[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Canajoharie 10-16-1990 by L.L.
No. 6-1990; amended in its entirety 9-4-2002 by L.L. No. 2-2002.
Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and entitled "Abandoned, Junk, Discarded
or Unregistered Vehicle Control Law."
The outdoor storage or placement of abandoned, junk, discarded
or unregistered vehicles on publicly owned or privately owned property
within the Village of Canajoharie is detrimental to the health, safety
and welfare of the community and constitutes a detriment to a clean,
wholesome, safe and attractive environment that is important to the
community. The storage of such vehicles endangers the person and property
of members of the community and constitutes a potential nuisance to
the children of the community. The fuel tanks of abandoned or junk
vehicles contain gasoline or petroleum fumes and constitutes an ever-present
danger of explosion. Such vehicles often contain broken glass and
sharp metal edges and usually are stored or abandoned with batteries
containing harmful acids. The control of the outdoor storage of such
vehicles on publicly or privately owned property in the Village of
Canajoharie is therefore regulated hereby for the preservation of
the health, safety and general welfare.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The intent of the owner of a vehicle not to use it on the
public highway or as a conveyance in the manner for which said vehicle
was originally designed shall establish it as abandoned. The intent
of the owner shall be determined by the physical condition of the
vehicle, any statements as to its abandonment, the length of time
since the vehicle was last used, whether the vehicle is currently
registered and any other relevant facts.
Any vehicle of which the owner thereof, as established by
the surrounding circumstances, does not intend to recover possession,
or any vehicle of which the owner cannot be found after due and reasonable
inquiry.
Any vehicle in such condition as to cost more to repair and
place the same in operating condition than the reasonable market value
before such repair.
Any vehicle which may be but is not currently registered
with the State of New York. The fact that a vehicle which may be licensed
or registered within the State of New York does not display a current
registration plate or displays an expired registration plate shall
be presumptive evidence of the fact that such motor vehicle is not
currently registered.
Every motor vehicle or other conveyance 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, together with all conveyances popularly referred to as "snowmobiles,"
"all-terrain vehicles" and "jitneys," as well as any other substantially
rebuilt, modified or altered motor vehicle. For the purpose of this
chapter, the term "vehicle" shall include but not be limited to automobiles,
trucks, buses and motorcycles. Trailers shall also be construed as
vehicles for purposes of this chapter if they have not been registered
for operation on public roads within the preceding 12 months.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation, either
as owner, occupant, lessee, agent, tenant or otherwise, of property
within the Village of Canajoharie to store or deposit or cause or
permit to be stored or deposited any abandoned, junk, discarded or
unregistered vehicle or any part or piece thereof on any public or
private property within the Village of Canajoharie, unless:
A.
Such vehicle or part is stored or deposited in a completely enclosed
building; or
B.
Such vehicle or part is under continued repair, reconstruction or
refurbishing by the owner thereof, who must actually be a resident
of the premises or the operator of a business on the primary repair,
reconstruction or refurbishing of such vehicle or part. Such vehicle
or part must be maintained and protected so as not to create any safety
hazard or nuisance to surrounding property owners and shall not remain
on the same premises for more than one month.
Any vehicle that is abandoned, junk, discarded or unregistered,
as defined in this chapter, which is not removed during the time period
set forth below shall subject the owner(s) of each such vehicle to
a fine as hereinafter provided.
A.
Any Code Enforcement Officer or any police officer of the Village,
upon observing an abandoned, junk, discarded or unregistered vehicle
upon public or private property within the Village, shall serve written
notice on the person owning the premises on which the vehicle is located
or upon the last owner of record of the vehicle, ordering such person
to remove the vehicle or cause the vehicle to be removed from the
premises within 10 days of the date of such service or file written
notification that the vehicle has been abandoned on his property by
another. Such notice shall also contain a description of the premises
and of the vehicle, a statement as to the location thereon of the
vehicle, reference to this chapter and to the fact that the location
of such vehicle on such premises is in violation of law. If such premises
are owned or such vehicle 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 Code Enforcement Officer
or police officer shall mail such notice to owners not personally
served or to the owner and to all the owners, 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 such Village. In addition,
such Code Enforcement Officer or police officer shall post conspicuously
a copy of such notice on the premises upon which such vehicle is located.
B.
At the expiration of 10 days after the service or mailing and posting
of such notice, if such abandoned, junk, discarded or unregistered
vehicle has not been removed, the Code Enforcement Officer or police
officer shall report such fact to the Village Board, in writing. Such
report shall recite the violation, the notices given as required hereunder
and the failure to comply therewith, and may include or refer to photographs
of such vehicle and of the premises 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 may be filed in the
Village Clerk's Office.
C.
The Village Board may determine whether such vehicle is an abandoned,
junk, discarded or unregistered vehicle and may order that such vehicle
be removed from the premises. Any expense to the Village Board in
accomplishing such removal may be assessed by the Village Board on
the real property from which the vehicle was removed or may take action
in the Town Court of the Town of Canajoharie or the Village Court
of the Village of Canajoharie against the last known owner of record
of the vehicle to recover the costs of such removal plus interest
and costs and the expense so assessed shall constitute a lien and
charge on the real property on which it is levied until paid or otherwise
satisfied or discharged as other Village charges.
D.
If the Code Enforcement Officer or police officer has received proper notification from the property owner within the ten-day period set forth in Subsection A hereinabove that the vehicle was abandoned on his property by another and the property owner certifies under oath that he is unable to identify the last registered owner of the vehicle, the cost of removal of the vehicle shall become a charge against the property owner, as set forth in Subsection C hereinabove.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
Any person, firm or corporation convicted of a violation of
this chapter shall be punished by a fine of not more than $250 or
imprisonment for not to exceed 15 days, or both; each day that a violation
of this chapter continues, after notice thereof as provided herein,
shall constitute and be punishable as a separate violation hereof.
Any violation of this chapter may be prosecuted in the Village Court
of the Village of Canajoharie or in the Town Court of the Town of
Canajoharie, which courts shall have jurisdiction thereof.
