This chapter shall be known as the "Abandoned Vehicle Law of the Village
of Ellenville."
A clean, wholesome, attractive environment is declared to be of importance
to the health and safety of the inhabitants, and such an environment is deemed
essential to the economy of the village and the general welfare of its citizens.
The unrestrained accumulation of motor vehicles not in operating condition
is a hazard to such health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the village,
necessitating the regulation and restraint thereof.
Open storage of one or more junk vehicles shall not be permitted on
private or public property within the village, except as permitted by this
chapter.
Any owner or legal occupant of a parcel of property in the village who
shall abandon, store, locate, leave or allow or condone any other person to
abandon, store, locate or leave a junk vehicle upon a parcel of property owned
or occupied by him within the village contrary to the provisions hereof shall
be guilty of a violation hereof. Any person, whether as owner or driver of
a vehicle or an operator of a towing vehicle or carrier, who shall abandon,
store, locate or leave a junk vehicle upon a parcel of property in the village
of which he is not either the owner or legal occupant, without the written
permission of the legal occupant, shall be guilty of a violation hereof.
[Amended 10-16-2000 by L.L. No. 5-2000]
Every person convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of this
chapter shall, for the first conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of
not less than $100 and not more than $1,000; for a second or subsequent conviction
within 12 months after any previous conviction, such person shall be punished
by a fine of not less than $200 and not more than $2,000 or by imprisonment
for not more than 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day
of continued violation shall constitute a separate additional violation.
In addition to the penalties set forth above, the village may commence
an action in its own name against any person in any civil court of competent
jurisdiction to seek an injunction to enforce compliance with this chapter.
Such an action for injunctive relief may be independent of or a part of an
action to collect the civil penalties as hereinabove provided.
In addition to any penalty or fine as provided in §
214-7 hereof or the remedy provided in §
214-8 hereof, any junk vehicle may be removed from the premise upon which it is located by the village in the manner hereinafter provided:
A. The enforcement officer, upon detecting a junk vehicle,
shall serve written notice on the person owning the parcel of property on
which the same is located, ordering such person to remove the same or cause
the same to be removed therefrom within 15 days of the date of such service.
Such notice shall contain a description of the parcel of property, a statement
as to the location thereon of a junk vehicle and a reference to this chapter
and to the fact that the location of such junk vehicle on such parcel of property
is in violation of this chapter. If such parcel of property 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 enforcement officer
shall mail such notice to owners not personally served or to the owner and
to all 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 the village. In addition, the enforcement officer shall post conspicuously
a copy of such notice on the parcel of property upon which said junk vehicle
is located.
B. At the expiration of 15 days after the service or mailing
and posting of such notice, if such junk vehicle has not been removed, the
enforcement officer shall report such fact to the Village Board in writing.
Such report shall cite the violation, the notices given as required hereunder
and the failure to comply therewith and may include or refer to photographs
of such junk vehicle and of the parcel of property 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 shall be filed in the Village
Clerk's office. The Village Board shall thereafter hold a public hearing
on 10 days' prior notice published in the official newspaper of the village
and posted on the signboard of the village. Such notice of hearing shall include
a statement that the purposes of the hearing are to give the person owning
such junk vehicle an opportunity to be heard as to why the same has not been
removed and also for the Village Board to receive proposals for the removal
of such junk vehicles.
C. After the hearing, the Village Board may contract for
the removal of such junk vehicle. Any expense to the village in accomplishing
the removal of such junk vehicle shall be assessed by the Village Board on
the real property from which said junk vehicle was removed, and the expense
so assessed shall constitute a lien and charge upon the real property on which
it is levied until paid or otherwise satisfied or discharged as other village
charges.
D. Any junk vehicle found to have been abandoned in the
village in violation of § 1224 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law of
the State of New York shall be removed and disposed of in the manner and as
provided in said § 1224. The enforcement officer is authorized as
the proper person to execute all notices and documents required to be given,
mailed or filed with the Department of Motor Vehicles or any person.
E. Any junk vehicle released to the village by its owner shall be disposed of at a public auction to the highest bidder, and the proceeds shall be added to the general fund of the village. Any junk vehicle released to the village by the owner or legal occupant of the parcel of property from which it is removed, who is not the owner of the junk vehicle, shall be disposed of by the procedure set forth in Subsections
A,
B,
C and
D hereof.
The village's enforcement officer shall have and is hereby given
the authority to go upon any parcel of real property in the village, public
or private, exclusive of enclosed structures or buildings, at any time during
daylight hours, to examine and inspect any vehicles or parts or components
thereof to determine whether a violation of this chapter has been committed
or to determine the condition of any vehicle or parts or components thereof.
The officer shall notify the property owner, in writing, prior to entering
on such property.
The provisions of this chapter shall be effective 90 days after the
date that this chapter is adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Ellenville.