A.Â
Issuance. All notices of the violation of any of the provisions of
this chapter, and all notices required or authorized by this chapter
directing anything to be done, including notices that any building,
structure, premises or any part thereof is deemed to be unsafe or
dangerous, shall be issued by the Superintendent of Buildings and
may be returnable in the Malverne Village Court, or, if necessary,
to the Supreme Court of the State of New York in order to abate the
unsafe building or structure.
B.Â
Contents. Each such notice or order, in addition to the statement
of requirements, shall contain a description of the building, premises
or property affected.
C.Â
Personal service. All such notices, and any notice or order issued
by any court in any proceeding instituted pursuant to this chapter,
to restrain or remove any violation or to enforce compliance with
any provision or requirement of this chapter, may be served by delivering
to and leaving a copy of the same with any person violating, or who
may be liable under any provisions of this chapter. They may be served
by an officer or employee of the Department of Buildings or by any
person authorized by the Department.
D.Â
Notice of posting. If the person to whom such order or notice is
addressed cannot be found within the Village of Malverne after diligent
search shall have been made for him, then such notice or order may
be served by posting the same in a conspicuous place upon the premises
where such violation is alleged to have been placed or to exist, or
to which such notice or order may refer or which may be deemed unsafe
or dangerous, and by also depositing a copy thereof in the post office
in the Village of Malverne, enclosed in a sealed, post-paid wrapper
addressed to said notice or order upon all parties for whom such search
shall have been made, whether residents or nonresidents of the State
of New York.
A.Â
Stopping work; vacating and securing building. In case there shall
be, in the opinion of the Superintendent of Buildings, danger to life
or property by reason of any defective or illegal work in violation
of or not in compliance with any of the provisions or requirements
of this chapter, the Superintendent, or such person as may be designated
by him, shall have the right and he is hereby authorized and empowered
to order all further work to be stopped in and about said building,
and to require all persons in and about said building forthwith to
vacate the same and to cause such work to be done in and about the
building as, in his judgment, may be necessary to remove any danger
therefrom.
B.Â
Closing street temporarily. The Superintendent of Buildings may,
when necessary for public safety, temporarily close the sidewalks,
street, buildings, structures or places adjacent to said buildings
or parts thereof; provided, however, that whenever any sidewalks or
street is closed, another means of safe passage shall be provided
by the Superintendent of Buildings, and the Chief of Police, or any
of his subordinates when called upon by the Superintendent of Buildings
to cooperate, shall enforce all orders or requirements made under
this section.
A.Â
Action or proceeding, generally. Whenever the Superintendent of Buildings
is satisfied that any building or structure or any portion thereof
or any drainage or plumbing or electrical wiring, the erection, construction
or alteration, execution or repair of which is regulated, permitted
or forbidden by this chapter, is being erected, constructed, altered
or repaired or has been erected, constructed, altered or repaired
in violation of, or not in compliance with, any of the provisions
or requirements of this chapter, or in violation of any detailed statement
of specifications or plans submitted and approved thereunder, or of
any certificate or permit issued thereunder, or that any provision
or requirement of this chapter or any order or direction made thereunder
has not been complied with, or that plans and specifications for plumbing
and drainage and electrical wiring have not been submitted or filed
as required by this chapter, the Superintendent may, in his discretion,
through the Village Counsel, institute any appropriate action or proceeding
at law or in equity to restrain, correct or remove such violation
or the execution of any work thereon; or to sustain or correct the
erection or alteration of or to require the removal of or to prevent
the occupation or use of the building or structure erected, constructed,
or altered in violation of, or not in compliance with, any of the
provisions of this chapter; or with respect to which, the requirements
thereof or of any order or direction made pursuant to any provisions
contained therein, shall not have been complied with. Any person who
shall maintain or continue any building or structure or any portion
thereof, or any drainage or plumbing or electrical wiring in violation
of any of the provisions of this chapter, after having been duly notified
as in this chapter provided that such building or structure or any
portion thereof or that such drainage or plumbing or electrical wiring
is in violation of any provision of this chapter, shall be subject
to any action or proceeding and any penalty that is provided in this
article for the commission of the violation.
B.Â
Village Counsel to act. The Village Counsel shall institute any and
all actions and proceedings, either legal or equitable, that may be
appropriate or necessary for the enforcement of the provisions of
this chapter, upon the order of the Board of Trustees of the Village.
