[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Waterford 9-11-1985 by L.L. No. 4-1985; amended in its entirety 8-14-2013 by L.L. No. 4-2013. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Unsafe buildings — See Ch. 92.
Historic District — See Ch. 128.
Solid waste — See Ch. 174.
Streets and sidewalks — See Ch. 179.
Abandoned and junked vehicles — See Ch. 195.
The proper maintenance of real properties within the Village of Waterford is essential to protect the safety, health and well-being of persons living and working within the Village.
In keeping with the above purpose, no building or structure shall be maintained in the Village of Waterford except in compliance with the provisions of the Property Maintenance Code of the State of New York.
A. 
All exterior surfaces of a structure including but not limited to walls, window treatments, facades, windows, doors, fences, canopies, porches and billboards, shall be maintained in a clean, safe and sanitary condition.
B. 
All exterior property and premises, including yards, shall be maintained in a clean, safe and sanitary condition.
C. 
All graffiti or defacing of any exterior structure or premises shall be removed and the surface finish restored within a period of two business days.
In addition to the requirements of the provisions of the Zoning Laws of the Village of Waterford,[1] the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code, the New York State Property Maintenance Code or any other general or local law, it shall be the duty of the owner of any premises in the Village of Waterford to abate any condition in, on or about his or her premises constituting a public nuisance or endangering the public safety or health, to the extent that such condition poses an imminent risk of:
A. 
Harm to members of the general public lawfully using the public streets, sidewalks, alleyways and highways in the Village by rendering any abutting public streets, sidewalks, alleyway or highway dangerous, unsafe or physically or visually obstructed; or
B. 
Harm to the public health by the maintenance of any unsanitary condition or the emission of any noxious fumes, vapors, discharges or odors.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 205, Zoning.
Every person who shall violate any provision of this chapter or the Property Maintenance Code of the State of New York in the Village of Waterford shall be subject to a penalty of up to $250 per day for each violation of the above code. Each and every day that such violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.
Pursuant to the authority provided in Section 109.1 of the Property Maintenance Code of the State of New York, 19 NYCRR 1203.2 and the Charter of the Village of Waterford the following enforced compliance procedures are established:
A. 
If an owner or occupant of property in the Village of Waterford property fails to maintain that property in keeping with the Property Maintenance Code and thereby violates provisions of that code or maintains his or her property in a way such as to create a public nuisance, or otherwise is in violation of any local ordinance or state law, the Building Inspector shall serve upon such owner or occupant by ordinary mail at the owner's or occupant's last known address, a written notice of violation and an order to correct, requiring the owner or occupant to remedy such failure and comply with the code provisions.
B. 
Service of such notice shall be deemed complete when mailed by first class mail to the owner's or occupant's last known address.
C. 
A property owner or occupant, who disputes the notice of violation, shall have the right to appear before the Village Mayor or his/her designee within five business days after service of the above notice to contest the violation claim.
D. 
If an owner occupant fails to contest a notice served pursuant to Subsections A and B and fails to correct the violation within five days of service of the notice, the Village and/or its agent may correct the violation.
E. 
If the owner or occupant contests the notice of violation, the Mayor or his designee shall determine the validity of the notice of violation. The owner or occupant will be given a second written notice if the Village Mayor or his/her designee upholds the violation claim after it is contested by the owner or occupant.
F. 
If an owner or occupant fails, neglects or refuses to comply with the above notices within five business days of service of the notice, the Village and/or its agent may correct the maintenance violation.
G. 
In a case where the Village has corrected the maintenance violation in response to a property owner's or occupant's failure to comply, that owner or occupant shall pay to the Village the costs of such maintenance compliance performed by the Village, plus an administrative fee as set by resolution of the Village Board,[1] within 30 days of a request for payment issued by the Village for such maintenance compliance work and administrative fee.
[Amended 4-11-2018 by L.L. No. 1-2018]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 112, Fee Schedule.
H. 
Upon the failure of an owner or occupant to pay the above costs in accordance within the time frame identified in Subsection F above, the Village Building Inspector shall certify such costs to the Village Clerk and or Treasurer, and thereupon such costs shall become and be a lien upon the land involved and shall be added to and shall become a part of the property taxes next to be assessed and levied upon such land and shall bear interest at the same rate as and be collected and enforced in the same manner as taxes. The provisions of this section with respect to costs shall be in addition to any penalty imposed for violation of or noncompliance with any provision of this article.
I. 
The owner or occupant shall have an opportunity to contest the compliance costs and request for payment issued by the Village upon written request made within 10 business days of the request for payment being issued by the Village. The owner or occupant shall appear before a panel composed of the Village Manager or his/her designee, the Village Treasurer and the Village Building Inspector.