[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of East Hampton 5-4-1990 by L.L. No. 11-1990; amended in its entirety 2-4-2016 by L.L. No. 4-2016. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Recycling and solid waste — See Ch. 204.
The following terms, as used in this chapter, shall have the meanings indicated:
GARBAGE
Putrescible animal and vegetable waste resulting from either the handling, preparation, cooking or consumption of food.
HANDBILL
Any printed or written matter, sample, circular, leaflet, pamphlet, booklet or any other printed or otherwise reproduced original of copies which:
A. 
Advertise for sale any merchandise, product, commodity or thing.
B. 
Direct attention to any business or merchandise or commercial establishment for the purpose of promoting the same.
C. 
Direct attention to any meeting, theatrical performance, exhibition or event for which an admission fee is charged for the purposes of gain or profit, unless said admission is taken wholly for the benefit of a nonprofit organization or for the purpose of defraying the costs of said meeting, theatrical production, exhibition or event.
LITTER
A. 
Garbage, refuse, rubbish, and handbills, as such are defined herein, and any and all other waste materials which, if thrown or deposited as herein prohibited, tend to create a danger to public health, safety and welfare or render any public places or private property unsightly, including newspapers, household waste, yard waste, and construction and demolition debris.
B. 
Soil, loam, dirt, gravel or sand.
[Added 5-10-2022 by L.L. No. 13-2022[1]]
C. 
Illegal/unauthorized signs deemed litter. Any sign erected or existing in violation of the East Hampton Town Code shall be deemed "litter" and shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter relating thereto.
PARK
A park, playground, recreation center or any other public area owned or used by the Town of East Hampton or other public entity or government which is devoted to recreational purposes.
PERSON
Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation or organization of any kind.
PRIVATE PROPERTY
Any dwelling, house, building or other structure designate or used, either wholly or in part, for private residential purposes, whether inhabited or continuously uninhabited or vacant, including any yard, grounds, walk, driveway, porch, steps or vestibule belonging or appurtenant to such dwelling, house, building or other structure.
PUBLIC PLACE
Any or all streets, sidewalks, boulevards, alleys or other public ways, and any and all public parks, beaches, squares, spaces, grounds and buildings.
PUBLIC RECEPTACLE
A litter disposal, storage and/or collection container which is owned and/or maintained by any federal, state, county or municipal authority and which has been designated as being for the use of the general public.
REFUSE
All putrescible and nonputrescible solid wastes, except body wastes, including garbage, rubbish, ashes, street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned automobiles, dismantled automobiles and parts thereof, scrap metal, junk, machinery and solid market and industrial wastes.
RUBBISH
Nonputrescible solid wastes, consisting of both combustible and noncombustible wastes, including but not limited to papers, wrappings, cigarettes, cardboard, tin cans, yard waste, leaves, wood, glass, bedding, crockery, building materials and similar materials.
TAKEOUT RESTAURANT, LUNCHEONETTE or DELICATESSEN
Any retail store which provides for the off-premises consumption of food or beverage.
VEHICLE
Every vehicle in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, including devices used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
YARD WASTE
Organic materials consisting of leaves, brush, branches, vines and yard clippings.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law also redesignated former Subsection B as Subsection C.
[Amended 5-10-2022 by L.L. No. 13-2022; 10-3-2024 by L.L. No. 18-2024]
A. 
No person shall throw or deposit litter in or upon any street, sidewalk, beach, park, or other public place or property within the Town, except in public receptacles, in authorized private receptacles, or in designated areas within Town of East Hampton recycling centers.
B. 
No person shall throw or deposit litter in any bay, lake, pond, stream or other body of water within the Town of East Hampton.
C. 
No person, while a driver or passenger in a vehicle, shall throw or deposit litter upon any street or other public place within the Town. No person shall drive or move any vehicle within the Town, unless the vehicle is constructed and loaded, and its contents are covered and secured, so as to prevent any contents or litter from being dropped or blown from the vehicle or deposited upon any street, alley or other public place or private property.
(1) 
The contents of any vehicle within the Town containing yard waste must be covered and secured.
D. 
No person shall permit any soil, loam, dirt, gravel or sand from any source whatsoever, including lands under the control of said person, to be deposited, placed, tracked or washed upon any public highway.
A. 
No person shall deposit in any public receptacle, with the exception of designated receptacles within Town of East Hampton recycling centers, any domestic, commercial or industrial litter arising from the conduct of his or her daily activities.
B. 
All litter deposited in any public receptacle or authorized private receptacle shall be deposited in such a manner as to prevent it from being scattered, carried or deposited upon any street, sidewalk or other public or private property.
C. 
Where public receptacles are not provided or are already full in any public place, all litter shall be carried from said place by the person responsible for its presence and shall be properly disposed of elsewhere.
D. 
Receptacles for takeout establishments. The owner or operator of a takeout restaurant, delicatessen or luncheonette as defined herein shall provide not less than one authorized private receptacle for the receipt of trash, litter, paper, napkins, cups and remnants of food and nonfood items at each exit, available to the patrons as they leave the premises.
E. 
Receptacles for commercial premises. Any garbage, waste or rubbish placed outside commercial premises shall be contained in a covered container sufficiently secure so as to prevent animals from gaining access to the contents thereof and shall be screened from public view with a solid enclosure or enclosure of dense vegetation on at least three sides, to a height of at least one foot above the height of the container or containers.
A. 
