[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Hamlin 9-11-1989 by L.L. No.
5-1989 (Ch. 116 of the 1987 Code). Amendments noted
where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Junk Vehicle Law of the
Town of Hamlin."
A clean, wholesome, attractive environment is declared to be
of importance to the health and safety of the inhabitants, and such
an environment is essential to the Town and the general welfare of
its citizens. The unrestrained accumulation of motor vehicles not
in operating condition is a hazard to such health, safety and welfare
of the citizens of the Town, necessitating the regulation and restraint
thereof.
A.
COMMERCIAL GARAGE
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
JUNK VEHICLE
(1)
(a)
(b)
(c)
(2)
(3)
(4)
LEGAL OCCUPANT
MOTOR VEHICLE
OWNER OF PRIVATE PROPERTY
PARCEL OF PROPERTY
PERSON
TOWN
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Any business repairing motor vehicles or any part thereof.
The Building Inspector of the Town, unless the Town Board,
by resolution, designates some other Town officer as enforcement officer
or, by resolution, establishes the position of enforcement officer
for the Town and appoints some qualified person thereto at a salary
specified in such resolution.
[Amended 12-11-2006 by L.L. No. 8-2006; 8-10-2009 by L.L. No. 3-2009]
Any motor vehicle stored, left or located by its owner or any
other person on public or private property in the Town of Hamlin,
which motor vehicle is:
Dismantled or partly dismantled, and which is no longer intended
or in condition for legal use upon the public highway;
Being held or used for the purpose of resale of used 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;
In such condition as to cost more to repair and place in operating
condition than its reasonable market value at the time before such
repairs.
With respect to any motor vehicle not required to be licensed,
any motor vehicle not usually used on public highways, and any motor
vehicle used seasonally in agricultural business, the fact that such
motor vehicle has remained unused for more than nine months and is
not in condition to be moved under its own power shall be presumptive
evidence that such motor vehicle is a junk motor vehicle.[1]
The fact that a motor vehicle which may be licensed or registered
with the State of New York does not display a current license plate
shall be presumptive evidence of the fact that such motor vehicle
is unlicensed.
For the purpose of this chapter, "stored" or "located" shall
mean any locations where the junk vehicle is visible from a public
highway or from a dwelling unit on a neighboring property.
Any person who, singularly or together with other persons,
is in possession of real property pursuant to an agreement with the
owner thereof. The term shall include tenants, contract vendees and
licensees.
Every vehicle originally designed and intended to be operated,
drawn or driven or capable of being operated, drawn or driven upon
a public highway by any power other than muscular power.
A person owning real property in the Town. A parcel of real
property owned by more than one person shall be considered as having
each such person be an owner.
Real property appearing on the tax rolls of the Town as one
unit, whether occupied or vacant, irrespective of size or topography.
Includes natural persons, corporations, copartnerships, unincorporated
associations or any other organization of two or more persons.
The Town of Hamlin and its officers and agents; also public
and private areas within the Town.
B.
The term "shall" is always mandatory. Words used in the singular
shall include the plural and vice versa.
C.
The reference to other sections of the Hamlin Town Code as "ordinances"
shall include those sections of the Code adopted as local laws.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation, either
as owner, occupant, lessee, agent, tenant or otherwise of property
within the Town of Hamlin, to store or deposit or cause or suffer
or permit to be stored or deposited a junk vehicle or part or piece
thereof on any private property within the Town of Hamlin unless:
A.
Such motor vehicle is stored or deposited in a completely enclosed
building.
B.
Such motor vehicle, if in open storage, is under repair, reconstruction
or refurbishing by the owners thereof, who must actually be residing
upon the premises. Not more than one such motor vehicle shall be permitted
at any one time on any premises. Such motor vehicle must be so maintained
and protected as to not create any safety hazard or nuisance to surrounding
property owners and shall not remain on the premises except as permitted
in this chapter.
A.
Any person wishing to store or locate a junk vehicle on a parcel
of property other than in a completely enclosed structure must first
obtain a permit from the Town's enforcement officer allowing
such storage.
B.
