[Amended 4-18-2000 by L.L. No. 7-2000]
A. The Town Board of the Town of Babylon hereby finds that buildings and places that are used as an adult use, as such is defined in Chapter
213, Article
XXXI, of this Code, in violation of the restrictions therein or buildings in which public conduct occurs in violation of Chapter
165, Article
II, of this Code, constitute a public nuisance resulting from the adverse secondary effects that adult uses and said violative public conduct have on surrounding properties and communities as has been found in the numerous studies performed in the Towns of Long island, the City of New York and many other municipalities across the country and that it is in the best interests of the public health, safety and welfare of the Town of Babylon to abate such adult uses and violative public conduct so as to preserve the quality of life and property values of adjoining properties and surrounding communities.
B. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to establish a standardized procedure for securing legal and equitable remedies and to strengthen existing laws so as to effectively deal with the problem of adult uses operating in violation of Chapter
213, Article
XXXI, of this Code and violative public conduct in buildings in violation of Chapter
165, Article
II, of this Code.
[Amended 4-18-2000 by L.L. No. 7-2000]
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the following meanings:
PROHIBITED CONDUCT
A.
Owning, operating, leasing, allowing, permitting or suffering an adult use as such term is defined in Chapter
213, Article
XXXI, of this Code, and in violation thereof;
B.
Owning, operating or leasing a building in which public conduct occurs in violation of Chapter
165, Article
II, of this Code.
PUBLIC NUISANCE
For the purpose of this article, any building, residence,
premises, structure or place for which an owner or person in charge
has been given written notice that a summons has been served for prohibited
conduct, as defined herein, at such location and, within one year
of that first summons, an additional summons has been served for prohibited
conduct, as defined herein, at the same location, which the owner
or person in charge thereof is again notified of in writing.
[Amended 10-7-2003 by L.L. No. 25-2003; 4-27-2022 by L.L. No. 10-2022]
A. The Town Board finds that the proliferation of violations
of the provisions of the Town Code of the Town of Babylon has caused
a serious threat to the safety and welfare of the residents of the
Town and has eroded the quality of life of all who live and work in
the Town. The Town Board therefore finds it necessary and proper to
increase the fines and related penalties for violations of the Town
Code. It is further the intent of the Town Board to exercise its authority
as provided by law with particular reference to its authority pursuant
to Municipal Home Rule Law § 10(4)(b) and Town Law § 135,
and the Town Board hereby supersedes any inconsistent provisions of
state law.
B. It shall be unlawful for anyone to own or lease any
building, residence, premises, structure or place which is being used
as a public nuisance as defined in this article.
C. Upon conviction of an offense based on any violation
of this section, a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000
for each offense and/or up to 30 days' imprisonment must be imposed.
Any person found by the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication to have
violated this section shall likewise be subject to a monetary penalty
of not less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000.
[Amended 4-18-2000 by L.L. No. 7-2000]
A. Abatement of adult use.
(1) Upon written request by the property owner, the Commissioner
of the Department of Public Works shall allow access to the premises
to the property owner, his agents, servants and/or employees for the
purpose of abating the nuisance, which shall include the removal of
all inventory constituting the stock in trade of an adult use and
all related trade fixtures and equipment, including but not limited
to video booths, video screens, televisions, video cassette recorders
and video cassettes, books, magazines and other paraphernalia of an
adult or sexual nature. Upon completion of the removal of the foregoing
from the premises, the Commissioner shall relinquish control of the
premises to the property owner.
(2) Where the nature of the particular adult use does
not lend itself to abatement by removal of inventory, furniture, fixtures
and equipment, the Commissioner of the Department of Public Works
shall relinquish control of the premises to the property owner upon
execution and delivery by the property owner to the Town Attorney
of a declaration of covenants and restrictions, the form and content
of which shall be approved by the Town Attorney, which shall provide
that the premises shall not be used as an adult use, and consent to
the entry of a civil judgment by the Clerk of the County of Suffolk,
on 10 days' prior written notice, in the amount of $1,000 per day
for each day a violation of the covenants and restrictions shall have
occurred, and which judgment may be entered upon an affidavit of the
observation of such violation by a building inspector, zoning inspector,
code enforcement officer, fire marshal or police officer.
B. Abatement of violative public conduct. The Commissioner of the Department of Public Works shall relinquish control of the premises to the property owner upon execution and delivery by the property owner to the Town Attorney of a declaration of covenants and restrictions, the form and content of which shall be approved by the Town Attorney, which shall provide that the public conduct in violation of Chapter
165, Article
II, of this Code is prohibited at the premises, and consent to the entry of a civil judgment by the Clerk of the County of Suffolk, on 10 days' prior written notice, in the amount of $1,000 per day for each day a violation of the covenants and restrictions shall have occurred, and which judgment may be entered upon the affidavit of observation of such violation by a building inspector, zoning inspector, code enforcement officer, fire marshal or police officer.
C. The abatement of the public nuisance by the property owner, pursuant to the provisions of this §
165-19, shall not act as a bar to the Town taking action against the property again, pursuant to this article, for the subsequent use of the same property as an adult use.