[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Babylon as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Filling of holes in building demolition — See Ch. 100.
Subdivision of land — See Ch. 311.
[Adopted as Ch. III, Art. IV, and Ch. XIV, Art. II, of the 1938 Code of Ordinances (Ch. 116, Art. I, of the 1981 Code)]
No person shall make any excavation or opening in or under the surface of any public place without first having obtained a license, except that in an emergency an excavation or opening may be made to the extent required by such emergency and no more.
Any person making an emergency opening or excavation shall immediately report the same to the Board of Trustees and shall then and there make application for the license provided for by § 142-1 hereof.
Any person desiring to make any excavation or opening in or under the surface of any public place shall file with the Board of Trustees an application in writing requesting a license so to do, such application to show:
A. 
The name and address of the person proposing to make such excavation or opening and of the person actually to be in charge of the work.
B. 
An exact description of the place where such excavation or opening is to be made and of the nature of its surface and conditions.
C. 
An exact description of the excavation or opening to be made and its size, depth and direction.
D. 
A statement of the reasons for making such excavation or opening, the result to be accomplished and the approximate number of days such excavation or opening will remain open and unfilled.
E. 
The name and address of the person for whose benefit or at whose request the excavation or opening is to be made. The Board of Trustees may, in its discretion, require the filing of any plan or diagram of excavation or opening as it sees fit.
No license for excavation shall be issued on any application unless and until there shall be filed with the Board of Trustees a bond with such surety or sureties and in such penal sum as the Board of Trustees may approve, but in no event in a penal sum of less than $1,000, conditioned upon the person making the excavation:
A. 
Faithfully complying with the terms and conditions of the license.
B. 
Performing the work in the manner and within the time specified in the license.
C. 
Restoring the public place and the surface thereof to the same conditions as it was before such excavation or opening was made.
D. 
Complying with any and all regulations relative to excavations or openings in or under the surfaces of public places.
E. 
Indemnifying and saving harmless the Village from any and all damages, claims for damage, loss, cost or expense which may be brought against it by any person for or on account of any injury to person or property resulting from or occasioned by such excavation or opening or any matter or thing connected therewith.
F. 
Making good any damages to person or property which any third party may have suffered by reason of such excavation or opening or any matter or thing connected therewith.
Whenever the Board of Trustees shall grant a license under this article, it shall cause the license to be prepared but not executed or delivered to the applicant until the bond hereinbefore provided for shall have been filed and approved, provided that a copy of such proposed license shall be sent upon request to any surety which may be about to execute the bond herein requested.
Upon the filing of the bond with the Board of Trustees, the Board shall execute and deliver the license to the applicant. Such license shall:
A. 
Authorize the person named therein to make the excavation or opening therein described to the extent therein specified.
B. 
Prescribe the number of days from the date of the license during which such excavation or opening shall remain open and unfilled.
C. 
State any particular terms or conditions upon which it may have been granted and, in any event, shall contain a recital that any and all ordinances, rules and regulations of the Village of Babylon relative to excavations, openings and the guarding thereof are made a part of such license.
Any person making any excavation or opening in or under the surface of any public place shall, at all times while the same remains open or danger exists therefrom, maintain a clearly visible warning signal in front of such excavation or opening on each and every side from which it may be approached. At night and whenever the visibility requires it, such warning signal shall be a red light, and, in addition, such person shall, at all times when work is not actually being done in or about such excavation or opening, surround the same with substantial barriers and between sunset and sunrise clearly outline the position and extent of such barrier by red lights.
The period of time within which any excavation or opening in or under the surface of any public place must by the terms of any license be filled and closed shall not, after a copy of the license has been sent to the surety, be enlarged or extended, and no other change whatsoever shall be made in any license after a copy of it has been sent to the surety, unless the consent of the surety upon the bond shall first have been obtained in writing and filed with the Board of Trustees.
No excavation or opening in or under any public place shall be made in such manner as to cut off entirely the passage of traffic along or across such public place, and any excavation or opening which would traverse entirely the public place in which it is being made shall be made and filled in a part at a time, so there shall at all times be provided a safe and secure passage for traffic along or across such public place.
No excavation or opening shall be greater in width at the bottom than at the top, and no ice or snow or other slippery substance shall be permitted to accumulate or remain within six feet of the edge of any excavation or opening.
It shall be the duty of both the person making the excavation or opening in or under the surface of any public place and the person for whose benefit or at whose request such excavation or opening was made, severally:
A. 
To see that the work is done in strict conformity to the terms and conditions of the license issued therefor.
B. 
