[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Lockport 6-4-1997
by L.L. No. 1-1997. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to promote and preserve the health, safety
and welfare of the public and residents and/or owners of property located
within this City by providing a method for the removal or repair of buildings
that, from any cause, may now be or shall hereafter become dangerous or unsafe
to the public and residents and/or owners of property within the City. Unsafe
buildings serve as an attractive nuisance for young children who may be injured
therein; may be a point of congregation by vagrants and transients; may attract
rodents or insects; and may also attract illegal drug activity. The powers
conferred upon the City by this chapter shall be in addition to all other
powers conferred upon the City in relation to the same subject by state law.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Any building, structure or portion thereof used by residential, business
or industry.
The building inspector of the City or such other person appointed
by the City of Lockport to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
All buildings which have any or all of the following defects:
Those whose interior walls or exterior bearing walls or other vertical
structural members list, lean or buckle to such an extent as to weaken the
structural support they provide.
Those which, exclusive of the foundation, show 33% or more of damage
to or deterioration of the supporting member or members or 50% of drainage
to or deterioration of the nonsupporting, enclosing or outside walls or covering.
Those which have improperly distributed loads upon the floors or roofs
or in which the same are overloaded or which have insufficient strength to
be reasonably safe for the purpose used.
Those which have been damaged by fire, wind or other causes so as to
have become dangerous to life, safety or the general health and welfare of
the occupants or the people of this City.
Those which have become or are so dilapidated, decayed, unsafe or unsanitary
or which so utterly fail to provide the amenities essential to decent living
that they are unfit for human habitation or are likely to cause sickness or
disease to those living therein or adjacent thereto.
Those having light, air and sanitation facilities which are inadequate
to protect the health, safety or general welfare of human beings who live
or may live therein, with particular reference to the requirements of the
New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code as a determinant.
Those having inadequate facilities for egress in case of fire or panic
or those having insufficient stairways, elevators, fire escapes or other means
of communication, again referencing the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention
and Building Code as a determinant.
Those which have parts thereof which are so attached that they may fall
and injure members of the public or property.
Those which consist of debris, rubble or parts of buildings left on
the ground after demolition, reconstruction, fire or other casualty.
Those which, because of their condition, are unsafe, unsanitary or dangerous
to the health, safety or general welfare of the people of this City.
No person, firm, corporation, partnership or association owning, possessing
or controlling a building in this City shall permit, suffer or allow said
building now or hereafter to be or become unsafe to the public and/or residents
from any cause whatsoever.
Any person, firm, partnership or corporation who is the owner, occupant
or mortgagee in possession of premises at the time they become abandoned,
dilapidated, deteriorated, decayed or unattractive shall be personally liable
for the cost of demolition including the incidental charge for the plugging
of the water and sewer lines in those instances where it is necessary for
the City of Lockport to cause said work to be done.
The Building Inspector shall make inspections of all unsafe buildings
within the City and report to the City of Lockport all unsafe buildings which
from time to time may be found within the limits of the City.
A.
The City of Lockport shall consider the report of the
Building Inspector and, if in their opinion the report so warrants, shall
determine that the building is unsafe and order its demolition or repair,
if the same can be safely repaired, and further order that a notice shall
be given to the owner as follows.
B.
The notice shall contain the following:
(1)
A description of the premises.
(2)
A statement of the particulars in which the building
is unsafe.
(3)
An order requiring the building to be repaired or demolished.
(4)
That the repairing or demolition of the building shall
commence within 30 days of the serving of the notice, as hereinafter provided,
and shall be completed within 60 days thereafter.
(5)
A date, time and place for a hearing before the City
of Lockport in relation to such unsafe building, which hearing shall be scheduled
not less than five business days from the day of service of the notice.
(6)
A statement that, in the event of neglect or refused
to comply with the order to repair or demolish the building, the City of Lockport
is authorized to provide for its repair or demolition, to assess all expenses
thereof against the land on which it is located and to institute a special
proceeding to collect the costs of demolition, including legal expenses.
