[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Muttontown 3-10-2009 by L.L. No. 1-2009.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
As used in this chapter, an unsafe building includes any
building, shed, fence or other man-made structure which is structurally
unsafe, abandoned, neglected, dangerous, unsanitary or constitute
a hazard to safety or health by reason of inadequate maintenance,
dilapidation, obsolescence or abandonment are for the purpose of this
chapter unsafe buildings. All such buildings and structures are hereby
declared to be illegal and are prohibited and shall be abated by repair
and rehabilitation or by demolition and removal in accordance with
the procedures of this chapter.
Any building in the Village which, from any cause, may now be
or shall hereafter become a dangerous building as defined herein or
which is unsafe to the public, to the occupants thereof or to adjoining
property or occupants shall be removed or repaired as provided in
this chapter.
Upon receipt by the Board of Trustees of a report of an inspection
by the Village Engineer, Building Inspector or the Code Enforcement
Officer of a building shown in such report to be an unsafe building
as defined herein, the Village Clerk shall cause to be served on the
owner, lessee, contractor or other person in possession or control
of such building, either personally or by registered mail, addressed
to the last known address, if any, of the owner as shown by the tax
records of the Village or in the records of the County Clerk of the
County of Nassau, a notice containing a description of the premises,
a statement of the particulars in which the building or structure
is unsafe or dangerous and an order requiring the same to be made
safe and secure or removed and the time within which the person served
with such notice shall make the building safe and secure, or remove
such building, and if such service is made by registered mail, the
Village Clerk shall cause a copy of such notice to be posted on the
premises. The aforesaid notice shall state that in the event that
the building or other structure is not promptly made safe and secure
or removed, an application will be made at a special term of the Supreme
Court in Nassau County not less than five nor more than 10 days following
the date of such notice for an order determining the building to be
a public nuisance and directing that it shall be repaired and secured
or taken down and removed by the Village.
When the Village has effected the inspecting, repairing, securing
or removing of an unsafe, abandoned, neglected or inadequately maintained
building or land, and incurred costs and expenses for the same, the
actual costs and expenses incurred, including, but not limited to,
the costs of legal and engineering services, plus accrued interest
at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of completion of the work,
if not paid by such owner prior thereto, shall be assessed against
the lot or parcel of land where such building is or was located, which
assessment shall be included in the next succeeding annual bill for
Village taxes for such property and shall become a lien thereon when
such taxes become a lien.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Includes, but is not limited to, waste from the preparation,
cooking and consumption of food; metal, glass, plastic and paper containers
for food and household products; and paper, cartons, rags, dead animals,
putrescible substances, sewage and similar disposable items.
Dry combustible or noncombustible material, which shall include,
but is not limited to, ashes, magazines, books, newspapers, clothing,
wooden crates and pieces of metal, junk, discarded furniture, rugs
and carpets.
Includes, but is not limited to, lumber, building materials,
concrete, rocks, fill, topsoil, inoperable or wrecked automobiles,
automobile parts, plumbing fixtures, household appliances, leaves,
branches, grass, tree stumps and limbs.
Piles, accumulations, protrusions, pits, holes, excavations,
trees that are determined to be dead or dangerous by the Village Arborist,
uncovered wells, unprotected outdoor swimming pools, spas or hot tubs,
or other declivities or conditions of land which are unsightly, unstable,
or are liable to cause injuries to persons or animals falling therein
or therefrom, or are liable to cause damages to adjacent properties.
No person shall throw, place, litter, deposit or dump or suffer
or permit any servant, agent, employee or person in his charge to
throw, place, litter, deposit or dump any garbage, rubbish or trash
of any kind on the surface of any street, public grounds or private
property in the Village for the purpose of abandonment or otherwise.
The owner, lessee, contractor or other person in possession
or control of such land in the Village shall at all times maintain
said premises free of garbage, construction debris, rubbish and trash,
except that this section shall not prohibit the temporary storage
of garbage and rubbish in authorized private receptacles for collection
or trash in connection with bona fide land clearing and building activity
or the making and retaining of a compost heap and mulching area for
normal gardening purposes in accordance with customary gardening practices,
provided that said compost heap or mulching area is located at least
40 feet from any boundary line of the property upon which it is located.
It shall be a violation of this chapter for any person or firm whether
owner, lessee, contractor or otherwise, to permit or maintain unsafe
land as that term is defined herein, or to permit or maintain the
accumulation or maintenance of any construction debris and/or loose
garbage on land within the Village.
A.
Notice to remedy. The Superintendent of Public Works, Building Inspector,
and Code Enforcement Officer of the Village is hereby authorized and
empowered to notify, in writing, the owner, lessee, contractor or
other person in possession or control of any land in the Village to
remedy any condition that causes the land to be unsafe land, or to
properly dispose of any garbage, rubbish or trash located on such
land. Such notice shall be served personally upon said owner, lessee,
contractor or other person in possession or control of such land,
or shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed
to said owner, lessee, contractor or other person in possession or
control of such land at his or her last known address.
B.
Action upon noncompliance. Upon the failure, neglect or refusal of any such owner, lessee, contractor or other person in possession or control of such land so notified to properly remedy any condition that causes the land to be unsafe land or to properly dispose of such garbage, rubbish, construction debris or trash within 10 days after receipt of written notice provided for in Subsection A above, or within 15 days after the date of such notice in the event that the same is returned to the Village by the Post Office Department because of its inability to make delivery thereof, provided that the same was properly addressed to the last known address of such owner, lessee, contractor or other person in possession or control of such land, the Superintendent of Public Works, Building Inspector, and Code Enforcement Officer is hereby authorized and empowered to accomplish, cause to be accomplished, or pay for the remediation of any condition that causes the land to be unsafe land, or for the disposal of garbage, rubbish, construction debris and trash.
C.
Charge included in tax bill. When the Village has effected the remediation
of such unsafe land, or the removal of such garbage, rubbish, construction
debris and trash from such private property or has paid for its removal,
the actual cost of such remediation or removal, plus accrued interest
at the rate of 6% per annum from the date of the completion of the
work, if not paid by such owner prior thereto, shall be assessed against
such property, which assessment shall be included in the next succeeding
annual bill for Village taxes for such property and shall become a
lien thereon when such taxes become a lien.
D.
The remediation or removal of any nuisance, hazard or litter by the
Village or its designee shall not operate to excuse such owner, lessee,
contractor or other person in possession or control of any land in
the Village from properly maintaining his or her property as hereinabove
set forth, and such owner, tenant or occupant shall, notwithstanding,
be subject to the penalties above mentioned.
