This chapter is enacted in recognition of the fact that junk
cars abandoned or stored on private property in the Village of Sloan
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 Village's landscape; they destroy the aesthetic qualities
of the Village; 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 Village generally. They constitute to the Village a less safe
and less pleasant place in which to live and to do business. They
hurt the welfare of the Village 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 Village outside duly licensed establishments.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
The Code Enforcement Officer of the Village, unless the Board
of Trustees, by resolution, designates some other Village 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 Village of Sloan and outside any junkyard
establishment duly licensed by the Village, which junk car is unregistered
by the State of New York or any other state or is 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
Village of Sloan.
Any junk car, as defined in this chapter, may be removed from
the premises on which it is located by the Village of Sloan 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 is
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 Village. 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 Village 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 Village in accomplishing such removal may be assessed by the
Board of Trustees 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 Village 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 Village of Sloan, 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 Village of Sloan for the costs of
removal and storage of such vehicle unless he shall present proof
of present ownership by 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 Village of Sloan.