[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Stillwater 9-16-2004 by L.L. No. 6-2004. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
A.
Unsafe buildings pose a threat to life and property
in the Town of Stillwater. Buildings and structures may become unsafe
or uninhabitable to the occupants or others by reason of inadequate
construction, damage by fire, the elements, age, deferred maintenance,
structural deficiencies or general deterioration. Vacant buildings
not properly secured at entry points and windows serve as an attractive
nuisance for children who may be injured therein, as point of congregation
by vagrants and transients, and a harbor for illegal activities. Dilapidated
buildings may also serve to create health menaces to the community
through rodent and other infestations or the emanation of toxic materials.
It is the purpose of this chapter to provide for the safety, health,
protection and general welfare of the citizenry and the preservation
of property and property values in the Town of Stillwater by requiring
unsafe buildings to be repaired, made structurally sound, demolished
and removed.
B.
This chapter shall be known as the "Unsafe Buildings
Law of the Town of Stillwater."
This chapter is adopted pursuant to the general
powers granted to the Town of Stillwater by the Constitution and laws
of the State of New York, including in particular § 130,
Subdivision 16, of the Town Law, and the Public Health Regulations
of the Consolidated Health District of Stillwater.
This chapter hereby repeals Town of Stillwater
Local Law Number One of 1985 and Local Law Number One of 1993.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
Any man-made structure or portion thereof, on or within the
land.
The principal Building and Uniform Fire Code Enforcement
Officer of the Town of Stillwater or, in the event of the unavailability
of such officer, the Town Supervisor or Deputy Town Supervisor.
When in the opinion of the Town of Stillwater,
or upon receipt of information that a building 1) is or may become
dangerous or unsafe to the general public, or 2) is open at entry
points and windows, making it accessible to and an object of attraction,
to minors, vagrants, other trespassers, or 3) is or may become a place
of rodent infestation, or 4) is or may become a place to harbor illegal
activities, or 5) presents any other danger to the health, safety,
morals and general welfare of the public, or 6) is unfit for the purposes
for which it may lawfully be used, including human habitation, the
Town of Stillwater shall make or cause to be made an inspection thereof
and report, in writing, to the Town Board the Town's findings and
recommendations in regard to its repair or demolition and removal.
A.
Notice of the Town's report and the required remedial
action shall be served on the owner or on the owner's executor, legal
representative, agent, lessee or any other person having a vested
or contingent interest in the property. Service shall be made either
personally or by certified mail, return receipt requested.
B.
The notice shall include a description of the premises,
a statement of the particulars in which the building or structure
is unsafe or dangerous and an order requiring the premises to be made
safe and secure or removed. The notice shall also include a statement
that the securing or removal of such building shall commence within
10 days after the service of the notice and shall be completed within
30 days thereafter. Unless upon good cause shown, the Town extends
such time. Any such extension may not exceed 30 additional days.
C.
The notice shall also schedule a hearing before the
Town Board, which hearing shall be scheduled not fewer than five business
days from the date of service of the notice, and a statement that
in the event of neglect or refusal to comply with the order to secure
or demolish and remove the building, the Town Board is authorized
to provide for its demolition and removal, to assess all expenses
thereof against the land on which it is located and to institute a
special judicial proceeding to collect the costs of demolition, including
legal expenses; and hearing transcript advertisement.
D.
A copy of the Town of Stillwater's aforesaid report
shall accompany the notice, and a copy of such notice shall be posted
on the premises.
A copy of the aforesaid notice shall be posted
on the Town Bulletin Board and filed in the office of the County Clerk
of Saratoga County, which notice shall be filed by the County 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 in this section. 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 justice of a court
of record or upon the consent of the Town Attorney. The County Clerk
of Saratoga County shall mark such notice and any record or docket
thereof as canceled of record upon the presentation and filing of
such consent or of a certified copy of such order.
A.
