[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Head-of-the-Harbor 4-19-2005
by L.L. No. 9-2005. Amendments noted where applicable.]
As used herein, the following terms have the following meanings:
A motor driven recreational two-, three- or four-wheel recreational
vehicle capable of all-terrain use or travel without benefit of a road, including
but not limited to any form of multi-track or multi-wheel drive, low-pressure
tire vehicle, motorcycle or related two- or three- or four-wheel vehicle,
motorbike or dirt bike, amphibious machine, ground-effect, air-cushion vehicle
or other vehicle which derives motor power from a source other than muscle
or wind. An off-road vehicle is not a registered snowmobile, farm vehicle
being used for legitimate, customary and typical farming purposes, vehicles
actually in use for fire, emergency, law enforcement or military purposes,
a construction vehicle used in performance of its legitimate business function
or a registered aircraft.
The prior regular and lawful use of an off-road vehicle in accordance with Chapter 157 of the Village Code enacted as Local Law No. 4 of 1990 as of the effective date of this chapter.
Submission of data including current photograph, identification number,
New York Department of Motor Vehicles registration or other information sufficient
to enable the certain identification of an off-road vehicle.
The territorial limits of Head-of-the-Harbor.
Excepting as expressly provided herein, the use and/or operation of
an off-road vehicle, whether on private or public property or adjacent body
of water, within the Village is prohibited.
Excepting as provided in § 157-4 herein below, any preexisting use of an off-road vehicle may continue subject to the registration of any such off-road vehicle with the Village Clerk within 45 days after the effective date of this chapter. Unless so registered, use of any such off-road vehicle under this section is prohibited.
Any preexisting use of an off-road vehicle shall terminate one year
after the effective date of this chapter unless within 180 days after the
effective date of this chapter the owner shall apply to the Board of Trustees
for a permit to extend said one-year period for an additional period not to
exceed two additional years. The filing fee shall be $250 or such other fee
as the Board of Trustees by resolution may fix from time to time. Upon the
filing of any such application, together with an environmental assessment
form in compliance with 6 NYCRR Part 617, the Board of Trustees shall schedule
and hold a public hearing. Notice of any such public hearing shall be published
at the applicant's expense in the Smithtown News at least twice during
the 21 days prior to any such hearing, and notice of such public hearing shall,
at the applicant's expense, be mailed by certified mail, return receipt
requested to each property owner (as listed in the tax assessment records
maintained by the Village Clerk) within a five-hundred-foot radius of the
applicant's premises at which the applicant uses or intends to use any
off-road vehicle. Affidavits of publication and mailing shall be submitted
by the applicant as a precondition of conducting any such public hearing.
Upon such hearing, the Board of Trustees shall consider, among others, the
following factors: the investment of the applicant in such off-road vehicle;
the date of such investment; the necessity or lack thereof for use of applicant's
premises for such use; the proximity of neighbors, including residences; the
hours and days of proposed use; limitations on use offered by the applicant;
the availability of other venues for use of off-road vehicles; the prior use
of any such vehicle; the adequacy and extent of sound-dissipative devices
in good working order and in operation affixed as equipment on said off-road
vehicle; the extent of noise generated from the operation of said off-road
vehicle; the extent of interference with customary and typical lawful uses
of residences within the reach of said noise; the reasonable expectations
of any such use by residential neighbors; and any other relevant factor reasonably
applicable to a consideration of extending said one-year period. Any resident
of the Village shall have standing to participate as a party at any such public
hearing.
The Police Department of the Village of Head-of-the-Harbor or any other
authorized law enforcement agency may impound any off-road vehicle operated
in violation of this chapter. The owner may redeem the vehicle upon presenting
satisfactory proof of ownership and paying a redemption fee of $50 per day
for storage.
A.
Any person, firm, association, or corporation violating
any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of an offense punishable
by a fine not to exceed $250 or imprisonment for up to 15 days, or both.
B.
For the purposes of conferring jurisdiction upon courts
and judicial officers, such violations shall be deemed to be misdemeanors,
and for such purposes only, all provisions of the law relating to misdemeanors
shall apply to such violations. In addition to a fine, the defendant shall
pay all costs and expenses incurred by the Village on determining such violation.
The foregoing shall be in addition to all other remedies available under the
law to the Village.
