[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Elbridge as Ch. 76 of the Municipal Code; amended in its entirety at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. III). Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Brush, Grass, Rubbish or Weeds Law of the Town of Elbridge."
A. 
Pursuant to the authority of § 64, Subdivision 5-a, and § 130, Subdivision 5, of the Town Law, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Town of Elbridge to provide for the safe and proper use of land and to prevent the unsightly, unhealthful, hazardous or dangerous conditions due to the accumulation of brush, grass, rubbish, or weeds. By this chapter the Town Board seeks to remove such unsightly, unhealthful, hazardous, or dangerous conditions by requiring the owners of land to cut, trim, or remove from the land owned by them brush, grass, rubbish, or weeds on such land, and upon default may cause such grass, brush, rubbish, or weeds to be cut, trimmed or removed and assess the costs against any real properties on which such brush, grass, rubbish or weeds are found.
B. 
If any of the provisions of this chapter are not complied with, the Code Enforcement Officer shall serve written notice and an order to remedy such violation personally upon the owner of the property; or send it by certified mail, return receipt requested, and by regular mail addressed to the last-known address of the owner; and/or post in a conspicuous place on the property.
C. 
If the owner upon whom the notice is served fails, neglects or refuses to comply with said notice within 10 days after the service of such notice, or if such notice was served by posting upon the premises, then within 15 days after such posting, the Town shall make arrangements to cause such brush, grass, rubbish or weeds on such lot or land to be cut and/or removed, and all such expenses incurred in such work shall be certified by the Code Enforcement Officer to the Town Clerk and shall thereupon become and be a lien upon the property on which such work was performed and shall be added to and become part of the taxes next to be assessed and levied upon such lot or land and shall bear interest at the same rates as taxes and shall be collected and enforced by the same officer and in the same manner as taxes.
This chapter shall apply to all real property in the Town of Elbridge, outside of incorporated areas, and shall be applied at all times within the spirit of the authorizing sections of the Town Law [§ 64, Subdivision 5-a, and § 130, Subdivision 5] as the guiding principal of the Town Board. When sufficient cause to believe that a violation of this chapter exists, the Town Board may, on direct knowledge, by resolution require notice to be served upon owners of land to remedy any of the foregoing unsightly, unhealthful, dangerous, or hazardous conditions which may exist on said land pursuant to the authority vested in the Town Board of the Town of Elbridge under the above section of the Town Law.
Any person being the owner or occupant of any of lots one through 25 of Cobblestone Ridge Subdivision as portrayed on Map #9998 filed in the Onondaga County Clerk's office shall be required to maintain a front and side yard lawn not exceeding 10 inches in height. No other vegetation growth shall be allowed in such a front or side yard as defined in Chapter 265, Zoning, of the Elbridge Town Code, except landscape, hedge rows and vegetable gardening. Such an owner or occupant also shall not accumulate in such a front or side yard cut grass, brush or weeds or any other rubbish.
A violation of this chapter is hereby declared to be an offense, punishable by a fine not exceeding $250 or imprisonment for a period not to exceed 15 days, or both. Such violation shall not be a crime, and the penalty or punishment imposed shall not be deemed for any purpose a penal or criminal penalty or punishment and shall not impose any liability upon or affect or impair the credibility as a witness, or otherwise, of any person convicted thereof. Each week's continued violation shall constitute a separate additional violation.