[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Skaneateles 9-25-1972.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
The owner of a building or structure, or part thereof, shall at all
times maintain and keep the same in good repair and in safe, secure, usable
condition. A building or structure, or a part thereof, that may be or shall
at any time become in disrepair, unsafe, insecure, or unusable, or which constitutes
a health hazard or is an unsafe or dangerous structure, shall, unless placed
into good repair and made safe, secure and usable, be removed by the owner.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
Includes a building or structure or part thereof.
A structure is unsafe or dangerous when the walls are in poor structural
condition, the floors are overloaded, or there are other major structural
defects; there is a lack of safeguards against fire or the structure is so
poorly maintained as to presently constitute a fire hazard; entry by unauthorized
persons to an unoccupied structure is unobstructed; there are substantial
violations of the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code,
which violations constitute an endangerment of health, safety and public welfare;
or there exist other conditions whereby the health, safety, or welfare of
the public or of the occupants of the structure is endangered.[1]
A.
Upon the receipt of a written complaint that a structure
is not being maintained and kept in good repair in a safe, secure or usable
condition, or that the same is unsafe or dangerous to the health, safety or
welfare of the public or of occupants of the structure, the Code Enforcement
Officer shall make or cause to be made an inspection.
B.
A report of that inspection shall be reduced to writing
and maintained at the office of the Code Enforcement Officer.
C.
If it is determined that said structure does not comply
with the provisions herein, the Village Attorney of the Village of Skaneateles
shall serve or cause to be served a notice upon the owner, lessees, and all
other persons having an interest in such property or structure, in the following
manner:[1]
(1)
By delivering the notice within the state to the person
to be served.
(2)
Upon any domestic or foreign corporation, to an officer,
director, managing or general agent, or cashier or assistant cashier, or to
any other agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service.
(3)
Where service cannot be made personally upon a person
by due diligence, by mailing the notice to the person to be served at his
last known residence and by affixing the notice to the door of his place of
business, dwelling house or usual place of abode within the state, or delivering
the notice within the state to a person of suitable age and discretion at
the place of business, dwelling house, or usual place of abode of the person
to be served, and proof of such service shall be filed with the Clerk of Onondaga
County, and service is completed 10 days thereafter.
A notice shall contain a description of the premises, a statement of
the particulars in which the structure is unsafe or dangerous, and orders
and directions as more particularly set forth in Subsections A, B and C below.
A.
Order. In addition to the description of the premises
and the statement of the particulars in which the structure is unsafe or dangerous,
the notice shall contain an order of the Code Enforcement Officer requiring
the structure to be repaired or removed, indicating a specific time within
which the owner shall commence the repair or removal of such structure and
the time within which the repair or removal shall be completed.
(1)
When the Code Enforcement Officer determines that no
emergency exists, no repairs or removal shall be required until the hearing
has been held as prescribed herein.
(2)
The notice shall inform the owners and other interested
parties of the time and place of a hearing to be conducted to review the Code
Enforcement Officer's determination of unsafe or dangerous structure.
(3)
The interested parties may be represented by counsel,
offer evidence, and call witnesses on their behalf at the hearing.
(4)
A twenty-day notice shall be given of the date of the
hearing to the owner and other interested parties. The hearing shall be scheduled,
held, and hearing findings issued and served upon the owner and other interested
persons in the same manner as prescribed for the service of the notice.
B.
Performance by Village. The notice of unsafe or dangerous
structure shall further state that the Village will cause the repair or removal
of the structure in the event the owner fails or refuses to repair or remove
the same within the time provided, unless the hearing findings prescribe some
other time limitation or revoke the order contained in the notice of unsafe
or dangerous structure.
C.
Assessment of costs. The notice shall state that assessment
of all costs and expenses incurred by the Village in connection with the proceedings
under this chapter to repair or remove such structure, including but not limited
to the cost of ascertaining the identity of the owner and other interested
parties, service of process, and of actually repairing or removing the structure,
shall be made on the land on which such structure is located.
