[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Colonie 8-28-1995
by L.L. No. 2-1995; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
Unsafe buildings pose a threat to life and property in the Village of
Colonie. Buildings and structures may become unsafe by reason of damage by
fire, the elements, age or general deterioration. Vacant buildings not properly
secured at doorways and windows also serve as attractive nuisances for young
children and other trespassers who may be injured therein. A dilapidated building
may also serve as a place for rodent infestation, thereby creating a health
menace to the community. It is the purpose of this chapter to protect and
preserve the health, welfare and property of the residents of and owners of
property within the Village of Colonie by providing for the removal or repair
of buildings, residences and structures within the limits of said village
that, from any cause, may now be or shall hereafter become dangerous, unsafe,
a public nuisance or fire hazard to the public.
A.
DANGEROUS BUILDING
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
NUISANCE
(1)
(2)
(3)
OWNER
PERSON
PERSONS, INTERESTED
POSTING
REPAIR
SURVEY
VILLAGE
The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation
and enforcement of this chapter.
Any building or structure or well excavation which has any of the
following conditions:
Those where any interior wall or walls or other structural load-bearing
members list, lean or buckle to such an extent that a plumb line passing from
any overhead supporting member through the center of gravity falls outside
the middle third of its base.
Those which, exclusive of the foundations, show 33 1/3% or more
of deterioration of the supporting member or members or 50% or more damage
to or deterioration of the nonsupporting enclosing or exterior walls or covering.
Those which have improperly distributed loads upon the floors or roofs
or in which the floors or roofs are overloaded or which have insufficient
strength to be reasonably safe for the purpose used and which do not meet
the minimum standards prescribed by the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention
and Building Code.
Those having inadequate or insufficient facilities for ingress or egress
in the event of fire, panic or other emergency or those having insufficient
stairways, elevators, fire escapes, aisles, passageways, corridors or other
means of access and which do not meet minimum standards prescribed by the
New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code.
Those which have parts thereof which are so attached or connected in
such a manner that they may fall, collapse or cause damage and injury to the
occupants thereof or other persons or property.
In addition to the foregoing, those which, in whole or in part, used
for residential, mercantile, industrial, storage, assembly, institutional
or any other purpose, for want of repair, lack of sufficient fire escapes
or exits or by reason of age or dilapidated condition or from any other cause,
may now be or shall at any time hereafter become dangerous or unsafe structurally
or a fire hazard or a nuisance to the general public.
A vacant building or an unguarded building or one which is open at a
door or window.
An abandoned or unprotected well, open basement or excavation or hole
which was a basement or is intended to be a basement, which is unprotected,
dangerous or a nuisance.
Whatever is dangerous to human life or detrimental to health, and
shall include, but not be limited to:
A public nuisance.
A building, structure or part thereof which has an existing electrical
wiring system which is defective or which fails to meet ventilation requirements
as prescribed by applicable provisions of law or which has plumbing, sewage
and drainage facilities that are not in conformity with applicable building
and plumbing codes or which is overcrowded.
A building infested with rodents or other pests.
Includes the record owner of any premises and also, for the purpose
of serving a notice, either personally or by registered mail, upon anyone
exercising the rights of ownership therein, his agents, successors or assigns
as indicated by the records of the Receiver of Taxes or by the records of
the County Clerk of Albany County.
Includes a partnership, corporation, association or trustee.
Includes the owner, as herein defined, and all other persons interested
in the property to which such words refer.
The fastening, mailing, tacking or substantially securing by any
other means of any notice, survey, order, directive or official decision on
a building or structure.
Includes any alteration, structural change or the performance of
any act necessary or requisite for the elimination of any hazardous, dangerous
or unsafe condition of any dangerous building or structure within the purview
of this chapter.
A written determination in a report, after an on-site inspection
by a designated inspector of the Village of Colonie, in conjunction with a
registered architect or licensed professional engineer, chosen or appointed
by the Village Board, and a practical builder, engineer or architect appointed
by the owner of the subject premises, to be made after refusal or neglect
of the owner who has been served with a notice to make safe, repair or demolish
and remove the dangerous building or structure.
The Village of Colonie.
B.
The words "or" and "and," as used herein, may be construed
to be interchangeable where such meaning is necessary to effectuate the purpose
of this chapter. Where necessary, the singular shall include the plural, and
the plural shall include the singular.