That permit may be granted after an application has been made showing:
(1)
The make, model and year of the vehicle.
(2)
The name and address of the last registered owner and last registration
plate number as issued by the appropriate Department of Motor Vehicles.
(3)
The vehicle identification number.
(4)
Evidence of the applicant's ownership or title to such vehicle.
(5)
The purpose(s) for which the junk vehicle(s) is (are) being stored
or located.
(6)
The proposed location depicted on a map of the property indicating
where on the property the junk vehicle is to be located or stored.
C.
Purposes for which junk vehicles can be stored or located other than
in a completely enclosed structure are as follows:
(1)
Antique or classic car restoration for vehicles 25 or more years
old. A permit will be issued on an annual basis, renewable for a year
at a time.
(2)
Restoration of other than an antique or classic car. A permit will
be issued for a one-year period, renewable for one additional one-year
period. The renewal shall be granted only if the junk vehicle has
been improved since the issuance of the original permit.
(3)
Removal of parts or components. A permit will be issued for a sixty-day
period, renewable for one sixty-day period only.
D.
A permit for a commercial garage will be issued to an applicant who is registered with the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles as a motor vehicle repair shop and whose parcel of property upon which the junk vehicles are to be stored is in an area designated as a commercial district pursuant to Chapter 520, Zoning, of the Code of the Town of Hamlin or who has a special permit issued by the Town Zoning Board of Appeals to operate a motor vehicle repair shop in any other district or who has a nonconforming use which predated the adoption of Chapter 520, Zoning.
E.
Permits
shall not be granted under this chapter for dealers in secondhand
junk and auto parts. Such dealers must comply with the laws and ordinances
licensing and regulating dealers in secondhand junk and auto parts
activities and businesses.
Any owner or legal occupant of a parcel of property in the Town
who shall abandon, store, locate, leave or allow or condone any other
person to abandon, store, locate or leave a junk vehicle upon a parcel
of property owned or occupied by him within said Town, contrary to
the provisions hereof, shall be guilty of a violation hereof. Any
person, whether as owner or driver of a vehicle or an operator of
a towing vehicle or carrier, who shall abandon, store, locate or leave
a junk vehicle upon a parcel of property in the Town of which he is
not either the owner or legal occupant, without the written permission
of the legal occupant, shall be guilty of a violation hereof.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original § 116-7, Removal, which
immediately followed this section, was deleted 8-10-2009 by L.L. No.
3-2009.
A violation of this chapter or any provision or part thereof
is hereby declared to be a violation punishable by a fine of up to
$100 for each violation and by imprisonment for up to 15 days, or
by both such fine and imprisonment. A violation of this chapter shall
also subject the violator to a civil penalty of $100 for each violation,
less any criminal monetary fine which may have been imposed. Each
junk vehicle abandoned, stored, left or located in violation of this
chapter shall constitute a separate violation. Each day's continued
violation shall constitute a separate and distinct violation.
In addition to the penalties set forth above, the Town may commence
an action in its own name against any person in any civil court of
competent jurisdiction to seek an injunction to enforce compliance
with this chapter. Such an action for injunctive relief may be independent
of or a part of an action to collect the civil penalties as hereinabove
provided.
[Added 8-10-2009 by L.L. No. 3-2009]
A.
The enforcement officer, upon detecting a junk vehicle, shall serve
written notice, either personally or by mail, on the person owning
the parcel of property on which the same is located, ordering such
person to remove the same or cause the same to be removed therefrom
within 15 days of the date of such service. Such notice shall contain
a description of the parcel of property, a statement as to the location
thereon of a junk vehicle and a reference to this chapter and to the
fact that the location of such junk vehicle on such parcel of property
is in violation of this chapter. If such parcel of property is 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/or all owners if no owner
was personally served, by registered or certified mail to their or
his last known address as shown on the latest completed assessment
roll of the Town. In addition, the enforcement officer shall post
conspicuously a copy of such notice on the parcel of property upon
which said junk vehicle is located.
B.
