation of
this chapter.
B.
This chapter may be enforced by any person authorized by the Town
Board, by resolution, or by the Zoning Officer of the town. Any enforcement
officer is authorized to issue an appearance ticket, an information,
a misdemeanor complaint or any other appropriate accusatory instrument,
in the manner provided by the Criminal Procedure Law of the State
of New York or by any pertinent ordinances or local laws of the town,
to the owner or operator of the solid waste management facility as
well as to any other person who is violating the provisions of this
chapter.
C.
Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to impair or diminish any
cause of action or remedy which the town may have under any other
local law, statute, ordinance or regulation or under the common law;
provided, however, that in the case of a conflict, those terms or
rules of law shall control which are more restrictive upon the solid
waste management facility. In addition thereto, the town may enforce
this chapter by court injunction.
Any person adjudged in a criminal or civil proceeding to have
violated this chapter shall be liable to the town for all expenses
incurred by the town in connection with the proceeding, including
the reasonable attorney's fees of the town in connection therewith.