A.
Said notice shall be served in the following manner:
(1)
By personal service of a copy thereof upon the owner
or some one of the owners, executors, legal representatives, agents, lessees
or any other person having a vested or contingent interest in the premises
as shown by the last preceding completed assessment roll of the City or of
the County Clerk, such service to be complete and the thirty-day time period
recited in said notice to commence upon service; or
(2)
By mailing a copy of said notice to such owner as aforesaid
by registered mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the last known
address of the owner and by affixing a copy of said notice to the premises,
such service to be complete and the thirty-day time period recited in said
notice to commence 10 days after the filing of the return receipt.
B.
A copy of the notice shall also be filed in the office
of the County Clerk of the County within which such building is located, which
notice shall be filed by such Clerk in the same manner as a notice of pendency
pursuant to Article 65 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules and shall have
the same effect as a notice of pendency as therein provided, except as otherwise
hereinafter provided. A notice so filed shall be effective for a period of
one year from the date of filing; provided, however, that it may be vacated
upon the order of a judge or upon the consent of the Corporation Counsel.
A.
The hearing shall be conducted before the City of Lockport.
The Building Inspector shall present his or her report to the City of Lockport
in writing. The owner or his or her representative, if present, shall call
such witnesses as he or she deems necessary. The City of Lockport shall make
written findings of fact from the testimony offered as to whether or not the
building in question is an unsafe building.
B.
If such owner shall neglect, fail or refuse to comply
and shall fail to appear at said hearing, then the City of Lockport shall
direct the repair or demolition of the building forthwith.
C.
If such owner shall neglect, fail or refuse to comply
and, if after appearing at said hearing the City of Lockport finds that the
building is a public nuisance and directs its repair or demolition, the owner
shall repair or demolish said building within the time prescribed by the City
of Lockport.
D.
If the owner fails or neglects to repair or demolish
said building as directed by the City of Lockport following the hearing, then
the City of Lockport shall direct the repair or demolition of same forthwith.
In the event of neglect or refusal of the persons so notified to comply
with said order of the City of Lockport, the City of Lockport shall provide
for the demolition and removal of such building either by City employees or
by contract. Except in an emergency, any contract in excess of $20,000 shall
be awarded by competitive bidding.
A.
In case there shall be, in the opinion of the Building
Inspector, actual and immediate danger of the falling of a building so as
to endanger public safety, life or property or actual or immediate menace
to health or public welfare as a result of the conditions present in or about
a building, he or she shall cause the necessary work to be done to render
such a building temporarily safe, whether the procedure prescribed in this
chapter for unsafe buildings has been instituted or not.
B.
When emergency work is to be performed under this section,
the Building Inspector shall cause the owner thereof to be served personally
or by registered mail, return receipt requested, and, if served by registered
mail, shall post on the premises a notice to comply containing a description
of the premises, a statement of the facts in which the building is unsafe
or dangerous and orders and directions to correct the conditions which constitute
an emergency within a specified period not to exceed three days from actual
or constructive receipt of the notice.
C.
In the event that the emergency does not permit any delay
in correction, the notice shall state that the City has corrected the emergency
condition.
D.
In both cases, the notice shall state that the corrective
costs of the emergency will be assessed against the owner pursuant to the
provisions of this chapter.
In addition to the remedies provided by this chapter, the City of Lockport
may request the Corporation Counsel to make an application to the Supreme
Court for an order determining the building to be a public nuisance and directing
that it shall be repaired and secured or demolished.
A.
All costs and expenses incurred by the City in connection
with the administratively and/or judicially substantiated proceedings to remove
or secure, including the cost of actually removing, said building shall be
assessed against the land on which said building is located.
B.
The City may commence a special proceeding
pursuant to § 78-b of the General Municipal Law to collect the costs
of demolition, including reasonable and necessary legal expenses.
