[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Hamburg: Art. I, 9-25-1978 by L.L. No. 5-1978. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 9-25-1978 by L.L. No. 5-1978]
A. 
No civil action shall be maintained against the Town of Hamburg, hereinafter referred to as the "town," or the Town Superintendent of Highways of the town or against any improvement district in the town for damages or injuries to persons or property sustained by reason of any highway, bridge, culvert, highway marking, sign or device or any other property owned, operated or maintained by the town or any property owned, operated or maintained by any improvement district therein being defective, out of repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed, unless written notice of such defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed condition of such highway, bridge, culvert, highway, marking sign or device or any other property owned, operated or maintained by the town or any property owned, operated or maintained by any improvement district was actually given to the Town Clerk of the town or the Town Superintendent of Highways of the town and there was a failure or neglect within a reasonable time after the giving of such notice to repair or remove the defect, danger or obstruction complained of. No such action shall be maintained for damages or injuries to persons or property sustained solely in consequence of the existence of snow or ice upon any highway, bridge, culvert or any other property owned by the town or any property owned by any improvement district in the town, unless written notice thereof, specifying the particular place, was actually given to the Town Clerk of the town or the Town Superintendent of Highways of the town and there was a failure or neglect to cause such snow or ice to be removed or to make the place otherwise reasonably safe within a reasonable time after the receipt of such notice.
B. 
No civil action shall be maintained against the Town of Hamburg, or any of its officials, agents or employees, or the Superintendent of Highways of the Town, or against any improvement district in the Town, for damages or injuries to person or property sustained by reason of any tree, street, highway, right-of-way, public place, land, building, bridge, culvert, sidewalk, crosswalk, grading, openings, drain, sewer, parks, or playground equipment, being defective, out of repair, unsafe, dangerous or because of obstructed conditions unless written notice of such defective, unsafe dangerous or obstructed condition of such tree, street, highway, right-of-way, public place, land building, bridge, culvert, sidewalk, crosswalk, grading, openings, drain, sewer, parks or playground equipment was actually given to the Town Clerk, or the Superintendent of Highways, specifying the particular place, and the defect at issue, and there was thereafter a failure or neglect within a reasonable time to repair or remove the defect, danger or obstruction complained of.
[Added 11-21-2022 by L.L. No. 11-2022]
No civil action shall be maintained against the town and/or the Town Superintendent of Highways of the town for damages or injuries to persons or property sustained by reason of any defect in the sidewalks of the town or in consequence of the existence of snow or ice upon any of its sidewalks, unless such sidewalks have been constructed or are maintained by the town or the Superintendent of Highways of the town pursuant to statute, nor shall any action be maintained for damages or injuries to persons or property sustained by reason of such defect or in consequence of such existence of snow or ice, unless written notice thereof, specifying the particular place, was actually given to the Town Clerk of the town or to the Town Superintendent of Highways of the town and there was a failure or neglect to cause such defect to be remedied or such snow or ice to be removed or to make the place otherwise reasonably safe within a reasonable time after the receipt of such notice.
The Town Superintendent of Highways of the town shall transmit, in writing, to the Town Clerk of the town, within 10 days after receipt thereof, all written notices received by him pursuant to this chapter, and he shall take any and all corrective action with respect thereto as soon as practicable.
The Town Clerk of the town shall keep an index record, in a separate book, of all written notices which the Town Clerk shall receive of the existence of a defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed condition in or upon, or of an accumulation of ice and snow upon, any town highway, bridge, culvert or sidewalk or any other property owned by the town or by any improvement district, which record shall state the date of the receipt of the notice, the nature and location of the condition stated to exist and the name and address of the person from whom the notice is received. The record of such notice shall be preserved for a period of five years from the date it is received. The Town Clerk, upon receipt of such written notice, shall immediately and in writing notify the Town Superintendent of Highways of the town of the receipt of such notice.
Nothing contained in this chapter shall be held to repeal or modify or waive any existing requirement or statute of limitations which is applicable to these causes of action, but, on the contrary, the requirements hereof shall be held to be additional requirements to the rights to maintain such action, nor shall anything herein contained be held to modify any existing rule of law relative to the question of contributory negligence, nor to impose upon the town, its officers and employees and/or any of its improvement districts any greater duty or obligations than that it shall keep its streets, sidewalks and public places in a reasonably safe condition for public use and travel.
This chapter shall take effect immediately after proper filing, including with the office of the Secretary of State and the State Comptroller.
[Adopted 11-7-2016 by L.L. No. 7-2016]
It shall, in all cases, be the duty of the owner of every lot or piece of land in said Town to keep the sidewalks adjoining the owner's lot or piece of land in good repair and to remove and clean away all snow and ice and other obstruction from such sidewalks. Failure to do so will result in the costs of any repair done by the Town of Hamburg to be assessed against the landowner, and further, said landowner shall be liable in tort for any injuries to any person or property as a result of the landowner's failure to comply with this article.
A. 
Sidewalks shall be considered to be unsafe after notice, as required in Article I of this chapter, is received and if, by determination of the Town Engineer, they are so broken, cracked, lifted, spalled or scaled or otherwise deficient to cause a clear and present danger to pedestrians. Upon such determination, the owner of the property where such sidewalk is located will be notified, in writing by standard form, of the need to repair or replace the sidewalk in question. Such notice shall specify the sidewalk or portions thereof which require repair or replacement and contain a brief summary of the reasons therefor. Such notice shall be served upon such owner by personal service or by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the last known address as shown on the latest completed assessment roll of the Town of Hamburg. If delivery of the certified mail is returned or unclaimed, then service shall be made by regular mail and shall be deemed complete five days after the date of mailing. The cost of such repair or replacement will be borne by the property owner.
B. 
Upon delivery of the written notice, the property owner shall make every attempt to correct the deficiency noted within a reasonable time after delivery of the notice; in no event shall more than eight months elapse between the delivery of the written notice and correction of the deficient or unsafe sidewalk.
C. 
If, within said eight-month period, the sidewalks required to be repaired shall not have been repaired, then the Town Board may cause the same to be done at the expense of the property owner. If said expense, as determined by the Town, is not paid within 30 days after billing the property owner, such a charge shall be a lien upon the property benefited until paid and shall be added to the property owner's tax bill as an assessment as set forth in this article.
D. 
Any property owner aggrieved by a determination to repair the sidewalk or any portion thereof as contained in the written notification of the same shall have a right to appeal such determination to the Town Board by delivering a written request for review of the determination to the Clerk within 60 days of delivery of said notification, which the Town Clerk shall thereupon transmit to the Town Board. Upon receipt of a timely request for review, the Town Board shall refer the matter to a person whom it shall designate for the purpose of hearing all evidence and arguments both against and in support of such determination. For this purpose, the person designated by the Town Board shall schedule a time and place for such a hearing and shall give or cause to be given adequate notice thereof to the property owner and to the Town Engineer. On such hearing, the formal rules of evidence shall not apply. Upon conclusion of such hearing, the person designated shall prepare and transmit to the Town Board a recommended decision, based upon the evidence and the arguments presented, either annulling, modifying or affirming the determination of the Town Engineer, together with a summary of the reasons therefor. Upon receipt of such recommended decision, the Town Board shall take up the matter at the next regularly scheduled Town Board meeting and shall accept, reject or modify said recommended decision. The determination of the Town Board so made shall be deemed final and binding upon the property owner and the Town Engineer.