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City of Hornell, NY
Steuben County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
[Adopted as Art. I of Ch. 22 of the 1970 Municipal Code]
A. 
Deposit generally. It shall be unlawful for any person to place, throw, deposit or leave in any public street, sidewalk, highway, alley, park or place in the city any stones, bricks, sand, building material, leaves, grass, ashes, rubbish, bottles, glass or any refuse matter of any nature whatsoever without the written consent of the Superintendent of Public Works.
B. 
Deposit of injurious materials. It shall be unlawful for any person to willfully throw, drop or place or cause to be thrown, dropped or placed upon any street, sidewalk, alley, lane or public place within the city any glass, broken crockery, tacks, nails or pieces of metal or other substance which might puncture or otherwise injure any vehicle tire.
C. 
No person, unless authorized by the Board of Public Works, shall paint, mark, write, print or stencil any letters, figures, pictures or characters of any kind upon any public sidewalk, pavement or structure, whether for advertising, political purpose or otherwise, except for people using chalk for temporary markings upon sidewalks.
[Added 11-16-2020]
A violation of this section shall carry a fine of not less than $50 and no more than $250 for each offense.
A. 
Permission required. No person shall place or cause to be placed or suffer to remain where so placed any stones, bricks, lumber or other materials for building in or upon any street, sidewalk or public place without the permission of the Mayor or the Common Council.
B. 
Manner of placing materials. In case permission is granted, the materials must be placed so as not to prevent travel on more than 1/3 of the width of the street, sidewalk or roadway and must be placed on the side of the street next to the building where the same are to be used and so placed as not to obstruct the gutter.
C. 
Materials to be guarded at night. During every night such materials shall so remain, the person placing them or causing them to be placed shall keep a lamp or lamps continually lighted near such materials so as clearly and distinctly to cast light upon both ends of the pile nearest the center of the street.
D. 
Revocation of permission. The Mayor or the Common Council, by a 2/3 vote of all the members elected thereto, may revoke permission granted pursuant to this section.
No person shall conduct or allow to be conducted from any building owned by him, through any pipe, gutter, trough, spout or otherwise, any water upon any sidewalk; nor shall such water be made to run in a pipe or covered groove below the walk; nor shall any roof or eaves project over the walk unless there shall be an eave trough so placed under the same as to prevent the water from falling on the walk.
A. 
Duty of owner. Every owner or person in charge of any lot or premises within the city shall keep the sidewalk in front of said lot or premises clean and free from obstructions.
B. 
Effect of noncompliance. In case of failure on the part of the owner or occupant to comply with the provisions of Subsection A, the Superintendent of Public Works shall cause such obstructions to be removed, and the costs thereof shall be assessed as provided in § 267-5B. In addition thereto, the owner shall be liable for any and all damages that occur as a result of the owner's failure to maintain said sidewalk.
[Amended 12-28-1992 by L.L. No. 4-1992]
A. 
Duty of owner. Every owner or the person in charge of any lot or premises within the city shall keep the sidewalk in front of the same clean and free from snow and ice and shall clear such sidewalk from snow and ice by 9:00 a.m. of each day if the same shall have accumulated thereon in the night. If the storm causing such accumulation of snow or ice shall have occurred in the daytime, then the sidewalk in front of such property shall be cleared of such snow and ice within one hour after such storm shall have ceased.
B. 
Failure to remove; removal by city; assessment of costs. In case of failure on the part of the owner or occupant to comply with the provisions of Subsection A, it shall be the duty of the Superintendent of Public Works to cause such snow and ice to be removed. The Superintendent of Public Works shall make out and deliver to the Common Council, at its next meeting, an account or statement of the expense of removing such snow and ice, which account or statement shall contain a recital of the place or location and a description of the lot or premises, the name of the owner, if the same is known to him, and also the name of the occupant or person having charge thereof, which account or statement shall be verified by the Superintendent to the effect that he believes it to be true. The City Clerk shall enter such statement or the substance thereof in the minutes of the Common Council, and the amount of such expense shall be therein stated to be a lien or charge upon the lot or premises so described, and the same shall be assessed upon the owner of the property and added to the amount of his next annual city tax. In addition thereto, the owner shall be liable for any and all damages that occur as a result of the owner's failure to maintain said sidewalk.
[Amended 12-28-1992 by L.L. No. 4-1992]
A. 
"Icicle" defined. The word "icicle," as used herein, shall mean any accumulation of frozen water or frozen snow which is hanging from the exterior of any building fronting or abutting any street, sidewalk, highway, traveled road, public lane or alley within the city.
