The people of the State of New York have, in the New York State Constitution, Article IX, Section 2, delegated the responsibility to local governmental units to adopt regulations designed to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare of its citizenry. Therefore, be it enacted by the Town of Martinsburg, New York as follows.
It is the purpose of this chapter to promote the public health,
safety, and general welfare, and to minimize public and private losses
due to flood conditions in specific areas by provisions designed:
A.Â
To protect human life and health;
B.Â
To minimize expenditure of public money for costly flood control
projects;
C.Â
To minimize the need for rescue and relief efforts associated with
flooding and generally undertaken at the expense of the general public;
D.Â
To minimize prolonged business interruptions;
E.Â
To minimize damage to public facilities and utilities such as water
and gas mains, electric, telephone, and sewer lines, and streets and
bridges located in areas of special flood hazard;
F.Â
To help maintain a stable tax base by providing for the sound use
and development of areas of special flood hazard so as to minimize
future flood blight areas;
G.Â
To ensure that potential buyers are notified that property is in
an area of special flood hazard; and,
H.Â
To ensure that those who occupy the areas of special flood hazard
assume responsibility for their actions.