The fact that a building or structure exists in violation of the applicable
provisions of the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code
or of an earlier village building code or the New York State Standard Building
Code for Places of Public Assembly or the statewide Multiple Residence Law,
as the case may be, or of any local law of the Village of Colonie, when found
as other violations in addition to conditions deemed to be in violation of
this chapter, may be considered in determining whether a building or structure
is hazardous, dangerous or unsafe.
Under this chapter, the Code Enforcement Officer shall have jurisdiction
for the purpose of demolishing, taking down or removing any hazardous, dangerous
or unsafe building or structure or, alternately, for taking remedial action
toward making any of said building or structure safe and secure. Where the
term "Code Enforcement Officer" appears in this chapter, it is meant to include
the Chief Code Enforcement Officer and any of his deputies.
A.
Upon the receipt of information that a building or structure
may be dangerous, the Code Enforcement Officer shall cause an investigation
of the premises to be made and an inspection report submitted and filed in
the Village Clerk's office.
B.
After the report is filed in the Village Clerk's
office and if the report shall confirm the existence of a dangerous building
or structure, the Code Enforcement Officer shall cause a notice to be served
upon the owner, executor, administrator, agent, lessee or any person or persons
having a vested or contingent interest in the subject unsafe building, as
shown by the records of the Receiver of Taxes of the Village of Colonie or
of the County of Albany, either personally or by registered mail, containing
specifications as set forth.
The notice shall contain a description of the dangerous building or
structure with particulars which set forth the manner in which the building
or structure is dangerous or the nature of the nuisance which exists, and
the notice shall also outline the manner in which the building or structure
is to be made safe and secure or demolished and removed or the nuisance abated.
The notice shall contain an order requiring the dangerous building or structure
to be made safe and secure or demolished and removed or the nuisance to be
abated, and if the service of the notice is made by registered mail, a copy
of the notice shall be posted on the premises.
Within 10 days of the receipt of the notice set forth above, the person
who receives the notice may certify his written acceptance or rejection of
the particulars and order contained in the notice by either personal service
or by registered mail upon the Code Enforcement Officer or a person designated
by him to accept service in his behalf. Any failure on the part of the person
receiving the notice to respond, as herein prescribed, shall constitute a
rejection of the notice.
If the person served with the notice shall immediately certify his assent
to the securing or demolition and removal of the dangerous building or structure
in question, he shall be permitted 72 hours within which to commence the abatement
of the dangerous conditions or nuisances affecting the building or structure
and shall employ sufficient labor and assistance to secure or demolish and
remove such building or structure within a reasonable period of time thereafter.
The person served shall notify the Code Enforcement Officer of his compliance
with the aforesaid order, and the Code Enforcement Officer shall thereafter
issue a certificate of compliance.
Any person affected by the notice described in § 85-6 of this chapter may request and shall be granted a hearing on the matter before the Board of Trustees or a person designated by it, provided that such person shall file a verified petition with the Village Clerk within 10 days after the day the notice was served upon the petitioner requesting the hearing and setting forth a brief statement of the grounds therefor. Upon receipt of said petition, the Board of Trustees shall set a time and place for a hearing and shall give the petitioner 10 days' written notice thereof. At the hearing, the petitioner shall be given an opportunity to be heard and to give reasons why the proceedings for the securing or removal of the dangerous building or structure or abatement of any nuisance shall be modified or withdrawn. The hearing shall be commenced not later than 20 days after the day on which the petition was filed, provided that, upon application of any interested party, the Board of Trustees may postpone the date of the hearing for any reasonable time beyond the twenty-day period if, in its judgment, the interested party has submitted a good and sufficient reason for the postponement; but in no event shall the hearing be postponed longer than 60 days. In any case, if no such written petition shall be so filed within the ten-day period as aforesaid or if the notice shall be rejected, the Village Attorney is authorized to make application to the Supreme Court, at Special Term, as hereinafter provided.
A.
Upon refusal, neglect or failure of the person or persons
served with a notice and order to comply with the requirements and specifications
therein or upon his or their rejection of such notice, a notice of survey
shall be served upon him by the Code Enforcement Officer, either in person
or by registered mail, giving notice that a survey of the premises described
in the notice will be made at a time and place therein specified.
B.
