[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Woodridge 12-6-1999 by L.L.
No. 4-1999 (Ch. 139 of the 1992 Code). Amendments
noted where applicable.]
A clean, wholesome, attractive environment is declared to be
of importance to the health and safety of the inhabitants, and such
an environment is deemed essential to the economy of the Village 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 Village, necessitating the
regulation and restraint thereof.
A.
COMMERCIAL GARAGE
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
JUNK VEHICLE
(1)
(2)
(3)
LEGAL OCCUPANT
OPEN STORAGE
OWNER
PARCEL OF PROPERTY
PERSON
VILLAGE
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 Village, unless the Village
Board, by resolution, designates some other Village officer as enforcement
officer or, by resolution, establishes the position of enforcement
officer for the Village and appoints some qualified person thereto
at a salary specified in such resolution, or any officer of the Village
Police Department.
Any motor vehicle, whether automobile, bus, truck, mobile
home, motorcycle, motor bicycle, minibicycle or snowmobile or any
other contraption originally intended for travel on the public highways
which is abandoned, stored, left or located by its owner or any other
person on public or private property in the Village of Woodridge and
which is not registered by the State of New York or the laws of any
other state for operation on the public highways and which does not
contain license plates validly issued by the State of New York or
the laws of any other state or is not in a condition to meet the requirements
for the New York State Vehicle inspection sticker shall be defined
as a junk vehicle.
For the purpose of this chapter, "abandoned," "stored," or "located"
shall mean when the "junk vehicle" is visible from a public highway
or a dwelling unit on a neighboring property.
Any motor vehicle not displaying a valid New York State vehicle
inspection sticker or displaying an inspection sticker expired for
more than 12 months will be presumed to be a junk vehicle, even if
such motor vehicle is registered and has valid license plates.
A motor vehicle located on the premises of a person licensed
by the State of New York to sell new or used motor vehicles, which
is held for the purpose of resale and is in a condition to meet the
requirements for a New York State vehicle inspection sticker, shall
not be considered a junk vehicle.
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.
Storage other than in a completely enclosed structure, such
as a garage constructed of wood, brick or metal.
A person owning real property in the Village. 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 Village as
one unit.
Includes natural persons, corporations, copartnerships, unincorporated
associations or any other organization of two or more persons.
The Village of Woodridge and its trustees and agents; also
public and private areas within the Village.
B.
The term "shall" is always mandatory. Words used in the singular
fashion shall include the plural and vice versa.
Open storage of one or more junk vehicles shall not be permitted
on private or public property within the Village, except as permitted
by this chapter.
A.
Except as otherwise set forth in this provision, any person wishing
to store or locate a junk vehicle on a parcel of property must first
obtain a permit from the Village's enforcement officer allowing
such storage.
B.
The permit which is provided for herein 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)
The nature of the applicant's ownership or title to such vehicle.
C.
Authorized purposes; substantial improvement; permit fee.
(1)
Purposes for which junk vehicles can be stored or located for purposes
of this provision are as follows:
(a)
Antique or classic car restoration for vehicles 25 or more years
old. A permit will be issued which is valid for a period of six months.
The permit may be renewed on one occasion for a renewal term of six
months, provided that, during the initial six-month period, the vehicle
has been substantially improved since the issuance of the original
permit.
(b)
Restoration. A permit will be issued for a sixty-day period,
renewable for one sixty-day period. The renewal shall be granted only
if the vehicle has been substantially improved since the issuance
of the original permit.
(c)
Removal of parts or components. A permit will be issued for
a sixty-day period, renewable for one sixty-day period only.
(2)
For purposes of this section, a vehicle shall be deemed substantially
improved if the vehicle meets 50% of the standards for highway use,
i.e., 50% of the standards necessary to pass vehicle inspection pursuant
to applicable New York State law.
D.
Notwithstanding anything which is contained in this provision to the contrary, a commercial garage which is registered with the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles as a motor vehicle repair shop and whose parcel of property is in an area in which automobile repair or automobile service or a gas station is a permitted use pursuant to Chapter 400, Zoning, of the Code of the Village of Woodridge or who has a variance issued by the Village 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 the Village Zoning Code shall be permitted to maintain junk vehicles on said parcel of property without the necessity of obtaining a permit from the Village's enforcement officer, provided that the following conditions are satisfied:
(1)
No more than 25 junk vehicles are stored or located on the applicable
parcel of property at any given time.
(2)
All of the junk vehicles which are located on the property do not
exceed 25% of the available open land on said parcel of property.
For purposes of the foregoing, "available open land" shall mean the
entire parcel, reduced by the portion of the parcel where the structural
improvements are located.
Any owner or legal occupant of a parcel of property in the Village
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 the Village 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 Village 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.
Any person committing an offense against any provision of this
chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be guilty of a violation pursuant
to the Penal Law of the State of New York, punishable by a fine not
exceeding $250 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 15 days,
or both such fine and imprisonment. The continuation of an offense
against the provisions of this chapter shall constitute, for each
day the offense is continued, a separate and distinct offense hereunder.
In addition to the penalties set forth above, the Village 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.
In addition to any penalty or fine as provided in § 369-6 hereof or the remedy provided in this provision hereof, any junk vehicle may be removed from the premises upon which it is located by the Village in the manner hereinafter provided:
A.
The enforcement officer, upon detecting a junk vehicle, shall serve
written notice on the person owning the parcel of property upon 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 to all owners if no owner was personally
served with such notice or 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, 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 Village Board in writing. Such
report shall cite the violation, the notices given as required hereunder
and the failure to comply herewith 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
Village Board by the Village Clerk, and any such photographs shall
be filed in the Village Clerk's office. The Village Board shall
thereafter hold a public hearing on 10 days' prior notice published
in the official newspaper of the Village. Such notice of hearing shall
include a statement that the purposes of the hearing are to give the
person owning such junk vehicle an opportunity to be heard as to why
the same has not been removed and also for the Village Board to receive
proposals for the removal of such junk vehicles.
C.
After the hearing, the Village Board may contract for the removal
of such junk vehicles. Any expense to the Village in accomplishing
the removal of such junk vehicle shall be assessed by the Village
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 Village charges.
D.
Any junk vehicle found to have: been abandoned in the Village 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 and
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 Village 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 Village. Any junk vehicle released to the Village 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 of by the procedure set forth in Subsections A, B, C and D hereof.
The Village's enforcement officer shall have and is hereby
given the authority to go upon any parcel of real property in the
Village, 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.