The proliferation of unreasonably loud and disruptive parties in the Town of Poughkeepsie, which are of such character, intensity, duration and repetition as to be detrimental to the life, health, repose and safety of the public, has reached such proportions that the Town Board, pursuant to the authority of § 10 of the Municipal Home Rule Law of the State of New York and New York Constitution, Article IX, in order to preserve, protect and promote the public health, safety and welfare, has adopted a Nuisance Party Law.
[Adopted 8-6-2014 by L.L. No. 12-2014]
[Amended 11-5-2025 by L.L. No. 14-2025]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
A gathering which is conducted on property or premises within the Town of Poughkeepsie and which, by reason of the conduct of the persons in attendance, results in any one or more of the following conditions or events occurring at the site of the gathering or on neighboring public or private property:
Disorderly conduct.
Unlawful possession of an open container of alcoholic beverage.
Public urination or defecation.
Unlawful sale, furnishing, dispensing or consumption of an alcoholic beverage.
Sale or furnishing of an alcoholic beverage to an underage person.
Unlawful sale or possession or use of a controlled substance.
Unlawful deposit of litter or refuse.
The damage or destruction of real or personal property.
Unlawful pedestrian or vehicle traffic.
Standing or parking of vehicles that obstruct the free flow of traffic on the public streets or sidewalks, or that impedes the ability to render emergency services.
Violation of any section of Chapter 139. Noise, of the Town of Poughkeepsie Code.
Trespassing.
Exposure of a person or public lewdness.
Any person in attendance at a nuisance party, whether or not such person has any possessory control of the property or premises where it occurs.
Any person or legal entity which is an owner, lessor or licensor of property or premises in the Town of Poughkeepsie who allows another individual(s) or legal entity to reside at or occupy said property or premises.
Any person who is an owner, occupant, tenant, or otherwise has rightful possession or possessory control, individually or jointly with others, of any property or premises, who either sponsors, conducts, hosts, invites or permits a gathering on said property or premises.
A property owner who has been notified by the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department of one or more prior tickets relating to violation of this article occurring within five years at a property or premises shall be considered a responsible person for purposes of future violations of this article occurring at that property or premises. Alternative proof of a property owner's responsible person status may be offered.
A.
No responsible person shall sponsor, conduct, host, invite, allow or permit a nuisance party.
B.
No person attending a nuisance party who has been ordered to leave such nuisance party by a competent authority shall stay at the nuisance party property or premises unless he or she is an owner or tenant residing at that property or premises.
C.
No person attending a nuisance party who has been ordered to leave a nuisance party by a competent authority shall leave a nuisance party and attend another nuisance party within 72 hours.
Any police officer, peace officer, or code enforcement officer who observes a nuisance party occurring may order that the nuisance party be ceased and order all nonowners and nonresidents on the property or premises where the nuisance party has occurred to leave the property or premises immediately.
Any police officer who observes a nuisance party occurring and who finds a violation of any provision of § 144-3 above may seize any and all evidence of such violation and any and all evidence of the conditions or events listed at § 144-2, "nuisance party," above, including, where appropriate, alcoholic beverages at the property or premises which are available to persons attending the nuisance party.
[Added 11-5-2025 by L.L. No. 14-2025]
After a nuisance party that results in one or more tickets, the owner of the property shall be subject to the following reporting requirement to facilitate contact in the event of a future violation:
A.
The property owner shall provide contact information for all persons owning the property. Such information shall include each owner's name, mailing address, street address, telephone number, and a functioning email address. All such information shall be together referred to herein as "contact information."
B.
Where day-to-day responsibility for the management, supervision, care or maintenance of the property rests with a person other than the owner, contact information for the manager or maintenance person shall also be submitted to the Town.
C.
If there is no property owner or manager residing in Dutchess County, an agent shall be designated who resides or operates a business in Dutchess County and is available to respond to an incident at the property. The agent's contact information shall also be submitted to the Town.
D.
At least one of the above contact people shall be designated as an emergency contact who shall be available at all times if an incident occurs at the property. In addition to the other required contact information, a working cell phone number shall be provided to the Town. Failure of the emergency contact to respond within one hour of a telephone call from the Police Department shall constitute a violation of this article.
E.
Every owner who designates a manager or agent authorizes such designee to be served with a notice of violation, appearance ticket, or other service of process for any matter related to enforcement of this article.
F.
The Chief of Police is authorized to specify the method of data collection and the specific property data and contact information required.
G.
Complete contact information shall be provided within 30 days of notification by the Police Department that a nuisance party has occurred. Contact information shall be kept updated for a period of five years.
H.
Failure to comply with the reporting requirements herein shall constitute a violation of this article. Each failure to respond to a notice from the Police Department requesting contact information shall constitute an additional violation.
A.
Any person violating any provision of this article shall be guilty of an offense punishable by a fine of not less than $250 but not to exceed $1,000 in amount or imprisonment not to exceed seven days, or any combination of such fine and imprisonment.
B.
Any person violating any provision of this article for a second time within one calendar year from the date of his or her first offense shall be guilty of an offense punishable by a fine not less than $1,000 nor more than $2,500 in amount or imprisonment not to exceed 15 days, or any combination of such fine and imprisonment.
C.
Any person violating any provision of this article for a third time within one calendar year from the date of his or her first offense shall be guilty of an offense punishable by a fine not less than $2,500 nor more than $5,000 in amount or imprisonment not to exceed 15 days, or any combination of such fine and imprisonment.
D.
Nothing herein contained shall prevent the Town of Poughkeepsie from taking such other lawful action as is necessary to prevent or remedy a violation of this article.
In the event that any section, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this article is held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, the invalid or unconstitutional portions of this article shall be deemed severed from the article and shall in no way affect the validity of the rest of this article.