[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Northport 12-16-1997 by L.L. No. 13-1997 (Ch. 15
of the 1966 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
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 village by providing a method
for the removal or repair of buildings and structures that, from any
cause, may now be or shall hereafter become dangerous or unsafe to
the public and residents and/or owners of property with the village.
B.
The Board of Trustees finds that such dangerous and
unsafe conditions of buildings and structures are a detriment to adjoining
buildings, properties and neighborhoods, constituting a nuisance and
a threat to the physical well-being of the residents of the Village
of Northport, especially for children. Such conditions interfere with
the promotion of good order, peace, health, safety and welfare of
the residents of the village and invite vandalism and necessitate
additional police protection for the security of said property, property
owners and other residents of the Village of Northport.
C.
Unsafe buildings and structures 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 village by this chapter shall be in addition to all other
powers conferred upon the village in relation to the same subject
by state law.
For the purposes of this chapter, the terms
used herein are defined as follows:
A combination of materials to form a construction that is
designed for or used as a residence, place of business, storage place
or public place. The word "building" shall be construed as if followed
by the words "or parts thereof" and shall include the term "structure."
The Code Compliance Director of the village or such other
person appointed by the Board of Trustees to enforce the provisions
of this chapter.
A combination of materials to form a construction, including
but not limited to docks, excavations, bulkheads, platforms, ramps,
culverts, drains, sidewalks and private streets.
Includes all buildings and structures 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 damage 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 village; or which, having sustained damage to the exterior by such casualty, shall not have had such damage repaired within six months of the date of the casualty or such longer period, not to exceed 12 months from the date of casualty, as may be determined by the Board of Trustees for good cause shown after hearing pursuant to § 114-6 hereof.
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.[1]
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 village.
No person, firm, corporation or association
owning, possessing or controlling a building in this village 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.
The Code Compliance Director shall make inspections
of all unsafe buildings within the village and report to the Board
of Trustees all unsafe buildings which from time to time may be found
within the limits of the village.
A.
The Board of Trustees shall consider the report of
the Code Compliance Director and, if, in its 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 Board
of Trustees 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 refusal
to comply with the order to repair or demolish the building, the Board
of Trustees 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 representative, 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 village 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 Village Attorney.
A.
The hearing shall be conducted before the Board of
Trustees. The Code Compliance Director shall present his or her report
to the Board of Trustees in writing. The owner or his or her representative,
if present, shall call such witnesses as he or she deems necessary.
The Board of Trustees 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 Board of Trustees
shall direct the repair or demolition of the building forthwith.
C.
If such owner shall neglect, fail or refuse to comply
and, after appearing at said hearing, the Board of Trustees 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 Board of Trustees.
D.
If the owner fails or neglects to repair or demolish
said building as directed by the Board of Trustees following the hearing,
then the Board of Trustees shall direct the repair or demolition of
the same forthwith.
In the event of neglect or refusal of the persons
so notified to comply with said order of the Board of Trustees, the
Board of Trustees shall provide for the demolition and removal of
such building either by village employees or by contract. Except in
an emergency, any contract in excess of $20,000 shall be awarded by
competitive bidding.
[Amended 8-17-1999 by L.L. No. 12-1999]
Any owner, occupant or person in custody of real property located within the village who allows, suffers or permits a building to continue as an unsafe building after due notice as provided in § 114-5 above shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter and shall be liable for a fine not to exceed $250, imprisonment for a term not to exceed 15 days, or both such fine and imprisonment, for each violation. Each week such violation shall continue shall constitute a separate violation (without additional notice).
In addition to the remedies provided by this
chapter, the Board of Trustees may request the Village Attorney 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.
Where there shall be, in the opinion of the Code Compliance
Director, or in an exigent circumstance of a building damaged by fire,
explosion, act of public enemy or other accidental cause in the opinion
of the highest ranking Fire Department official at the scene of such
event in the absence of the Code Compliance Director, 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. When such
initial opinion is provided by a Fire Department official, the Code
Compliance Director shall be responsible to inspect the building within
24 hours of the occurrence of such event to determine that the necessary
work is properly proceeding.
[Amended 9-5-2000 by L.L. No. 18-2000]
B.
When emergency work is to be performed under this
section, the Code Compliance Director 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 village 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.
A.
All costs and expenses incurred by the village 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 village 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.
