[HISTORY: Adopted by the North Hempstead
Town Board 4-11-1967. Amendments noted where applicable.]
It is hereby found by the Town Board of the
Town of North Hempstead that the leaving, abandonment and/or discarding
of personal property in public places within the Town is adverse to
the public welfare of the inhabitants of the Town and injurious to
the personal and property rights of such inhabitants.
For the purpose of this ordinance, the terms
used herein are defined as follows:
Leaving, discarding, dumping, throwing or placing of personal
property in public places.
[Added 6-12-1984 by L.L. No. 5-1984]
Every vehicle operated or driven upon a public highway which
is propelled by any power other than muscular power, except:
A natural person, firm, corporation, partnership, association
or agent or representative thereof.
Any article of personal property, including vehicles or parts
thereof, wagons, shopping baskets, carts, trailers, boxes, barrels,
cartons, bales or other movable objects of any description whatsoever.
Ownership, use, physical custody or control of personal property
notwithstanding the duration of the physical use, custody or control.
Any street, road, avenue, right-of-way, thoroughfare, off-street
parking area, parking field, commercial parking lot, municipal parking
facility, park, parking space or sidewalk and all other spaces or
places available to or used by the general public.
Unincorporated areas of the Town of North Hempstead outside
village boundary lines.
It shall be unlawful for any person to abandon,
discard, leave or place any article or articles of personal property
in such person's possession in or on a public place within the Town
of North Hempstead or to suffer or permit the foregoing in or on a
public place within the Town of North Hempstead.
The Superintendent of Highways shall remove
or cause to be removed any such property found upon any public place
within the Town and shall take or cause the same to be taken to a
facility within the Town for redemption and/or disposition as hereinafter
provided.
A.
Whenever the Superintendent of Highways removes or
causes to be removed any articles of personal property containing
identification of ownership or right to possession, notice of such
removal shall be sent to such person by ordinary mail advising of
such removal, the facility to which it was removed and the amount
necessary to redeem such article.
B.
Any article of personal property removed from public
places within the Town may be redeemed by the owner thereof at any
time prior to disposal by the Town by tendering to the Town Clerk
of the Town, during regular business hours at his office, the sum
of $10, plus the sum of $2 for each day or part thereof that the property
is held by the Town, together with an advertising charge of $3 if
the property was advertised for sale.
[Amended 7-22-1980 by L.L. No. 8-1980]
C.
The Town Clerk shall require satisfactory proof of
ownership or lawful right to possession of the property sought prior
to release. Any return of property by the Town Clerk to a person claiming
the same pursuant to this ordinance shall be an absolute defense to
the Town against any other person claiming same.
A.
The Town Clerk may dispose of all articles of personal
property held by the Town for such a period in excess of 14 days at
a public auction held pursuant to notice.
B.
Public notice of an auction shall be given at least
five days prior thereto by the Town Clerk and shall contain the time
and place of the auction together with a brief description of the
articles to be offered for sale. The notice required by this subsection
shall be posted on the Town's website, the Town Clerk bulletin board
and published in a newspaper with Town-wide circulation designated
by the Town Board for publishing notices. Nothing herein shall prohibit
the Town Clerk from conducting an auction, over a period of one or
more days, via the Internet. In the event that the Town Clerk holds
an auction via the internet, the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of
the online auction website shall be deemed to be the place of the
auction.
[Amended 4-17-2018 by L.L. No. 3-2018]
C.
In the event the property or part thereof remains
unsold at the public auction, the Town Clerk may reoffer the same
for sale at another public auction or may sell or otherwise dispose
of such unsold articles in any manner permitted by law. Any such sale
or other disposition shall be without liability on the part of the
Town to the owner of such property or other person having an interest
therein.
D.
Regarding the disposal of abandoned motor vehicles,
the Superintendent of Highways may convert in any calendar year up
to 1% of its unclaimed vehicles that are individually worth more than
$750 or two such vehicles, whichever is greater, to its own use.
[Added 6-12-1984 by L.L. No. 5-1984; amended 9-11-1984 by L.L. No. 11-1984]
[Added 9-4-2007 by L.L. No. 8-2007[1]]
If a shopping basket is removed by the Superintendent of Highways from any public place within the Town, as provided for in § 40A-4 hereof, it may be redeemed only in accordance with the following:
A.
If the shopping basket displays the name and address
of the owner, the Superintendent of Highways shall send notice of
such removal to such owner by ordinary mail advising of such removal,
the facility to which it was removed and the amount necessary to redeem
such shopping basket.
B.
Any such shopping basket removed from public places
within the Town may be redeemed by the owner thereof within 14 business
days of the date of mailing of said notice by payment to the Town
Clerk, during regular business hours of said office, of the sum of
$100.
C.
The Town Clerk shall require satisfactory proof of
ownership or lawful right to possession of the shopping basket prior
to release. Any return of a shopping basket by the Town Clerk to a
person claiming same pursuant to this section shall be an absolute
defense to the Town against any other person claiming same.
In the event that any sentence, paragraph, clause
or portion of the within ordinance is declared invalid by a court
of competent jurisdiction, such determination shall have no effect
on the remainder of the ordinance.
This ordinance shall take effect immediately.