C.Â
Courts having jurisdiction. All courts of civil jurisdiction in the
Village, including the Malverne Village Court, shall have cognizance
of and jurisdiction over any and all suits and proceedings authorized
by this chapter to be brought for the recovery of any penalty or the
enforcement of any provision of this chapter, and shall give preference
to such suits and proceedings over all others. No court shall lose
jurisdiction of any action hereunder by reason of a plea that the
title to real estate is involved, provided the object of the action
is to recover a penalty for the violation of any of the provisions
of this chapter. All civil courts in said Village are hereby invested
with full legal and equitable jurisdiction to hear, try and determine
all such actions and proceedings, and to made appropriate orders and
render judgment herein according to law, so as to give force and effect
to the provisions of this chapter.
D.Â
Restraining order. In any such action or proceeding, the Village
may, in the discretion of the Superintendent of Buildings and on his
affidavit setting forth the facts, apply to any court of record or
to a judge or justice thereof for any order enjoining and restraining
all persons from doing or causing or permitting to be done any work
in or upon such building or structure, or in or upon such part thereof
as may be designated in said affidavit, or from occupying or using
said building or structure, or such portion thereof as may be designated
in said affidavit, until the hearing and determination of said action
and the entry of final judgment therein. The court or judge or justice
thereof to whom such application is made is hereby authorized forthwith
to make any or all of the orders above specified as may be required
in such application, with or without notice, and to make such other
or further orders or directions as may be necessary to render the
same effectual. No undertaking shall be required as a condition to
the granting or issuing of such injunction order, or by reason thereof.
E.Â
Judgment. All courts in which any action or proceeding is instituted
under this chapter shall, upon the rendition of a verdict, report
of a referee or decision of a judge or justice, render judgment in
accordance therewith.
F.Â
Lien of judgment. Any judgment rendered in an action or proceeding
instituted under this chapter shall be and become a lien upon the
premises named in the complaint in such action, to date from time
of filing a notice of lis pendens in the County Clerk's office
of the county wherein the property affected by such action, suit or
proceeding is located. Every such lien may be enforced against said
property in every respect, notwithstanding the same may be transferred
subsequent to the filing of the notice.
G.Â
Lis pendens. The notice of lis pendens referred to in this section
shall consist of a copy of the notice issued by the Superintendent
of Buildings, requiring the removal of the violation, and a notice
of the suit or proceedings instituted or to be instituted thereon.
Such notice of lis pendens may be filed at any time after the service
of the notice issued by the Superintendent as aforesaid, provided
he may deem the same to be necessary, or is satisfied that the owner
of the property is about to transfer the same to avoid responsibility
for having violated a provision of this chapter. Any notice of lis
pendens filed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may be vacated
and cancelled of record upon an order of a justice of a court in which
such suit or proceeding was instituted or is pending, or upon the
consent in writing of the Village Trustees. The clerk of the county
where the notice is filed is hereby directed and required to mark
any such notice of lis pendens and any record or docket thereof as
vacated and cancelled of record, upon the presentation and filing
of a certified copy of an order or of consent, as aforesaid.
H.Â
Costs. In no case shall the Department of Buildings or any officer
thereof of the Village be liable for costs in any action, suit or
proceedings that may have been or may hereafter be instituted or commenced
in pursuance of this chapter.
I.Â
Officer not liable for damages. No officer of the Department of Buildings,
acting in good faith without malice, shall be liable for damages by
reason of anything done in any action or proceeding instituted under
any provision of this chapter, or by reason of any act or omission
in the performance of his official duties.
A.Â
Compliance with building notices. In case any notice or direction
authorized to be issued by this chapter is not complied with within
the time designated therein, the Village, by the Village Counsel,
may, at the request of the Superintendent of Buildings, apply to the
Supreme Court, at a special term thereof, for an order directing the
Superintendent to proceed to make the alterations or remove the violation,
as the same may be specified in said notice or direction.
B.Â
Vacating for violations. Whenever any notice or direction so authorized
shall have been served as directed in this article, and the same shall
not have been complied with within the time designated therein, the
Board of Trustees shall, at the request of the Superintendent of Buildings,
in addition to, or in lieu of, any other remedy provided for by this
chapter, apply to the Supreme Court, at a special term thereof, for
an order directing the Superintendent to vacate such building or premises,
or so much thereof as he may deem necessary, and prohibiting the same
to be used or occupied for any purpose specified in said order until
such notice shall have been complied with.