The notice of survey shall state the date, time and place
where the survey will be made and that, in the event that the report of such
survey indicates that such building or structure is dangerous, an application
will be made at a Special Term of the Supreme Court, Albany County, for an
order determining the building or structure to be a public nuisance and directing
that it shall be repaired and secured or demolished, taken down and removed
and for assessing the expenses and costs thereof.
A.
The survey shall be made by three competent persons,
of whom one shall be the Code Enforcement Officer or a person designated by
him, another shall be a registered architect or a licensed professional engineer
appointed by the Village Board and the third shall be a practical builder,
registered architect or a licensed professional engineer appointed by the
person served with the notice.
B.
Within 10 days after the survey is completed, the determination
thereof shall be made by such persons, in writing, and filed in the office
of the Village Clerk; and a copy thereof shall be posted on the subject building
or structure.
C.
All notices posted pursuant to any provision of this
chapter are to remain on the building or structure until it is repaired, demolished
or removed or made to comply with the directions which have been given the
owner.
D.
In the event that the person or persons served with the notice of survey, as described in § 85-9 hereof, shall fail, neglect or refuse to appoint a competent person to assist in the survey, the other two persons designated pursuant to the provisions of this section shall make the survey; and should they disagree, they shall appoint a third person, whose decision shall be final, to take part in the survey, who shall be a practical builder, licensed professional engineer or registered architect, either one having at least 10 years' practice in his respective profession.
E.
The Code Enforcement Officer shall notify the assessors
of the time the demolition is completed.
The architect or engineer appointed by the Village Board, as hereinbefore provided, who may act on any survey required by this chapter, or the third surveyor who may be called in the event of a disagreement, as provided in § 85-10 hereof, shall be entitled to a fee to be determined and fixed by the Village Board, which is to be paid upon the voucher of the Chief Code Enforcement Officer. A cause of action is hereby created for the benefit of the village against the owner of the dangerous building or structure surveyed and of the lot or parcel of land on which the dangerous building or structure is located for the amount disbursed by the village for such survey with interest.
Whenever such survey shall determine that the building or structure
surveyed is dangerous or constitutes a nuisance, the Village Attorney shall
apply to the Supreme Court, Albany County, at Special Term, for an order determining
the building or structure to be a public nuisance and directing either that
it shall be repaired and secured or that it shall be taken down or removed;
and reimbursement of the expenses of the proceeding and repair or demolition
of the building shall be made.
Upon receipt of the order of the Supreme Court, the Code Enforcement
Officer shall immediately proceed to execute the provisions therein contained
and may employ and furnish whatever labor, assistance and materials may be
necessary for that purpose.
It shall be unlawful for any person, whether interested or not in the
property affected by this chapter, to interfere, obstruct or hinder the Code
Enforcement Officer or his representative or any person acting in his behalf
in performing the work directed by the determination of the Supreme Court,
as herein provided, or ordered by the Code Enforcement Officer under the terms
and provisions of such determination as hereinabove described.
The village shall be reimbursed for the cost of the work performed or
service rendered, as hereinabove provided, by assessment against and collection
from the lots or parcels of land where such work was performed or services
rendered for so much of the actual and complete costs as incurred upon and
from each lot or lots in the manner provided for the assessment of the cost
of public improvements by Article 22 of the Village Law.
Any provisions of this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, where it reasonably appears that there is imminent danger to the life or safety of any person unless a dangerous building or structure, as defined herein, is immediately repaired, vacated or demolished, the Code Enforcement Officer, on order of the Village Board, shall cause the immediate repair, vacating or demolition of such dangerous building or structure. For this purpose, he may at once enter such structure or land on which it stands or abutting land or structure with such assistance and at such cost as may be necessary. He may vacate adjacent structures and protect the public by appropriate barricades or such other means as may be necessary and, for this purpose, may close a public or private way. The cost of such emergency repair, vacating or demolition of such dangerous building or structure shall be collected in the same manner as provided in § 85-15 hereof.
No building or structure shall be demolished unless an order shall first have been issued in accordance with this chapter or unless a demolition permit shall first have been obtained according to Chapter 79, Building Construction and Fire Prevention.
Any person removing the notice provided for in § 85-6 hereof or any other notice prescribed by this chapter or demolishing or causing the demolition of a building or structure without an order or permit shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine of not more than $250 or imprisonment for not more than 15 days, or both, for each offense.
