[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of
the City of Amsterdam 12-16-1997 by L.L. No. 2-1998. This local law supersedes
former Ch. 92, Unsafe Buildings, adopted 10-19-1965, as amended. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
A.
The purpose of this law is to promote and preserve
the health, safety and welfare of the public and residents and/or
owners of property located within the City of Amsterdam by providing
a method for the repair or removal of buildings that, from any cause,
may now be or shall hereafter become dangerous or unsafe to the public
and residents and/or owners of property within the City of Amsterdam.
B.
Unsafe buildings serve as an attractive nuisance for
young children who may be injured therein, may be a point of congregation
by vagrants and transients, may attract rodents or insects and may
also attract illegal drug activity.
C.
This chapter shall be in addition to all other powers
conferred upon the City of Amsterdam in relation to the same subject
by state Law.
D.
This chapter
is adopted pursuant to General City Law § 20 (35).
[Added 4-7-2009 by L.L. No. 2-2009]
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any building, structure or portion thereof used for any purpose.
[Amended 4-7-2009 by L.L. No. 2-2009]
Persons appointed by city government and/or the Mayor to
enforce the provisions of this chapter and any applicable state laws.
Any building or structure that endangers the health, safety
or welfare of the public, including all buildings which have any or
all of the following defects:
Interior or exterior bearing walls or other
vertical structural members which list, lean or buckle to such an
extent as to weaken the structural support they provide.
Thirty-three percent or more damage to or deterioration
of the supporting member or members or 50% damage to or deterioration
of the nonsupporting, enclosing or outside walls or covering.
Improperly distributed loads upon the floors
or roofs or in which the same are overloaded or which have insufficient
strength to be reasonably safe for the purpose used.
Those which have been damaged by any cause so
as to have become dangerous to life, safety or the general health
and welfare of the occupants or the people of the City of Amsterdam.
Those which are so dilapidated, decayed, unsafe
and/or unsanitary that they are unfit for human habitation in accordance
with normally accepted standards set for human habitability.
Light, air and sanitation facilities inadequate
to protect the health, safety or general welfare of human beings who
may live therein, with particular reference to the requirements of
the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code as a
determinant.
Those having inadequate facilities for exit
in case of fire or other emergency or those having insufficient stairways,
elevators or fire escapes, again referencing the New York State Uniform
Fire Prevention and Building Code as a determinant.
Parts thereof which are so inadequately attached
that they may fall and injure members of the public or property.
Those which consist in the main of debris, rubble
or parts of buildings left on the ground after demolition, reconstruction,
fire or other casualty.
Those which, because of their condition, are
unsafe, unsanitary or dangerous to the health, safety or general welfare
of the people of the City of Amsterdam.
No person, firm, corporation or association,
owning, possessing or controlling a building in the City of Amsterdam
shall permit, suffer or allow said building now or hereafter to be
or become unsafe to the public and/or residents from any cause whatsoever.
The City Code Enforcement Inspectors shall make
inspections of all unsafe buildings within the City of Amsterdam and
report to the Fire Chief any unsafe buildings which be found within
the limits of the City of Amsterdam.
[Amended 4-7-2009 by L.L. No. 2-2009]
The Fire Chief, who shall act as the Director of Buildings for
the purposes of this chapter, shall consider the reports of the Code
Enforcement Inspectors or other qualified inspectors and, if in the
opinion of the Fire Chief the reports so warrant, shall determine
that the building is unsafe and order its repair or removal and further
serve a notice on the owner and all other persons having an interest
in such property or structure as follows:
A.
The
notice shall contain the following:
(1)
A description of the premises.
(2)
A statement of the particulars in which the building is unsafe or
dangerous.
(3)
An order requiring the building to be repaired or removed.
(4)
That the repairing or demolition of the building shall commence within
30 days of the serving of the notice, as hereinafter provided, and
shall be completed within 60 days thereafter.
(5)
A date, time and place for a hearing before the Fire Chief in relation
to such unsafe building. Such hearing shall be scheduled not less
than five business days from the date of service of the notice.