To see that such excavation or opening is filled and closed within the time specified in the license.
C. 
To see that the subsoil and surface of the public place where such excavation or opening was made are left in the same condition as before such excavation or opening was made.
D. 
All work must be performed in accordance with an approved stormwater management and erosion and sediment control plan as per Chapter 305 of the Village of Babylon Code.
[Added 4-8-2008 by L.L. No. 8-2008]
When an excavation or opening in or under the surface of any public place shall have been filled in or closed, the person making such excavation or opening or the person for whose benefit or at whose request it was made shall forthwith notify the Board of Trustees in writing, and the Board shall, within five days of receiving such notice, cause an inspection thereof to be made.
If the Board of Trustees is not satisfied that the subsoil or the surface has been left in the same condition as it was before the making of any excavation or opening, it shall, within five days, give written notice to the person making the excavation or opening and the person for whose benefit or whose request it was made and shall require such person to do whatever, in the opinion of the Board, shall be necessary to be done to remedy the defect.
Upon receiving such notice, such person shall immediately do whatever may be required thereby, and thereafter the provisions of § 142-12 hereof shall again apply.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original § 116-15, Failure of village to act, which immediately followed this section, was deleted at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
It shall be the duty of the person making the application for license hereunder to do whatsoever may be requisite and necessary to be done to maintain in full force and effect the surety bond required by § 142-4 hereof, and such person shall not permit such bond to lapse until he shall have been discharged from liability.
Each license issued by the Clerk shall be countersigned by the Building Inspector.
It shall be the duty of the Building Inspector to see that these rules and regulations are obeyed by such person or persons making any excavation or opening in any street or public place.
Should the person or persons charged fail or refuse to perform any or all of the duties prescribed in this article, then the Board of Trustees shall cause the omitted duty or duties to be performed and the expense thereof to be assessed upon the land of the owner thus failing or refusing.
[Added 11-30-1981 by L.L. No. 22-1981]
A. 
Any person committing an offense against any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be guilty of a violation pursuant to the Penal Law of the State of New York, punishable by a fine not exceeding $250 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The continuation of an offense against the provisions of this article shall constitute, for each day the offense is continued, a separate and distinct offense hereunder.
B. 
In addition or as an alternative to the above-provided penalties, the Board of Trustees may also maintain an action or proceeding in the name of the Village in a court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with or to restrain by injunction the violation of this article.
[Adopted as Ch. XIII, Art. VI, of the 1938 Code of Ordinances (Ch. 116, Art. II, of the 1981 Code)]
No person, firm, association of persons or corporation shall maintain or allow to be maintained upon any property owned or controlled by them within the corporate limits of the Village any exposed well, pit, hole, cesspool or other excavation of like kind more than two feet in depth or pipe opening in excess of three inches in diameter, whether or not in actual use or abandoned, not covered or protected so as to prevent persons from falling into said well, pit, hole, cesspool or other excavation of like kind or pipe opening.
Any person, firm, association of persons or corporation having upon any property owned or controlled by them within the corporate limits of this Village any such exposed well, pit, hole, cesspool or other excavation of like kind more than two feet in depth or pipe opening in excess of three inches in diameter not now sufficiently covered or protected so as to prevent the falling into such well, pit, hole, cesspool or other excavation of like kind or pipe opening of any person or appendage thereof from becoming wedged therein be, and they are hereby required forthwith after the passage and publication of this article either to fill said well, pit, hole, cesspool or excavation of like kind or pipe opening with sand, dirt or other material to a level of the existing grade as to render said well, pit, hole, cesspool or other excavation of like kind or pipe opening safe, or else to cover fully and completely said pipe opening, well, pit, hole, cesspool or other excavation of like kind with a concrete covering or cap of sufficient size and thickness to render safe said well, pit, hole, cesspool or other excavation of like kind or pipe opening.
The maintenance of any exposed and uncovered well, pit, hole, cesspool or other excavation of like kind more than two feet in depth or pipe opening in excess of three inches in diameter on premises as hereinabove set forth shall be regarded, under this article, as a separate violation for each and every day so kept or maintained.
[Added 11-30-1981 by L.L. No. 22-1981]
A. 
Any person committing an offense against any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be guilty of a violation pursuant to the Penal Law of the State of New York, punishable by a fine not exceeding $250 or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The continuation of an offense against the provisions of this article shall constitute, for each day the offense is continued, a separate and distinct offense hereunder.
B. 
In addition or as an alternative to the above-provided penalties, the Board of Trustees may also maintain an action or proceeding in the name of the Village in a court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with or to restrain by injunction the violation of this article.