[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Farmingdale 8-11-1947 by Ord. No. 19 (Ch. 31, Art. IV, of the
1975 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
Removal or repair of unsafe buildings and structures.
[Amended 3-14-1949; 12-16-1974 by L.L. No. 6-1974]
(1)
Any premises, building or structure located within the Village of
Farmingdale that may now be or hereafter become dangerous or unsafe
to the public as a fire, health or safety hazard, public nuisance
or otherwise shall be removed and made safe or secure when and as
ordered by the Board of Trustees as provided in this chapter.
(2)
Whenever any owner or occupant of any premises, building or structure
within the Village of Farmingdale is in violation of any ordinance
or local law in force and effect in the Village of Farmingdale and
which requires said owner or occupant to make said premises, building
or structure safe and secure, then proceedings to correct such violation
to make said premises safe and secure may, in addition to the remedies
provided in such ordinance or local law, be taken in accordance with
the provisions of this chapter.
(3)
A swimming pool, open foundation, excavation or hole around which
a secure fence is not erected and maintained as required by any ordinance
or local law of the Village of Farmingdale shall be deemed dangerous
and unsafe and a safety hazard within the meaning of this chapter.
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to limit the application
of this chapter to the examples cited in this subsection.
[Amended 1-26-1976 by L.L. No. 2-1976]
(4)
The Superintendent of Buildings shall, subject to the direction of
the Board of Trustees, make an inspection of any premises, building
or structure which, in the opinion of the Board or Superintendent
of Buildings, is dangerous or unsafe to the public as a fire, health
or safety hazard, public nuisance or otherwise, and shall make a written
report of his findings to the Board of Trustees with all reasonable
diligence. If the Superintendent of Buildings shall report that the
premises, building or structure so inspected by him is dangerous or
unsafe to the public as a fire, health or safety hazard or public
nuisance or otherwise, the Board of Trustees shall cause to be served
on the owner of the premises on which said building or structure is
erected or of the premises which is vacant, or on the occupant thereof
if proceedings to enforce this chapter are to be taken against such
occupant, either personally or by certified mail addressed to the
last known address, if any, of the said owner as shown by the records
of the tax rolls of the Incorporated Village of Farmingdale and/or
the records of the tax rolls of the County of Nassau, or upon the
occupant, if directed to such occupant, a notice which shall order
and require that the said premises, building and structure shall be
made safe and secure or removed, in the manner therein stated, which
notice shall further specify the following:
(a)
A description of the premises upon which said building or structure
is located or of the premises if vacant.
(b)
A statement of the particulars in which said premises, building
or structure is unsafe or dangerous.
(c)
The time within which the person served with such notice may
commence making said premises, building or structure safe and secure
and eliminating the fire, health or safety hazard and/or public nuisance,
which shall be not less than five days nor more than 30 days from
the date such notice is served. If service of such notice is made
by certified mail, a copy of such notice shall also be posted on the
premises on or before the date of mailing.
(d)
That in the event of the neglect or refusal of the person served
with the notice to commence making the premises safe and secure within
the time prescribed, or in the event such work is not prosecuted with
reasonable diligence, the Board of Trustees will authorize the Village Attorney
to make application on behalf of the Village to the Supreme Court
of the State of New York for an order determining the building or
structure or otherwise to be a fire, health or safety hazard or public
nuisance or otherwise, and directing that the same shall be made safe
and secure, or directing the removal thereof.[1]
(e)
That all costs and expenses incurred by the Village in connection
with such proceedings and the cost of making such premises, building
or structure safe and secure, or eliminating such fire, health or
safety hazard or public nuisance, or removing such building or structure,
will be assessed against the premises, if vacant, or the premises
and building or structure if the same is improved with such building
or structure.
(5)
The Village shall serve a notice of at least 10 days upon the owner of the premises, building or structure ascertained, as provided in Subsection A(4) hereof, stating the costs and expenses incurred by the Village in connection with the proceedings to make such premises safe and secure, including the costs of actually removing said building or structure if so ordered by the court, and that at a specified time and place it will meet to make an assessment of such expenditures upon the premises. Such notice shall be served upon the owner either personally or by certified mail. If service of such notice is made by certified mail, a copy of such notice shall be posted upon the premises on or before the date of mailing. The Board shall meet at the time and place specified and hear and determine all objections that may be made to such assessment, including the amount thereof, and shall assess upon the land the amount which it may deem just and reasonable, not exceeding in case of default the amount stated in the notice. If the amount so assessed is not paid within 15 days after such assessment, an action to recover the amount may be maintained by the Village against the owner or person liable therefor, or a special warrant may be issued by the Board of Trustees for the collection of such assessment, or the amount thereof may be included in the next annual tax levy.
