[Adopted 11-21-2016 by L.L. No. 7-2016; amended in its entirety by 4-18-2022 by L.L. No. 2-2022]
The Village Board of Trustees finds that public nuisances exist
in the Village of Bath in the operation of certain establishments
and the use and occupation of property in flagrant and persistent
violation of state and chapters and ordinances, which nuisances substantially
and seriously interfere with the interest of the public in enhancing
the quality of life and community environment in the Village, and
in fostering and facilitating commerce, maintaining and improving
property values, and in preserving and protecting the public health,
safety and welfare. The Village Board of Trustees further finds that
the persistence of such activities and violations is detrimental to
the health, safety, and welfare of the people of the Village of Bath
and of the businesses thereof and the visitors thereto. It is the
purpose of the Village Board of Trustees to authorize and empower
the Code Enforcement Officer of the Village of Bath to impose sanctions
and penalties for such public nuisances, and such powers of the Code
Enforcement Officer may be exercised either in conjunction with, or
apart from the powers contained in other laws without prejudice to
the use of procedures and remedies available under such other laws.
The Village Board of Trustees further finds that the sanctions and
penalties that may be imposed by the Code Enforcement Officer pursuant
to this chapter constitute an additional and appropriate method of
law enforcement in response to the proliferation of the above-described
public nuisances. The sanctions and penalties are reasonable and necessary
in order to protect the health and safety of the people of the Village
and to promote the general welfare. The Village Board of Trustees
further determines that the potential sanctions and civil penalties
for maintaining a public nuisance under this article are significant
and as such call for the owners and other interested parties to be
placed on notice of specified unlawful activities occurring upon the
premises that may result in a finding of public nuisance.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
EXECUTION OF A LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTION
Any action performed at a property subject to the jurisdiction
of the Village Code by personnel of a law enforcement agency having
the police officer or peace officer powers as defined under the Criminal
Procedure Law.
PUBLIC NUISANCE
For the purposes of this article, a "public nuisance" shall
mean:
A.
A property that is subject to the jurisdiction of the Village
Code where such property is maintained in a condition that is either
unlawful in itself or under all the circumstances, poses an immediate
hazard to life or health of persons proximate thereto, or
B.
A property where persons gather for purposes of engaging in
unlawful conduct, whether or not lawful conduct is otherwise performed
upon such property.
C.
For purposes of this chapter, a public nuisance shall be presumed to exist wherever, through violations of any of the following provisions resulting from separate incidents at a building, erection or place, 12 or more points are accumulated within a period of six months or 18 or more points are accumulated within a period of 12 months, in accordance with the following point system. Where more than one violation occurs during a single incident, the total points for the incident shall be the highest point value assigned to any single violation. For the purpose of this chapter, an "incident" will be defined as the execution of an enforcement action. For the avoidance of any doubt, points will not be assessed against a property unless the incident occurs there. For example, if a prostitution violation occurs, the assessment will be against the property wherein the prostitution occurred, not where the alleged violator lives. Further, the presumption created by this subsection shall be rebuttable by an interested party pursuant to a hearing and notice provisions under §
74A-6D of this article as established by clear and convincing evidence before a court of competent jurisdiction that such conditions did not exist upon the premises over the relevant time period.
For purposes of this chapter, a conviction for an offense in
a court of competent jurisdiction shall not be required to establish
that a specified violation of law has occurred at a building, erection,
or place. Instead, the Village shall be required to prove a specified
violation as prescribed under Criminal Procedure Law 70.20. However,
a conviction as defined and applied in accordance with the provisions
of § 1.20 of the Criminal Procedure Law, in any court of
competent jurisdiction, shall constitute prima facie proof of such
a violation of law. Conviction of an attempt to commit a violation
of any of the specified provisions shall be assessed an equivalent
number of points as a conviction for a violation of the specified
provision.
Upon a judicial determination of a public nuisance under the provision of this chapter and in addition to any other enforcement procedures established elsewhere, and in addition to any penalty, fine or sanction imposed by a court under this chapter or any other law or rule, the Code Enforcement Officer or his or her designee, after a judicial determination of a public nuisance under this chapter, shall be authorized to issue remedial orders, subject to the notice provisions of §
74A-6:
A. To order the closing of the building, erection, or place to the extent
necessary to abate the nuisance, provided it poses an immediate hazard
to life or health;
B. To suspend or revoke a certificate of use issued for such premises
to the extent necessary to abate the nuisance, but in no event for
a period of time longer than one year;
C. To fine the owner of the building in an amount of no greater than
$200 per point accumulated; or
D. Any combination of the above.
E. Independent of the foregoing powers, the Code Enforcement Officer
is authorized to provide written notice, institute proceedings and
pursue remedies as set for under Real Property Actions and Proceedings
Law § 715 as the enforcement agency thereunder having the
enforcing duties of the provisions of this article.
The owner of the property affected by the orders of the Code
Enforcement Officer or his/her designee shall be presumed to be the
person in whose name title to the real estate is recorded in the office
of the Steuben County Clerk.
An opportunity for a hearing for an order issued under §
74A-5B,
C, or
D shall be within 60 days after the occurrence of the most recent violation cited in the notice; provided that any hearing held under §
74A-5B,
C, or
D shall be limited to the remediation of the conditions as set forth in the notice posted/served hereunder.
The Code Enforcement Officer or his/her designee may promulgate
rules and regulations to carry out and give full effect to the provisions
of this chapter.
In the event that a court of competent jurisdiction holds that
any portion of this article is unlawful, illegal or otherwise unenforceable,
each and every other provision of this article shall remain in full
force and effect.