[Adopted 10-21-2003 by L.L. No. 1-2003]
This article shall be known as the "Town of Niagara Solid Waste Local
Law."
A.
In enacting this article, the Town of Niagara supports
the following statutory purposes:
(1)
To identify the methods of collection which will encourage
the more efficient utilization of solid waste disposal facilities and contribute
to more effective programs for the collection of solid waste.
(2)
To provide for the manner and method of disposal of solid
waste collection within the Town.
(3)
To repeal existing ordinances and local laws and/or to
codify applicable local laws and ordinances within this article.
B.
All other owners and/or managers of multiple dwellings,
mobile homes, subdivisions, commercial, business and industrial (heavy and
light) properties and businesses must provide for a licensed material-handling
facility to collect solid waste, as defined in this article, and dispose of
same in a method prescribed by the New York State Solid Waste Management Act
of 1988 for materials not picked up by the Town.
As used in this article, the following definitions shall apply:
Containers comprised of aluminum, plastic, tin, steel, or a combination
thereof, which contain or formerly contained only food and/or beverage substances.
All corrugated cardboard normally used for packing, mailing or shipping
of containerized goods, merchandise or other material, but shall not mean
wax-coated or soiled cardboard.
Any activities contained within the general or planned business district,
or any industrial district of the Town's zoning classifications or properties
which have received a variance to conduct a retail or commercial or industrial
use on or within any property within the Town.
Source-separated, nondecayable, noncontaminated materials that have
been placed in a common container.
Waste resulting from construction, remodeling, repair and demolition
of structures, road building and land clearing. Such wastes include, but are
not limited to, bricks, concrete and other masonry materials, soil, rock,
lumber, road spoils, paving material, and tree or brush stumps.
Decayable solid waste, including animal and vegetable waste resulting
from the handling, storage, sale, preparation, cooking, or serving of foods.
Garbage originates primarily in home kitchens, stores, markets, restaurants,
and other places where food is stored, prepared or served.
A solid waste, or a combination of solid wastes, which, because of
its quantity, concentration or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics,
may cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase
in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness or pose a substantial
present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly
treated, stored, transported or disposed of, or otherwise managed. Such materials
or waste shall include, but are not limited to, explosives, gaseous substances,
medical waste, noxious materials, human feces, hazardous radioactive materials,
toxic substances and those substances which the Sanitation Superintendent
has identified as a hazardous waste pursuant to the above criteria and has
included on a list of hazardous waste promulgated by the Sanitation Department.
Hazardous material or waste may include but is not limited to the following
products and their empty containers: insecticides, herbicides, petroleum products,
caustic chemicals, oil-based paint and batteries.
Stoves, refrigerators, dishwashers, dryers, air conditioners, washing
machines, and other large appliances, used within a residence or multiple
dwelling by a resident within the Town of Niagara.
Large and/or bulky articles actually used in the home and which equip
it for living (such as chairs, sofas, tables, beds, carpets, etc.), used within
a residence or multiple dwelling by a resident within the Town of Niagara.
A dwelling which is either rented, leased, let or hired out to be
occupied, or is occupied, as the residence of more than three families living
independently of each other.
The common, inexpensive machine-finished paper made chiefly from
wood pulp and used for newspapers. This term excludes magazines and may exclude
glossy inserts.
All high-grade paper, fine paper, bond paper, office paper, xerographic
paper, mimeographic paper, duplication paper, magazines, paperback books,
school paper, catalogs, junk mail, computer paper, telephone books, and similar
cellulosic material, but shall not mean newspaper, wax paper, plastic or foil-coated
paper, styrofoam, wax-coated food and beverage containers, carbon paper, blueprint
paper, food-contaminated paper, soiled paper, and cardboard.
Any individual, firm, partnership, company, corporation, association,
joint venture, cooperative enterprise, trust, municipality, other governmental
agency or any other entity or any group of such persons which is recognized
by law as the subject of rights and duties. In any provisions of this article
that prescribe a fine, penalty or imprisonment, the term "person" shall include
the officers, directors, partners, managers or persons in charge of a company,
corporation or other legal entity having officers, directors, partners, managers,
or other persons in charge.
Containers used primarily for laundry products, dishwashing detergents,
milk, water, and similar items that are composed of PET (polyethylene terephthalate)
and HDPE (high-density polyethylene), but may selectively include other common
plastic resin types.
Any building or structure designed and occupied exclusively for residence
purposes by not more than three families.