B. 
Duty of owner or occupant. The occupant of any building or the owner of any unoccupied building from which icicles are hanging, as hereinbefore defined, shall be required to keep such building free of hanging icicles.
C. 
Failure to remove. If the occupant of any building or the owner of any unoccupied building from which icicles are hanging, as hereinbefore defined, fails to remove icicles from such building within two hours between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., after receiving personal notice from any member of the Police Department or the Fire Department, such occupant or owner, as the case may be, shall be punished as provided in § C-176 of the City Charter. A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation or failure to comply with this section occurs or continues.
No person shall play any game of ball, tennis or other game or enter into any amusement or practice or do any other act in any street, highway, lane or alley in the city in such manner as shall tend to injure or annoy persons or to injure or endanger property.
A. 
Prohibited.
(1) 
No person shall erect or cause to be erected any building, piazza, steps, fence or other structure so as to encroach upon any street, sidewalk, lane, alley or public place.
(2) 
The erection of a barn, stable or shed within 20 feet of the line of a street shall be unlawful; but the Common Council may, by a two-thirds vote, by resolution, permit such an erection.
B. 
Declared nuisance; abatement by city. Any fence, building or other structure which shall encroach in whole or in part upon any of the streets, sidewalks, alleys, lanes or public grounds in said city is hereby declared a nuisance, and upon a previous notice, in writing, of 10 days, signed by the Superintendent of Public Works, said Superintendent shall remove or abate the same, and all the expenses thereof shall be charged against the person or property of anyone so offending.
No gate shall be made or hung so as to open and swing over any sidewalk.
A. 
Cloth awnings permitted. No awning other than of cloth shall hereinafter be placed, constructed or maintained over any street or sidewalk or portion of the same.
B. 
Required distance from street or sidewalk. No person shall maintain, place or attach any awning over any portion of any street or sidewalk of any street in the city unless such awning and all parts thereof, including the flap and brace, shall be at least seven feet above the portion of said street or sidewalk above or over which any such awning shall be maintained or attached.
No person shall, without the permission of the Mayor or the Common Council, erect or establish upon or within any street or public ground any booth or stand for the purpose of selling or exposing for sale any goods, wares or merchandise.
No person shall build, construct or maintain any cellarway or stairway opening into the sidewalk or street without the consent of the Mayor or the Common Council, and all persons having stairways or cellarways projecting or opening into any sidewalk or street shall guard the same with a suitable and sufficient railing to be approved by the Common Council. Any person neglecting or refusing to comply with the requirements of this section, after being notified by the Superintendent of Public Works, shall be punished as provided in § 1-1 of this Code.
No person shall place or cause to be placed upon any sidewalk any box, showcase, goods, wares or merchandise or any article, except as may be necessary for transporting such articles across the sidewalk. Nothing contained in this section shall prohibit the owner or occupant of any store or building from exposing for sale goods, wares and merchandise next adjoining the outer wall of such store or building within three feet thereof or two feet from the outer curbline towards the building on such walk where the sidewalk is 10 feet or more in width to the outer curbline. For walks and curbs of less than 10 feet, they may occupy two feet from the building line and one and one-half (1 1/2) feet from the outer curbline. Nothing contained herein shall prohibit the placing of goods, merchandise, household furniture or other commodities upon the sidewalk for the purpose of loading or unloading where they do not obstruct free passage thereon, provided that such articles are removed without any unreasonable delay and within one hour.
No person shall move or cause to be moved a building or other structure into, across or along any street without permission of the Mayor or the Common Council.
No person shall string or set any telegraph, telephone or other wire or wires or place or set any poles for the stringing of the same unless such person shall first obtain a permit so to do from the Common Council; and in case such permission shall be obtained from the Common Council, said wires shall be strung and such poles set under the direction of the Superintendent of Public Works.
A. 
Prohibited without permission. No person shall obstruct any of the ditches in the streets of the city, by means of a driveway or otherwise, unless the written permission of the Superintendent of Public Works is first obtained, which permission shall only be granted on the condition that a suitable drain, tile or pipe is placed so as to allow the free flow of water along the ditch, and such drain, tile or pipe shall be of such size, material and capacity as shall be approved by the Superintendent of Public Works.
B. 