C.Â
Responsibility of lessees or occupants. In case any of the notices
or orders of the court herein mentioned shall be served upon any lessee
or party in possession of the building or premises therein described,
it shall be the duty of the person upon whom such service is made
to give immediate notice to the owner or agent of the building or
premises named in the notice, if such person shall be within the limits
of the Village and his residence is known to such person, and if not
within the Village, by depositing said notice in the post office in
the Village, properly enclosed in a post-paid wrapper addressed to
such owner or agent at his then-known place of residence.
D.Â
Designation by an owner of a building. Any owner of real estate or
of a building thereon may execute and acknowledge a written designation
of a resident of said Village as a person upon whom may be served
any notice of violation, notice to make safe or notice of survey,
a summons, a mandate or any paper or process issued under a provision
of this chapter and may file the same with the written consent of
the person so designated, duly acknowledged, in the office of the
Superintendent of Buildings. The designation must specify the location
of the property with respect to which the designation is made and
the residences and places of business of the person making it, and
the person designated. It shall remain in force during the period
specified therein, if any, or until revoked by the death or legal
incompetency of either of the parties or by the filing of a revocation
by either of the parties, duly acknowledged and endorsed with the
consent of the Superintendent of Buildings. The Superintendent of
Buildings shall file and index each designation and shall note, upon
the original designation and index, the filing of a revocation. While
the designation remains in force, as prescribed in this section, a
notice of violation, notice to make safe or notice to survey, a summons,
a mandate or any paper or process under the provisions of this chapter,
or either of the same, shall be served upon the person so designated,
in like manner and with like effect, as if it were served personally
upon the person making the designation, notwithstanding his presence
in the Village.
E.Â
Reimbursement. The expenses and disbursements incurred in the carrying
out of any order issued as provided above shall become a lien upon
the building or premises named in the order, from the time of filing
of a copy of the order with a notice of the pendency of the action
or proceeding as provided in this chapter, taken thereunder in the
office of the clerk of the county where the property affected by such
action, suit or proceeding is located; and the Supreme Court to whom
application shall be made is hereby authorized and directed to grant
any of the orders above named and to take such proceedings as shall
be necessary to make the same effectual, and any justice to whom application
shall be made is hereby authorized and directed to enforce such lien
in accordance with the mechanics' lien laws applicable to the
Village.
A.Â
General. Except as specifically provided in a prior section enumerating
a different penalty, the owner of any building, structure or part
thereof, or wall, or any platform, staging or flooring to be used
for standing or seating purposes, or the owner of the land where any
violation of this chapter shall be placed or shall exist, and any
architect, builder, plumber, carpenter, electrician, mason or other
person who may be employed or assist in the commission of any such
violation, and all persons who shall violate any of the provisions
of this Building Code or fail to comply therewith, or any requirement
thereof, or who shall violate or fail to comply with any detailed
order or rules made thereunder or who shall build in violation of
any detailed statement of specifications or plans submitted and approved
thereunder, shall, severally for each and every such violation and
noncompliance respectively, be liable for and forfeit and pay a penalty
in the sum of not more than $350 for each offense.
B.Â
Continuing violation after notice. Any person who, having been served
with a notice as in this Building Code prescribed to remove any violation,
or comply with any requirement of this chapter or with any order or
rule made thereunder, shall fail to comply with said notice within
10 days after such service, or shall continue to violate any requirement
of this chapter in the respect named in said notice, shall be liable
for and forfeit and pay a penalty of not more than $350 for each offense,
for the use of said Village.
C.Â
Jurisdiction of penalty action. For the recovery of any said penalty
or penalties, an action may be brought in the Malverne Village Court
or in the District Court or Supreme Court of Nassau County, New York,
or any court of record in the name of the Village; and whenever any
judgment shall be rendered therefor, the same shall be collected and
enforced as prescribed and directed by the Civil Practice Law and
Rules of the State of New York.
D.Â
Discontinuance of action upon removal of violation. If any violation
shall be removed or be in process of removal within 10 days after
the service of a notice as in this chapter prescribed, the liability
for such penalty shall cease, and the Board of Trustees of the Village,
on the request of the Superintendent of Buildings, shall discontinue
any action pending to recover the same, upon such removal or the completion
thereof within a reasonable time.
E.Â
Remission of penalty. The Superintendent of Buildings, through the
Village Board, is hereby authorized, in his discretion and upon good
and sufficient cause being shown therefor, to remit any penalty which
any person may have incurred or may hereinafter incur under any other
provisions of this chapter, but no such penalty shall be remitted
until the violation shall have been removed. Said Superintendent is
further authorized, in his discretion, to remit any costs allowed
or obtained in any penalty suit or any other action or proceedings
instituted under the provisions of this article.