A copy of the notice of unsafe or dangerous structure shall be filed
in the office of the County Clerk of Onondaga County, 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 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 Village Attorney. The Clerk of Onondaga 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.
Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed as preventing the Code Enforcement Officer from proceeding pursuant to § 187-9 hereof in case of conditions which in his opinion constitute an emergency.
The hearing which is conducted to review the determination of unsafe
or dangerous structure made by the Code Enforcement Officer shall be conducted
by a hearing officer appointed by the Mayor and Board of Trustees. The owner
and other interested parties may be represented by counsel. The owner or other
interested parties or their counsel may cross-examine the witnesses for the
Code Enforcement Officer, present evidence and call witnesses in their behalf.
The rules of evidence prevailing in a court of record shall not be controlling
in hearings held pursuant to this section.
A.
No person having been served with a notice to repair
or remove an unsafe or dangerous structure shall fail, within the time limitations
set forth in the notice of unsafe or dangerous structure, to comply with the
requirements thereof unless the hearing findings prescribe some other time
limitation or revoke the order contained in said notice. If the hearing findings
direct some other repair or removal action or time limitation within which
to commence or complete the work originally ordered in the notice of unsafe
or dangerous structure, the owner shall comply with the directions of the
hearing findings within the time prescribed therein.
B.
If such structure shall be used for a purpose requiring
a license, the licensing authority may revoke said license in case of failure
to comply with the notice served, as herein provided.
C.
In the event that an owner served with a notice to repair
or remove a structure fails to comply with the notice and fails to comply
with an order issued after a hearing, as provided herein, for a reasonable
time after the hearing is held, then the Code Enforcement Officer may cause
said structure to be repaired or removed as required by the order issued after
the hearing. If the Code Enforcement Officer causes such repair or removal
of a building, then all costs and expenses incurred by the Village regarding
the proceedings required, the cost of ascertaining the owner and other interested
parties, service of process fees and the cost of actual repair and removal
of said structure shall be assessed against the land on which the structure
is located, pursuant to § 78-b of the General Municipal Law.[1]
In case there shall be, in the opinion of the Code Enforcement Officer,
actual and immediate danger of the falling of a structure, so as to endanger
the public safety, life or property, or actual and immediate menace to health
or public welfare as a result of conditions present in or about a structure,
he shall cause the necessary work to be done to render said structure temporarily
safe, whether the procedure prescribed in this chapter for unsafe or dangerous
structures has been instituted or not. When emergency work is to be performed
under this section, the Code Enforcement Officer shall send the owner, by
registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, and shall post on
the premises, a notice to comply, containing a description of the premises,
a statement of the particulars in which the structure is unsafe or dangerous,
and orders and directions to correct said conditions which constitute an emergency
within a specified period not to exceed three days from receipt of the notice.
In the event the emergency does not permit any delay in correction, the notice
shall state that the Village has corrected the emergency condition. In both
cases, the notice shall state that the corrective costs of the emergency will
be assessed against the owner. Emergency work performed under this section
shall be assessed against the land on which the structure is located.
[Amended 3-27-2006 by L.L. No. 1-2006]
When a structure is in unsafe or dangerous condition so that life or
public safety is endangered thereby, the Code Enforcement Officer may order
and require the tenants or occupants to vacate the same forthwith. He may,
when necessary for public safety, temporarily close sidewalks, streets, structures
and places adjacent to such structures and prohibit the same from being used.
The Director of the Department of Public Works and the Chief of Police, when
called upon by the Code Enforcement Officer to cooperate, shall assist in
the enforcement of such orders or requirements.
For the purposes of this chapter, the Code Enforcement Officer shall
employ such laborers and procure such materials as may be necessary to perform
said work as speedily as possible.
A record of inspection reports, notices and orders and hearing findings
relative to unsafe or dangerous structures, and of all pertinent action taken
in connection therewith, shall be kept on file in the office of the Code Enforcement
Officer.