At the expiration of 15 days after the service or mailing and posting of such notice, if such junk vehicle has not been removed, the enforcement officer is authorized to issue an appearance ticket or tickets for a violation or violations of this chapter to recover penalties prescribed by § 476-7 of this chapter.
[Added 8-10-2009 by L.L. No. 3-2009]
In addition to any penalty or fine as provided in § 476-7 hereof, or the remedy provided in § 476-8 hereof, any junk vehicle may be removed from the premises upon which it is located in the following manner:
A.
The enforcement officer, upon detecting a junk vehicle, shall serve
written notice, either personally or by mail, on the person owning
the parcel of property on which the same is located, ordering such
person to remove the same or cause the same to be removed therefrom
within 15 days of the date of such service. Such notice shall contain
a description of the parcel of property, a statement as to the location
thereon of a junk vehicle and a reference to this chapter and to the
fact that the location of such junk vehicle on such parcel of property
is in violation of this chapter. If such parcel of property is 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/or all owners if no owner
was personally served, by registered or certified mail to their or
his last known address as shown on the latest completed assessment
roll of the Town. In addition, the enforcement officer shall post
conspicuously a copy of such notice on the parcel of property upon
which said junk vehicle is located.
B.
At the expiration of 15 days after the service or mailing and posting
of such notice, if such junk vehicle has not been removed, the enforcement
officer shall report such fact to the Town Board in writing. Such
report shall cite the violation, the notices given as required hereunder
and the failure to comply therewith and may include or refer to photographs
of such junk vehicle and of the parcel of property upon which it is
located. Such report shall be entered in the official minutes of the
Town Board by the Town Clerk, and any such photographs shall be filed
in the Town Clerk's office. The Town Board shall thereafter hold
a public hearing on 10 days' prior notice published in the official
newspaper of the Town and posted on the signboard of the Town. Such
notice of hearing is to give the property owner and/or the owner of
such junk vehicle an opportunity to be heard as to why the same has
not been removed and also for the Town Board to receive proposals
for the removal of such junk vehicle. Notice of said hearing shall
be served upon the owner(s) of such parcel of property by registered
mail addressed to the address shown on the latest assessment roll
of the Town and to such other address as the enforcement officer may
reasonably believe to give appropriate notice.
C.
After the hearing, the Town Board may contract for the removal of
such junk vehicle. Any expense to the Town in accomplishing the removal
of such junk vehicle may be assessed by the Town Board on the real
property from which said junk vehicle was removed, and the expense
so assessed shall constitute a lien and charge upon the real property
on which it is levied until paid or otherwise satisfied or discharged
as other Town charges.
D.
Any junk vehicle found to have been abandoned in the Town in violation
of § 1224 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law of the State of
New York shall be removed and disposed of in the manner as provided
in said § 1224. The enforcement officer is authorized as
the proper person to execute all notices and documents required to
be given, mailed or filed with the Department of Motor Vehicles or
any person.
E.
Any junk vehicle released to the Town by its owner shall be disposed of at a public auction to the highest bidder, and the proceeds shall be added to the general fund of the Town. Any junk vehicle released to the Town by the owner or legal occupant of the parcel of property from which it is removed, who is not the owner of the junk vehicle, shall be disposed by the procedure set forth in Subsections A, B, C and D hereof. In the event that the junk vehicle is released to the Town by the owner or legal occupant of the parcel of property who is not the owner of the junk vehicle, there shall be no expense for the removal thereof chargeable to the person so releasing said junk vehicle.
F.
Any person, firm or corporation who or which shall resist or obstruct
the duly authorized agents, servants, officers and employees of the
Town of Hamlin in the removal and disposal of a junk vehicle, as provided
in this chapter, shall be in violation of this chapter and subject
to the fines and penalties provided herein.
The Town's enforcement officer shall have and is hereby
given the authority to go upon any parcel of real property in the
Town, public or private, exclusive of enclosed structures or buildings,
at any time during daylight hours, to examine and inspect any vehicles
or parts or components thereof to determine whether a violation of
this chapter has been committed or to determine the condition of any
vehicle or parts or components thereof. The officer shall notify the
property owner, in writing, prior to entering on such property.