The hearing shall be before the Town Board or its
representative. A quorum is not necessary. Witnesses shall provide
sworn testimony, and the proceedings shall be transcribed. Formal
rules of evidence shall not apply.
B.
The Town Board shall enter the report of the Town
of Stillwater in the minutes and receive additional sworn testimony
from the Town of Stillwater or others as the Board finds relevant.
The owner of the subject property is entitled to testify or provide
the relevant testimony of others.
C.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the Town Board,
if a quorum is present, may render a determination, or it may reserve
decision. In the absence of a quorum, or if the hearing is conducted
by the Board representative, a report shall be made to the full Board,
which shall thereafter render its determination. The findings shall
be the basis for an order requiring the owner to remediate any unsafe
condition. Such order may include, but not be limited to, completion
of specified repairs or improvements, or vacating the building, or
the demolition and removal of the building or a portion thereof. Any
such remedial action must be completed within 30 days.
In the event of the failure, refusal or neglect of the person so notified to comply with an order of the Town Board after a hearing pursuant to § 69-8 of this chapter, the Town Board shall provide for the ordered remediation of the unsafe condition either by Town employees or by contract. Except in emergency as provided in § 69-10 hereof, any contract for demolition and removal of a building shall be awarded through competitive bidding pursuant to General Municipal Law § 103.
A.
Whenever the Town of Stillwater finds, with the concurrence
of the Town of Stillwater police, or a Fire Chief whose district encompasses
the subject property, or the Health Officer of the Consolidated Health
District of Stillwater, or, in case of the unavailability of the Health
Officer, the President of the Board of Health of the Consolidated
Health District of Stillwater, that the condition of a building is
such which, in their opinion, requires immediate action to abate a
direct hazard or an immediate danger to the health, safety or welfare
of the occupants of said building or of the public, the Town Supervisor
or the Deputy Town Supervisor may, without prior notice or hearing,
take any action authorized herein which is reasonably necessary to
abate or remove the condition.
B.
Such action may include but is not limited to demolition
of the building or structure, vacating the occupants of the premises
and of surrounding premises, closing of public or private streets
or rights-of-way, termination of utility service, erection of barricades
and other protections and the performance of physical work on the
premises.
All expenses incurred by the Town in connection
with the proceedings to repair, secure or to demolish and remove the
unsafe building, including the cost of the work and inspections and
any fees incurred by the Town for engineering and legal services,
shall be charged to the owner of the premises. In the event that the
owner fails to pay all such expenses within 30 days on the issuance
of a bill for such expenses, the Town Assessor shall transmit the
account of the unpaid expenses to the Treasurer of Saratoga County
who shall assess the total amount of such unpaid expenses against
the land on which such building is located and shall cause such total
of unpaid expenses to be levied and collected in the same manner as
provided in Article 15 of the Town Law for the levy and collection
of a special ad valorem levy.
A.
In preparing the annual Town budget, the Supervisor
shall make provision for a contract for the repair or demolition of
unsafe buildings by the Town pursuant to this chapter. The Supervisor
shall also estimate the amount of costs to be recovered in the ensuing
fiscal year through the enforcement provisions of this chapter.
B.
At the first meeting of each fiscal year, the Town
Board shall award a contract for the repair or demolition of unsafe
buildings. The contract shall be awarded based upon competitive bids
pursuant to General Municipal Law § 103, submitted no later
than December 15 of the preceding year.
No action may be maintained against the Town
of Stillwater and/or a duly designated Code Enforcement Officer of
the Town or any other agent of the Town for the value of damages for
injury to, or destruction of, property under the provisions of this
chapter.
The provisions of this chapter shall not supersede,
but rather shall be supplementary to, the provisions of law contained
in the Constitution, Eminent Domain Procedures Law, Executive Law,
General Municipal Law, Town Law, the Public Health Regulations of
the Consolidated Health District of Stillwater and any other applicable
local law, ordinance, rule or regulation.