(6)
The provisions of this chapter shall be deemed to be a part of Chapter 259, Construction Codes, Uniform, of the Village of Farmingdale; and in addition to the procedure herein prescribed, the failure of the owner to comply with the requirements set forth in the notice served upon the owner or occupant pursuant to Subsection A(4) hereof shall be deemed a violation of Chapter 259, Construction Codes, Uniform, of the Village of Farmingdale and shall subject the owner or occupant, to whom such notice is directed, to the penalties therein prescribed.
B.
Emergency work. In case there shall be, in the opinion of the Superintendent
of Buildings, actual immediate danger of the falling of a building
or structure so as to endanger life or property, he shall cause the
necessary work to be done to render said building or structure temporarily
safe, whether other steps to abate the unsafe conditions have been
instituted or not.
C.
Vacating buildings and closing streets. When a building or structure
is in an unsafe condition so that life is endangered thereby, the
Superintendent of Buildings may order and require the inmates and
occupants to vacate the same forthwith. He may, when necessary for
public safety, temporarily close sidewalks, streets, buildings, structures
and places adjacent to such buildings or structures, and prohibit
the same from being used. Any Chief of Police, police officer and
any Fire Chief, when called upon by the Superintendent of Buildings
to cooperate, shall assist in the enforcement of such orders or requirements.
D.
Laborers and materials. For the purposes of this section, the Superintendent
of Buildings shall employ such laborers and materials as may be necessary
to perform said work as speedily as possible.
E.
Recovery of costs. The Village Attorney shall institute appropriate
actions against the owner of premises where the unsafe building or
structure was located, for the recovery of costs incurred by the Superintendent
of Buildings in the performance of emergency work.[2]
F.
Unusual subsurface conditions.
[Added 8-13-1973[3]]
(1)
Whenever application shall be made for a permit to construct or alter
any building on a site where, in the opinion of the Village Engineer,
unusual subsurface conditions may be encountered in such building
or construction by reason of water being entrained above or below
grade, by reason of the height of the existing water table or by reason
of the fact that subgrade materials or conditions are unsuitable for
sustaining the proposed building or structure or alteration thereof,
the Board of Trustees shall have the right, prior to issuance of a
building permit, to require that the applicant provide the Village
Engineer with information to be submitted by a professional engineer,
licensed in the State of New York, detailing and certifying such underground
and subsurface conditions and their engineered solution, and such
other information as the Board of Trustees and the Village Engineer
may reasonably require, and the proposed manner in which the building
or structure is to be erected or altered. The Board of Trustees shall
have the power to withhold the issuance of such permit until such
proposed plans for the building or alteration include an engineered
solution by a professional engineer to the site subsurface "inadequacy"
or problem (i.e., underground running water), providing for proper
stabilization treatment of soil supporting foundations and proper
design of all footings, piles or other supports so that they shall
safely sustain all proposed construction loads without undue settlement
or shifting of the subsurface soil. Such proposed engineered solution
shall also comply with established safety and health standards of
the Nassau County Department of Public Works, Nassau County Department
of Health, and such other standards as may be adopted by the Board
of Trustees of the Village of Farmingdale.
(2)
The applicant shall, in connection with the aforesaid application
and at the request of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Farmingdale,
deposit with the Village Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Farmingdale,
a sum to be determined by the Board of Trustees to reimburse the Village
for engineering services of the Village Engineer incurred in connection
with such application.
[3]
Editor's Note: This amendment shall take effect 9-1-1973.
[Amended 1-10-2000 by L.L. No. 3-2000]
A.
Any person or persons, associations or corporation who shall knowingly
and willfully violate any of the provisions of this chapter or fail
to comply therewith or with any of the requirements thereof, or who
shall erect, construct, alter or repair, or has erected, constructed,
altered or repaired, a building or structure in violation of any statement
or plan submitted and approved thereunder or of a permit or certificate
issued thereunder, shall be punished by a fine of not exceeding $350
or imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months, or both, for
conviction of a first offense; for conviction of a second offense,
both of which were committed within a period of five years, punishable
by a fine not less than $350 nor more than $700 or imprisonment for
a period not to exceed six months, or both; and, upon conviction for
a third or subsequent offenses, all of which were committed within
a period of five years, punishable by a fine not less than $700 nor
more than $1,000 or imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months,
or both. However, for the purpose of conferring jurisdiction upon
courts and judicial officers generally, violations of this chapter
or of such local law or regulation shall be deemed misdemeanors and
for such purpose only all provisions of law relating to misdemeanors
shall apply to such violations. Each week's continued violation
shall constitute a separate additional violation.[1]
B.
The Village may also bring an action or proceeding to enjoin the
violation and to recover the costs incurred by the Village for remedying
conditions brought about by the violation.
C.
The owner of a building, structure or premises or part thereof where
anything in violation of this chapter shall be placed or shall exist,
and any architect, engineer, builder, contractor, agent, person or
corporation employed in connection therewith and who may have assisted
in the commission of such violation, shall each be guilty of a separate
offense and upon conviction thereof shall be dealt with as herein
provided.