Nonputrescible solid wastes consisting of both combustible and noncombustible
wastes, including but not limited to nonrecyclable paper, wrappings, cigarettes,
soil, wood, wires, glass, ashes, leather, clothing and similar materials that
are not designated recyclable materials.
The Town of Niagara Sanitation Department.
All putrescible materials or substances discarded or rejected as
having served their original intended use or as being spent, useless, worthless
or in excess to the owner at the time of such discard or rejection, including
garbage, refuse, litter, rubbish, industrial waste, construction and demolition
debris, discarded automobiles and offal, but not including designated recyclable
materials, solid or dissolved matter in domestic sewage or substances, materials
in noncontainerized gaseous form, or hazardous materials or waste.
The Town of Niagara located within the County of Niagara, State of
New York.
The Town Board of the Town of Niagara.
A residence of three families or less; an individual retail or commercial
store or industrial business.
Organic yard or garden waste, leaves, grass clippings and brush,
and branches up to a diameter to be determined by the Sanitation Superintendent.
A.
All waste material shall be separated and prepared for
collection in accordance with this article.
B.
All residential, commercial, retail or industrial units
within the areas serviced by the curbside programs established pursuant to
this article shall, upon the applicable effective date, deposit solid waste
in the manner designated by the Sanitation Superintendent or Town Board, pursuant
to this article, and on the date specified for collection by the schedule
published by the Town. Residents and businesses shall place solid waste at
the side of the road fronting their residences or businesses or at such other
location at or near the residence or business agreeable to the Superintendent.
C.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed
as preventing any person from utilizing vegetative yard waste for compost,
mulch, or other agricultural, horticultural, silvicultural, gardening or landscaping
purpose.
A.
Waste materials shall be collected in accordance with
this article. It is the duty of every person participating in the Town's
sanitation program to maintain containers in a reasonably safe and secure
manner, and all such containers shall be so placed and kept at the designated
collection location so as to be readily accessible for the removal and collection
therefrom and placed so that they will not be a public nuisance or in any
degree offensive.
B.
Collection days and time. Collection shall be made in
accordance with the schedule advertised by the Town. All collections from
residential, commercial and retail units and areas, and areas immediately
adjacent to such uses and units, shall be made between the hours of 6:00 a.m.
and 6:00 p.m. unless the Sanitation Superintendent authorizes a temporary
extension of hours. Receptacles containing materials shall be placed at the
curb for collection on the day established by the Town for the collection
of such materials but shall not be placed at curbside earlier than 12 hours
prior to the date and time for scheduled collection, nor left remaining at
curbside longer than 12 hours following the date and time for scheduled collection.
Receptacles for business and retail units shall be placed immediately adjacent
to or in any required dumpster enclosures or at the curb.
No person shall dispose of waste material except as follows:
A.
Material shall be prepared for collection in accordance with Subsection A(1) through (3) of this section:
(1)
Each person shall provide separate, sealable galvanized
iron or plastic containers or other suitable sanitary sealable containers
or heavy-duty plastic bags as specified in this article.
(2)
Such containers shall not have less than eight gallons'
capacity and shall not exceed 30 gallons capacity and, when filled, shall
not exceed 60 pounds in weight.
(3)
All cans or containers shall be placed at the curb for
collection.
A.
From the time any person places any materials at or near
any curb, sidewalk, or street for purposes of collection by the Town of Niagara,
those materials shall become the property of the Town of Niagara or its authorized
agent. No person who is not acting under authority of the Town of Niagara
or its authorized agent shall collect, remove or cause to be collected or
picked up any materials so placed for collection. Each such unauthorized collection,
pickup or removal shall constitute a separate violation of this section; provided,
however, where the Town of Niagara has refused to collect certain solid wastes
because they have not been placed or treated in accordance with the provisions
of this article, the person responsible for initially placing those materials
for collection shall remove those materials from any curb, sidewalk or street
side within the time period set for collection.
B.
Nothing herein shall prevent any person from making arrangements
for the private collection of material, provided that such materials privately
collected shall not be placed curbside on or immediately preceding the day
for municipal collection of such materials.
It shall be unlawful and a violation of the provisions of this article
for any person:
A.
To violate or to cause or to assist in the violation
of any provision of this article or any rule or regulation pertaining to this
article promulgated by the Sanitation Superintendent or Town Board;
B.
To place or to cause to be placed any material other
than a designated material in or near a collection area; or
C.
To hinder the performance of the Town of Niagara Sanitation
Department or any other employee or authorized person in the performance of
any duty under this article or in the enforcement of this article.