No person shall throw or deposit litter on any open or vacant private property, whether owned by such person or not.
B. 
No person shall throw or deposit litter on any occupied private property, whether owned by him or not, except that the owner or person in control of property may provide private receptacles for collection on said property.
C. 
The owner or person in control of private property shall at all times maintain the premises free of litter. This section shall not be construed to prohibit the storage of litter in private receptacles for collection or the creation and maintenance of a home composting facility for the production of compost from natural materials, to be used on and about the private premises.
D. 
The owner or person in control of private property shall maintain private receptacles for collection in such a manner that litter will not be carried or deposited by the elements upon any private property or public place.
E. 
Quasi-public places. The owner or person in control of any building or lot shall be jointly and/or severally responsible for keeping the sidewalk, flagging, curbstone and the air shafts, areaways, backyards, courts, parking lots and alleys free from litter.
F. 
Failure to remove litter.
(1) 
Notice to remove. The enforcement officer or his duly designated agent is authorized and empowered to notify the owner of any private property, whether vacant or occupied, or the tenant or agent of such owner to dispose properly of any such litter located on said owner's property which is dangerous to the public health, safety or welfare. Notice shall be by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to said property owner or his tenant or agent, at his last known address, or served personally upon said owner, tenant or agent.
(2) 
Action upon noncompliance. Upon the failure, neglect or refusal of any owner, tenant or agent so notified to dispose properly of said litter within 10 days from receipt of written notice pursuant to Subsection F(1) of this section or within 10 days of such notice in the event that it is returned to the Town by the United States Postal Service because of inability to make delivery thereof, provided that the notice was properly addressed to the last known address of the owner, tenant or agent, the enforcement officer or his duly designated agent is authorized and empowered to pay for disposing of such litter or to order its disposal by the Town and/or to cite the owner, tenant or agent of such owner with a violation of this chapter.
(3) 
Assessment of costs and expenses. When the Town has effectuated the removal of litter or has paid for its removal pursuant to Subsection F(2) of this section, the actual cost thereof shall, unless paid by the owner prior thereto, be charged to the owner of the property on the next regular tax bill forwarded to the owner by the Town. The charge shall be due and payable by the owner at the time set for payment of the tax bill. Where the full amount due the Town is not paid by the owner within 30 days after the disposal of such litter as specified in Subsection F(2) of this section, then the enforcement officer shall certify the actual cost thereof to the Town Tax Receiver, who shall examine the certificate and, if found to be correct, shall cause the cost as shown thereon to be charged against said lands. The amount so charged shall constitute a lien on the property and shall remain in full force and effect for the amount due in principal and interest, plus costs of courts, if any, for the collection, until final payment has been made. Said costs and expenses shall be collected in the manner fixed by law for the collection of taxes and shall be subject to a delinquent penalty at the same rate and upon the same terms as provided by law for the nonpayment of real property taxes. The certification of the enforcement officer in accordance with the provisions hereof shall be prima facie evidence that all legal formalities have been done properly and satisfactorily and shall be full notice to every person concerned that the amount of the statement, plus interest, constitutes a charge against the property designated or described in the statement, plus interest, and that the same is due and collectible as provided.
Any duly constituted law enforcement officer, including any Code Enforcement Officer and any Building Inspector of the Town of East Hampton, is hereby empowered and authorized to exercise such powers as may be necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of this chapter.
A lack of eyewitness testimony shall not bar prosecution under this chapter, and it shall be presumptive evidence, rebuttable by competent evidence, that the identity of the person accused of a violation of this chapter may be established if litter found deposited on public or private property in violation of the provisions of this chapter contains substantial evidence of that person's identity.
A. 
Criminal penalties:
(1) 
Any person violating § 167-3D of this chapter shall be guilty of a violation, punishable by a fine of not less than $300 nor more than $1,000 or imprisonment for a period not to exceed 15 days, or both. A separate offense shall be deemed committed upon each day during or on which a violation of this provision occurs or continues.
(2) 
Any person violating any of the other provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less than $300 nor more than $5,000 or by imprisonment for up to 30 days, or both. A separate offense shall be deemed committed upon each day during or on which a violation of this chapter occurs or continues.
B. 
Civil penalties: Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter, in addition to the aforementioned criminal penalties, shall be subject to further civil penalties as follows:
(1) 
For the first offense: $500 or twice the cost to the Town of clearing away the offending materials, whichever is greater.
(2) 
For the second offense: $750 or twice the cost to the Town of clearing away the offending materials, whichever is greater.
(3) 
For the third offense: $1,000 or twice the cost to the Town of clearing away the offending materials, whichever is greater.
C. 
Any person or entity found by the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication to have violated any of the provisions of Chapter 167, or to have failed to respond to a summons charging the same within 15 days of issuance, shall likewise be subject to the following Fine and Penalty Schedule:
[Added 6-2-2022 by L.L. No. 17-2022; amended 6-1-2023 by L.L. No. 11-2023]
Schedule of Fines and Penalties
Section
Description
Fine
After 15 Days
After 30 Days
After 90 Days
§ 167-2A, B and C
Littering
$150
$300
$450
$500
§ 167-2C(1)
Littering/uncovered vehicle
$250
$500
$750
$800
§ 167-2D
Littering/drag out
$250
$500
$750
$800
Should any section or provision of this chapter be determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional or invalid, such determination shall not affect the validity of this chapter as a whole, nor any other section or provision hereof other than that section or provision determined to be invalid.