[Adopted 1-8-2007 by L.L. No. 1-2007]
This article shall be known and cited as "Town of Wappinger Local Law No. 1 of the Year 2007 Creating Article VII of Chapter 214 of the Town of Wappinger Code, entitled 'Sidewalk Maintenance: Removal of Snow, Ice and Debris,'" which requires owners, occupants and other persons to remove snow and ice and debris from the sidewalks in front of or adjacent to the premises owned or occupied by them.
Both the Town Board and the Planning Board of
the Town of Wappinger have committed to a program of requiring sidewalks
to be constructed in various areas of the Town, including Old Route
9 and Route 9. Once constructed, these sidewalks (and all sidewalks
which are already in existence) must be appropriately maintained in
order to provide for safe use by pedestrians. Therefore, the Town
Board has determined that it is in the best interests of the residents
of the Town, as well as the pedestrian public utilizing the sidewalks,
to enact a local law to provide for the prompt removal of snow, ice,
debris and other obstructions from all sidewalks located in the Town
of Wappinger by owners and/or occupants of the premises adjacent to
or abutting those sidewalks. The enactment of this article will mandate
the prompt removal of snow, ice, debris and other obstructions from
all sidewalks located in the Town and establishes appropriate penalties
and fines for the failure to abide by this article.
A.
Every owner, lessee, tenant, occupant or other person
having charge of any premises adjacent, fronting or abutting upon
a sidewalk, including any unpaved area used as a sidewalk or walkway
on any public street or public place in the Town of Wappinger, shall
remove dirt and other obstructions and, within 24 hours after the
cessation of every fall of snow or the formation of any ice on the
sidewalk in front of or adjacent to said premises or abutting said
premises, remove or cause the snow, ice or other obstructions and
debris to be removed and/or cleared entirely from the said sidewalk.
B.
In case the snow or ice on any sidewalk in front of
or adjacent to said premises or abutting said premises shall be frozen
so hard that it cannot practically be removed or cannot be removed
without injury to the pavement, the owner, lessee, tenant, occupant
or other person or persons having charge thereof shall, within the
times and place hereinabove specified, cover or cause the abutting
sidewalk to be covered and strewn with either sand, sand/salt mixture,
or similar material and shall, as soon thereafter as weather will
permit, thoroughly clean said sidewalk and remove the ice and snow
therefrom.
No person shall permit snow, ice, water or debris
to accumulate upon any building adjacent to, fronting on or abutting
any street or sidewalk, and said person shall take all steps necessary
to prevent such snow, ice, water or debris from falling onto any street
or sidewalk.
The owner and/or occupant of any premises shall
keep or cause to be kept the sidewalk abutting upon, adjacent to or
in front of said premises free from obstructions and nuisances of
every kind and shall sweep and remove or cause to be swept or removed
therefrom all garbage, refuse, filth, dirt, debris and other offensive
material and shall keep such sidewalk free from garbage, refuse, filth,
dirt, debris or other offensive material at all times.
A.
Where the snow, ice, garbage, refuse, filth, dirt, debris or other offensive material on the sidewalk in front of or adjacent to any premises or abutting any premises shall not be cleared or said sidewalk cleaned of snow, ice, garbage, refuse, filth, dirt, debris or other offensive material or covered with either sand, sand/salt mixture or other suitable material within the time limits specified, then and in that event the Town may proceed to so clean or cover the said sidewalk as provided in § 214-82 and/or § 214-84 hereof, and the cost or expense of doing said work shall be ascertained by the Superintendent of Highways or his designee and a report thereof shall be forthwith filed in the office of the Town Clerk.
B.
The cost of such work, including materials furnished,
shall be reported by the Highway Superintendent, or his designee,
to the Town Clerk and shall be on file in the office of the Town Clerk.
The Town Clerk shall promptly provide a notice of lien to the owner
and/or occupant, notifying them of the cost to remedy. Said notice
shall state that said costs and any and all costs incurred for the
collection of those costs shall be a lien upon the premises. If the
said cost is not paid on or before the first day of November, the
amount thereof shall be levied as part of the tax to be collected
upon the premises against which said costs shall be a lien as aforesaid.
The same shall be included within the completed tax roll and collected
as part of the taxes against the said premises, and the total of the
lien shall also include any administrative fees, costs and/or penalties
assessed for late payment and costs incurred to collect the sum, including
but not limited to legal fees and court costs incurred for collection
of the lien.
C.
Any persons who shall violate any of the provisions of this article or any rule or regulation made pursuant thereto or fails to comply with the provisions of this article shall be guilty of a violation and shall be punished by a fine in the amount set forth in § 122-20 of the Code and/or imprisonment not to exceed 10 days. For the first day after a noncompliance with this provision, the fine shall not exceed $100; if the noncompliance continues for a second day, the fine shall not exceed $200, and if the noncompliance continues for a third day, the fine is $250 for each day thereafter that this article is violated. To promote compliance with the provisions of the article, each day that a violation continues following notification shall be deemed a separate offense. The imposition of any fines shall not exempt the offender from further compliance with the provisions of this article.
[Amended 9-24-2007 by L.L. No. 13-2007]
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Town may
recover from any persons violating this article, by appropriate civil
action, the sum of money necessary to reimburse the Town for the cost
of clearing the sidewalks from snow, ice or debris, together with
any administrative fees, costs, penalties assessed for late payment,
and all costs incurred to collect such sums, including attorneys'
fees and disbursements.
