[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Rhinebeck 6-17-1968 by Ord. No. 154. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Building construction and fire prevention — See
Ch. 56.
This chapter shall be known as the "Unsafe Building
Demolition Ordinance."
The Board of Trustees of the Village of Rhinebeck
shall appoint the Building Inspector, who will be charged with the
responsibility of carrying out the obligations and duties set forth
in this chapter.
A.
No person, firm or corporation or association who
or which is the owner of a building in the Village of Rhinebeck shall
cause, suffer, allow or permit said building to become dangerous or
unsafe to the public. In the event that any building now is or hereafter
becomes dangerous or unsafe to the public from any cause whatsoever,
said owner or occupant shall repair or remove said building.
B.
In the event of the failure of the owner of any such
building to repair or remove the same, the Building Inspector of the
Village of Rhinebeck shall make a complete inspection and report of
the condition of said building to the Board of Trustees of said Village.
C.
Notice shall thereafter be served on the owner or
some one of the owners, executors, legal representatives, agents,
lessees or any other person having a vested or contingent interest
in said building. Said notice shall contain a description of the premises,
a statement of the particulars in which the building or structure
is unsafe or dangerous and an order requiring said building or structure
to be made safe and secure or removed. Said notice shall also provide
for the time within which the person served with said notice shall
commence and complete the securing or removal of the building or structure.
In the event of the neglect or refusal of the person so served with
said notice to comply with same, a survey of the premises shall be
made by the Building Inspector and a practical builder, engineer or
architect to be named by the Board of Trustees of said Village and
a practical builder, engineer or architect appointed by the person
notified as above, and in the event of the refusal or neglect of the
person so notified to appoint such surveyor, the two surveyors named
shall make the survey and report. The notice shall further provide
that in the event that the building or other structure shall be reported
dangerous or unsafe under such circumstances, an application will
be made to the Supreme Court of the State of New York for an order
determining that the building or other structure is a public nuisance
and directing that it shall be repaired and secured or taken down
and removed.
A signed copy of the report of surveys shall
be posted on the building, and the surveyors appointed by the Board
of Trustees shall be compensated by the Village.
A.
All costs and expenses incurred by the Village in
connection with any and all of the above proceedings to remove or
secure, including the cost of actually removing said building or structure
or securing the same, shall be assessed against the land on which
the building or structure is located.
B.
Costs of removal.
(1)
If such owner or person served by mail as hereinabove
provided shall fail to pay the costs and expenses incurred by the
Village within 10 days after being notified of the costs thereof by
registered mail, the Village Clerk shall file, immediately preceding
the time for making the annual assessment roll, a certificate of such
actual cost and expense, with a statement as to the property upon
which such cost and expenses were incurred and the buildings or other
obstructions removed, as the case may be, with the Assessor of the
Village, who shall, in the preparation of the next assessment roll
of general Village taxes, assess such amount upon such property, and
the same shall be levied, collected and enforced in the same manner,
by the same proceedings, at the same time, under the same penalties
and having the same lien upon the property assessed as the general
Village tax and as a part thereof.
(2)
The Village may commence a special proceeding in a
court of competent jurisdiction to collect the costs of demolition,
including reasonable and necessary legal expenses incidental to obtaining
an order to demolish, from the owner of any building or structure
that may now be or shall hereafter become dangerous or unsafe to the
public. The provisions of Article 4 of the Civil Practice Law and
Rules shall govern any special proceeding commenced under this section.
[Added 11-10-1987 by L.L.
No. 2-1987]
In cases of great emergency, where the delay
of proceedings, as hereinbefore provided, would result in probable
loss of life or property, the Mayor or Manager shall have the power
to direct the Building Inspector to proceed at once to take such action
as is needed to guard the safety of persons and property.