(6)
A statement that, in the event of neglect or refusal to comply with
the order to repair or remove the building, the Fire Chief is authorized
to:
A.
Said notice shall be served in the following manner:
[Amended 4-7-2009 by L.L. No. 2-2009]
(1)
Either
personally or by registered mail, addressed to the last known address
as shown by the records of the officer or agency of the City charged
with the assessment of real property therein or collection of real
property taxes thereon and/or in the office of the County Clerk or
County Register.
(2)
A copy
of the notice shall be posted on the unsafe building or as nearby
as possible.
B.
A copy of the notice shall be filed in the office
of the Montgomery County Clerk, which notice shall be filed by such
Clerk in the same manner as a notice of pendency pursuant to Article
65 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules, and shall have the same effect
as a notice of pendency as therein provided. A notice so filed shall
be effective for a period of one year from the date of filing; provided,
however, that it may be vacated upon the order of a Judge or upon
the consent of the Corporation Counsel.
[Amended 4-7-2009 by L.L. No. 2-2009]
A.
The
hearing shall be conducted before the Fire Chief. The Code Enforcement
Inspector or other qualified inspector shall present his or her report
to the Fire Chief in writing. The owner or his or her representative,
if present, shall call such witnesses as he or she deems necessary.
The Fire Chief shall make written findings of fact from the testimony
offered as to whether or not the building in question is an unsafe
building.
B.
If
the Fire Chief finds that the building in question is unsafe, he or
she shall continue the order to repair or remove the unsafe building
contained in the notice or modify the order to extend the time limits
to accommodate the expected time of repair or removal.
C.
If
the Fire Chief finds that the building in question is not unsafe,
he or she shall vacate the order to repair or remove the building.
D.
If
the owner fails or neglects to repair or remove said building as directed
by the Fire Chief, then the Fire Chief shall direct the repair or
removal of same forthwith by City employees or by contractors.
[Amended 4-7-2009 by L.L. No. 2-2009]
In the event of neglect or refusal of the persons so notified
to comply with the order to repair or remove the unsafe building contained
in the notice or as modified after a hearing, the Fire Chief shall
provide for the demolition and removal of such building either by
City employees or by contractors.
A.
In case there shall be, in the opinion of the Fire
Chief, actual and immediate danger of the falling of a building so
as to endanger public safety, life or property so as to be an actual
or immediate menace to health or public welfare as a result of the
conditions present in or about a building, the Fire Chief shall cause
the necessary work to be done or render such a building temporarily
safe, whether the procedure prescribed in this chapter for unsafe
buildings has been instituted or not.
B.
When emergency work is to be performed under this
section, the Fire Chief shall cause the owner of the premises to be
served personally or by registered mail, and, if served by registered
mail, shall post on the premises a notice to comply containing a description
of the premises, a statement of the facts in which the building is
unsafe or dangerous and orders and directions to correct the conditions
which constitute an emergency within a specified period not to exceed
three days from actual or constructive notice of the condition.
[Amended 4-7-2009 by L.L. No. 2-2009]
C.
In the event that the emergency does not permit any
delay in correction, the notice shall state that the city has corrected
the emergency situation.
D.
In both cases, the notice shall state that the corrective
costs of the emergency will be assessed against the owner pursuant
to the provisions of this chapter.
A.
All costs and expenses incurred by the City of Amsterdam
in connection with the administratively and/or judicially substantiated
proceedings to remove or secure, including the cost of actually removing
the building in question, shall be assessed against the land on which
said building is located, any insurance proceeds of the property damaged
in an insured event, the owner of the property or any combination
of the above.
[Amended 4-7-2009 by L.L. No. 2-2009]
B.
The City of Amsterdam may commence a special proceeding
pursuant to § 78-b of the General Municipal Law to collect
the costs of demolition, including reasonable and necessary legal
expenses.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 92-10, Application to Supreme
Court for order, which immediately preceded this section, was repealed
4-7-2009 by L.L. No. 2-2009.