Violations; notice to remove; failure to obey notice. If any driveway or other obstruction is placed in the ditches aforesaid in violation of the Subsection A, the owner or owners of the lands adjacent thereto shall remove the same within 10 days after written notice from the Superintendent of Public Works to do so; and in the event of failure to comply with said notice, the Superintendent of Public Works may cause the same to be removed at the expense of such owner or owners and may cause the same, if necessary for the purposes of a driveway, to be rebuilt and reconstructed, with a suitable opening through the same as provided in Subsection A, which shall also be at the expense of such owner or owners. Any expense incurred as aforesaid shall be collected as provided in § C-176 of the Charter of the city.
A. 
Duty to trim; clearance prescribed. Trees, shrubs and other plants standing on any lot or land adjacent to any street, public highway or public place and having branches projecting into the street, public highway or public place shall be kept trimmed by the owner or owners or occupant of the property on which such plants are growing so that the lowest branches shall not be less than 15 feet above the roadbed and not less than seven feet above the sidewalk level or where, in the opinion of the Department of Public Safety, the sight distance for motor vehicles is obstructed by hedges, bushes or small trees standing over two feet above ground level.
B. 
Authority of city. The City of Hornell shall have the right to plant, trim, spray, preserve and remove trees, plants and shrubs within the lines of all streets, alleys, avenues, lanes and public grounds and shall have the right to enter upon private grounds within the city when it shall be necessary, in its opinion, to do so in order to prevent breeding or scattering of any disease, and further when, in its opinion, any plant or part thereof or dead or diseased tree is in an unsafe condition or in any other manner may cause a hazard to his/her or any other adjoining property owner or tenant.
C. 
Notice to remove. The city shall cause to be mailed to the owner or agent of the owner of such premises at his last known address notice to remove, at least 10 days before such removal, unless, in the opinion of the city, immediate removal is necessary for public safety.
D. 
Noncompliance with notice. If the person upon whom notice is served, as authorized in Subsection C above, fails, neglects or refuses to comply with said notice within 10 days after service of such notice and the city undertakes to do that which is deemed necessary, any costs incurred in connection therewith shall be borne by the owner of the premises. Such costs shall be in addition to the penalties hereinafter provided. [1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Sec. 22-17.1(e), Violations and penalties, which immediately followed this subsection, was deleted at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II. See now § 267-22, Penalties for offenses.
A. 
Authority of Superintendent of Public Works. The Superintendent of Public Works shall be and is empowered to trim or remove any trees located in the city streets outside of the curbline and between the curb and sidewalk whenever he finds, in his discretion, that such trimming or removal is reasonably necessary for the better lighting of said streets or for the better use of such streets and sidewalks as public streets and sidewalks.
B. 
Notice to property owner. Whenever it is necessary to remove or destroy such trees, the abutting property owner shall be given at least 10 days' notice by the Superintendent of Public Works to the effect that the removal or destruction of such tree is required, giving the abutting landowner the privilege of removing such tree himself. Such notice, however, shall not be required where the tree is only trimmed, as distinguished from being removed or destroyed.
All ornamental or shade trees or posts hereafter placed or set out in any street shall be placed or set out within 2 1/2 feet of the curb and between said curbline and the line of the street nearest thereto.
It shall be unlawful for any person to mar or injure, deface or destroy any shade or ornamental tree in any street, lane or alley or on any public grounds.
A. 
Description and map. A complete description and map must be filed with the Department of Public Works showing the distances and directions of the property to be conveyed.
B. 
Profile. A profile of the proposed street must be filed showing the center line, gutter lines and property lines and also the proposed grade for sewers.
C. 
Establishment and approval of grade. A grade must be established on said profile by the Superintendent of Public Works and approved by the Department of Public Works.
D. 
Minimum width of street. No street of less than 24 feet in width shall be accepted.
E. 
Sidewalks; crosswalks. Sidewalks and crosswalks must be complete. The standard width of sidewalk for streets less than 30 feet shall be three feet and for streets 30 to 40 feet shall be four feet and for streets 40 feet or over shall be five feet wide.
F. 
Street surface; improvements.
(1) 
The surface of the street shall consist of not less than four inches compacted gravel or cinders and shall conform to the established grade and crown.
(2) 
If streets are improved other than with gravel or cinders, the improvement shall be made in accordance with the specifications of the Department of Public Works.
G. 
Curbing requirements. Streets of widths of 24 feet to 30 feet shall not be curbed with less than 18 feet between the curbs, and streets of over 30 feet shall not be curbed less than 24 feet in width.
H. 
Sewers. No sewer shall be constructed of less than eight-inch vitrified tile with standard manholes not less than 250 feet apart. A standard manhole shall be installed where a new or proposed sewer enters the city sewer system.
Any violation of this Article shall be punishable as provided in § 1-1 of this Code.
[1]
Editor's Note: Added at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II.