The Town or any other person, firm or corporation designated by the
Town Board may refuse to collect solid waste from any person or property use
who or which has clearly failed to prepare for collection material designated
under an applicable section of this article, and the Town may refuse to accept
solid waste containing solid waste designated under an applicable section
of this article. The Town shall have the right to refuse any and all materials
in its sole judgment or the judgment of the Supervisor or Superintendent.
A.
Resident to provide receptacles. It shall be the duty
of every owner or occupant of any and every building or place of business
in the Town forthwith to provide or cause to be provided, for the exclusive
use of such building or place of business, separate receptacles for receiving
and holding, without leakage, all the ashes and solid waste that accumulate
from such building or place of business or the portion thereof of which such
person may be the owner or occupant. Every such receptacle designed and used
to hold garbage must be fitted with a cover so constructed that snow, water,
rodents or flies may not enter the same. When in use, covers shall at all
times be kept on such receptacles. Those designated to hold ashes shall be
made of or lined with some suitable metal. If such owner or occupant secures
such waste receptacles or provides enclosures as described in this article,
then, in that event, all garbage may be placed in the alley or at the curb,
pursuant to this article, in closed, tied, or otherwise sealed plastic bags
only, instead of in a covered receptacle as hereinbefore provided.
B.
For Commercial off-street parking areas. Owners or operators
of commercial or business establishments which have off-street parking areas
available for their patrons shall provide waste receptacles, as provided herein,
in such parking areas for the use of patrons of such establishments, sufficient
to receive and store solid waste discarded by patrons. Said receptacles are
to be serviced by the owners or operators or their private hauler.
C.
Receptacles to be secured for commercial areas. The owners
or operators of shopping centers or commercial or business establishments
are to lock, close, or secure all of their solid waste receptacles as described
in this article in such a manner as to prevent ready access to the contents
thereof. If such receptacles are not secure, the owners or operators of such
shopping centers or commercial or business establishments shall provide enclosures
constructed so as to prevent ready access to the receptacles.
All ashes and garbage shall be separated and put into their respective
receptacles, and such receptacles shall not be filled to within four inches
of the top thereof. Such receptacles, as well as any light refuse or rubbish
to be removed, shall be kept within the premises until the proper time for
removal and shall then be placed in the area or alley at such point as may
be designated by the Sanitation Superintendent or his agents until such materials
or substances are removed by the Sanitation Superintendent. In no case shall
such receptacles be placed where they shall be or become a nuisance or placed
upon any public right-of-way.
All refuse or rubbish likely to be blown or scattered about, before
being placed outside of any building or premises for removal, shall be properly
bundled, packed or otherwise secured.
No unauthorized person shall interfere with such receptacles or with
the contents thereof, nor shall such person in any way handle or disturb such
contents.
No person shall carry, convey or transport solid waste, refuse, garbage
or ashes from without the Town to within the Town and deposit the same or
leave it upon any of the roads, streets, alleys or sidewalks of the Town.
A.
The Superintendent of Sanitation shall designate days
for the removal of solid waste, refuse, garbage and ashes from the various
roads, streets and alleys of the Town and shall also designate the hours for
the removal within the business and industrial sections of the Town. On such
days and during such hours, any Town resident or property owners may place
refuse, garbage and ashes in boxes, barrels, metal cans, plastic bags, properly
closed with twist tie or string, or other receptacles in the alley or, in
case there is no alley, in the rear or at the curbline in the front of the
premises occupied by such person.
B.
The Town Board shall have the authority to promulgate
uniform rules with respect to the scheduling and removal of rubbish throughout
the Town, by resolution.
C.
The following items will not be collected by the Town
and must be disposed of by the owner thereof:
(1)
Motor vehicles, trailers, boats.
(2)
Construction debris.
(3)
Concrete.
(4)
Large limbs, tree trunks, roots and stumps shall not
be collected. Brush to a maximum of four feet in length for chipper will be
collected after April 1 until October 31, or as directed by the Town Board.
(5)
Any other item which the Superintendent, in his discretion,
determines to be impractical, costly or overly burdensome for removal by the
Town. Not withstanding the foregoing, the Superintendent shall arrange for
the Town to regularly remove, at no cost to residential property owners, any
refrigerator, stove, washer, dryer, dishwasher or other appliance used for
household purposes by the owner or occupant thereof or any plumbing fixtures
such as toilets, sinks and tubs, and any water heater. Freon shall be removed
from refrigerators, freezers, and air-conditioning units by authorized and
licensed personnel and tagged with certification before any such appliance
shall be removed by the Town.
