[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Chenango as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Adopted 5-2-1977 byL.L. No. 3-1977]
No civil action shall be maintained against
any Town or Town Superintendent of Highways for damages or injuries
to person or property sustained by reason of any highway, bridge or
culvert being defective, out of repair, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed,
unless written notice of such defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed
condition of such highway, bridge or culvert was actually given to
the Town Clerk or Town Superintendent of Highways and there was a
failure or neglect within a reasonable time after the giving of such
notice to repair or remove the defect, danger or obstruction complained
of; but no such action shall be maintained for damages or injuries
to person or property sustained solely in consequence of the existence
of snow or ice upon any highway, bridge or culvert, unless written
notice thereof, specifying the particular place, was actually given
to the Town Clerk or Town Superintendent of Highways and there was
a failure or neglect to cause such snow or ice to be removed, or to
make the place otherwise reasonably safe within a reasonable time
after the receipt of such notice.
The Town Superintendent of Highways shall transmit
in writing to the Town Clerk within five days after the receipt thereof
all written notices received by him pursuant to this article and Subdivision
2 of § 65-a of the Town Law. The Town Clerk shall cause
all written notices received by him or her pursuant to this article
and Subdivision 2 of § 65-a of the Town Law to be presented
to the Town Board within five days of the receipt thereof or at the
next succeeding Town Board meeting, whichever shall be sooner.
This article shall supersede in its application
to the Town of Chenango Subdivision 1 and 3 of § 65-a of
the Town Law.
[Adopted 11-2-1987 byL.L. No. 6-1987; amended in its entirety 8-1-2005 by L.L. No. 2-2005]
These amendments to the Code of the Town of
Chenango are enacted for the purpose of promoting the health, safety
and general welfare of the community by imposing a duty on adjoining
and abutting landowners to public sidewalks in the Town of Chenango
to maintain, repair and keep them clear of snow and ice accumulations
and other obstructions, and to provide for the assessment of an annual
fee for seasonal snow removal from sidewalks located within a commercial
district.
For purposes of this article, the following
words shall have the meanings indicated:
The owner or occupant of any lands immediately adjoining
any public sidewalk within the Town of Chenango.
Any properly constructed sidewalk areas (including driveways
as part of the walking lane) abutting Route 11 (Upper Front Street)
from the Town of Dickinson line to the intersection of Routes 11 and
12, and any properly constructed sidewalk areas abutting Route 12
continuing north from this intersection to the intersections of Route
12 and Theresa Boulevard, and any properly constructed sidewalk areas
abutting Route 12A to the Town of Fenton line, and any properly constructed
sidewalk areas abutting Kattleville Road from the intersection of
Route 12A and Kattleville Road to the intersection of Kattleville
Road and River Road.
[Amended 1-4-2012 by L.L. No. 1-2012]
A.
The owners or occupants of all lots and premises within
the Town of Chenango abutting or adjacent to any public sidewalk shall
be required to maintain, repair, replace and keep safe that sidewalk.
(1)
At such time as knowledge of a required maintenance
or repair of a defective sidewalk in the street right-of-way is brought
to the attention of the Town, a written notice will be sent to the
abutting property owner, ordering proper maintenance, repair or replacement
of said sidewalks within 30 days from receipt of the notice. If, upon
the expiration of 30 days from the receipt of the notice, required
work has not been done or is not in the process of completion, the
Town may cause the same to be maintained, required or replaced, and
the cost thereof shall be assessed to the property thereon.
(2)
For purposes of this article, a "defective sidewalk"
means any public sidewalk exhibiting one or more of the following
characteristics: vertical separations equal to 3/4 inch or more; horizontal
separations equal to 3/4 inch or more; holes or depressions equal
to 3/4 inch or more; spalling over 50% of a single square or panel
of the sidewalk with one or more depressions equal to 1/2 inch or
more; a single square or panel of sidewalk cracked in such a manner
that no part thereof has a piece greater than one square foot (without
a crack) or is cracked in such a manner that it constitutes a danger
or a potential danger to the public; sidewalk with any part thereof
missing to full depth; and deviation of the stacked and constructed
grade equal to 3/4 inch or more.
B.
Snow and ice removal. Between the months of November
1 to April 1 each year hereafter, all snow, ice and other obstruction
upon any public sidewalk in the Town shall be removed by the owner
or occupant of the adjoining land immediately after such snow, ice,
dirt or other obstruction is deposited thereon. Whenever the owner
or occupant of the adjoining land fails to remove snow, ice, dirt
or other obstruction therein from the sidewalk adjacent to or upon
their lots and premises in or along the public street and right-of-way
in the Town within 24 hours from the time when such snow, ice, dirt
or other obstruction has been deposited thereon, or within 12 hours
after notice by the Ordinance Office of the Town to remove the same,
the Town Board may remove said snow, ice, dirt or other obstruction
from said sidewalk or cause the same to be done by its agents or employees
and to clean or cause to be cleaned said sidewalk, and the expense
thereof shall constitute and be a lien upon the adjoining premises
and charged and assessed against the same.
C.
Snow removal charge in Commercial District. Each property
owner or occupant abutting public sidewalks with the Commercial District
defined by this article shall be assessed an annual fee for seasonal
snow removal by the Town Board based upon the number of linear feet
of property abutting each sidewalk area (including driveways that
are part of the walking lane).
D.
Violations:
(1)
Redeposits of snow caused by indirect weather-related
events, such as by persons or agencies other than the Town of Chenango,
either intentionally or unintentionally, will be considered a violation
of this article.
(2)
It is hereby unlawful for any person, partnership
or corporation to park any part of a vehicle, to place, pile or accumulate
any goods, wares, merchandise, boxes, containers, stands, commodities
or article of any kind or nature on or above any part of public sidewalks
within the Town,. providing that nothing herein contained shall be
construed to prevent any such items from being taken to or from any
premises in the ordinary course of delivery or transportation.
Any violation of this article by the owner or
occupant shall be a violation, and the owner or occupant, in addition
to the cost of removal as set forth hereinabove, shall, upon conviction
thereof, be guilty of a violation 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.