D.
The Superintendent shall cause to be made one collection
per unit per week from the premises devoted to residential dwellings, businesses,
manufacturing, commercial or institutional uses or multiple dwellings. There
shall not be removed from each property more than 1 1/2 cubic yards of
solid waste material, including any recycled material from any one premises
during such regularly scheduled collection, or four thirty-gallon containers
for each regularly scheduled collection, per unit.
E.
All commercial units, multiple dwellings and mobile home
subdivisions shall be subject to the following with respect to the Town collection
of solid waste or recycled materials from the premises:
(1)
Each of the foregoing uses shall have a central collection
area with a suitable dumpster for the deposit of solid waste materials by
the occupant of each unit.
(2)
Each of the foregoing areas so set inside shall be accessible
to the public right-of-way and shall be configured to allow safe accessibility.
(3)
Each of the foregoing users shall execute a written release,
allowing the Town employee's access to the premises, for the purpose
of the collection of solid waste or recycling materials, and holding the Town
harmless for any and all damages claimed by the parties, against the Town.
F.
All employees of the Sanitation Department engaged in
the work of collecting refuse shall report each and every violation of this
section to the Superintendent of Sanitation.
Every owner, lessee, tenant or occupant of any stall, stable or compartment
in which any dogs, horses, cattle, or other animals shall be kept, or of any
place in which manure or any liquid discharge of such animals shall collect
or accumulate within the Town, shall at all times be kept, or cause to be
kept, such stalls, stables and compartments and the drainage yards and appurtenances
thereof in a wholesome and clean condition so that no offensive smell shall
escape therefrom. Every such stall, stable or compartment where horses or
cattle are kept shall have watertight manure boxes or vaults which shall be
properly and adequately covered in such a manner as to exclude flies, and
the contents thereof shall be removed at least once in each week or as often
as may be necessary to prevent the box becoming full.
A.
The Town of Niagara Police, Town Board and Superintendent
of Sanitation are authorized to enforce the provisions of this article and
to administer the collection programs established herein. The Town Board and
Superintendent of Sanitation may adopt and promulgate, amend and repeal, rules
and regulations relating to this article.
B.
The Town of Niagara and the Town's Sanitation Department
or authorized agent shall not be required to collect any waste material which
has not been separated and secured pursuant to the provisions of this article
or the applicable regulations of the Town of Niagara.
A.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed
to interfere with or in any way modify the provisions of any existing contract
in force in the Town on the effective date of this article.
B.
No renewal of any existing contract upon the expiration
of the original term thereof and no new contract for the collection, transportation,
processing or purchase of solid waste or recyclables shall be entered into
after the effective date of this article, unless renewal of such contract
shall conform to the requirements of this article.
A.
In addition to any other remedy provided in this article,
the Town may institute a suit in equity where unlawful conduct exists, as
defined in this article, for an injunction to restrain a violation of this
article.
B.
The penalties and remedies prescribed by this article
shall be deemed concurrent.
A.
Any person who violates any provision of this article
shall be guilty of a violation and, upon conviction thereof, shall be subject
to a fine not to exceed $250, imprisonment for not more than 15 days, or both
such fine and imprisonment.
B.
In addition, or in the alternative, to the foregoing,
the Town Superintendent of Sanitation or any other authorized person may,
in his or her discretion, impose a civil penalty for violation of any provision
of this article or upon the failure of any firm, person or corporation to
comply with this article in accordance with the following schedule and procedure:
(1)
A fine of $10 per occurrence for a violation of this
article or of any provision of this article, relating to a residential dwelling,
commercial or industrial unit.
(2)
A fine of $25 per occurrence for any violation of this
article.
(3)
Each alleged violator shall be given written notice of
the violation and the appropriate section of this article.
(4)
The alleged violator shall be given 10 days from the
date of notice to pay such civil penalty or contest the same. In the event
that the alleged violator contests the same, he shall be given a hearing before
the Superintendent or his designee and be notified of the time and place of
the same. The Superintendent or his designee shall make a decision within
five days of such hearing, in writing, and shall notify the alleged violator
of the decision, which shall be the final decision of the Town.
(5)
All civil penalties shall be collected in accordance
with law or assessed against the property, in the event of nonpayment.
The provisions of this article are severable. If any provision of this
article or its application to any person or circumstances is held invalid,
said invalidity shall not affect any other provision or application of this
article which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application
of this article.
All provisions of any other local law which are inconsistent with the
provisions of this article are hereby repealed.
