[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Interlaken 2-9-1995 by L.L. No. 1-1995. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Property
Maintenance Law of the Village of Interlaken, New York" and shall
repeal and replace L.L. No. 2-1991.
The purpose of this chapter is not only to protect the health,
safety and welfare of the inhabitants of the Village, but also to
protect the property value of adjoining property owners whose property
value may decline due to the failure of any property owner to properly
care for his or her property.
Every dwelling and every structure shall be kept in good condition
and repair by the owner or agent and fit for human habitation, if
a dwelling, and if some other structure, in such a condition that
it will not likely injure or damage persons or property of others.
All exterior surfaces shall be protected from the elements and decay
by painting or other approved protective covering. The roof and sides,
doors and windows of dwellings and structures shall be maintained
so as not to leak, and rainwater shall be collected so as not to cause
dampness, decay and deterioration in the walls and ceilings. All grounds
and areas around dwellings and structures shall be maintained in a
neat and orderly manner, and all rubbish and debris shall be removed.
Whenever a building is removed or destroyed by fire beyond repair,
the rubble and debris shall be removed.
[Added 4-12-2012 by L.L.
No. 1-2012]
A.
Generally, no owner or occupant of any real property located within
the Village of Interlaken shall allow such real property to become
overgrown with brush, grass or weeds, six inches or higher, or allow
the unlawful accumulation on such property of rubbish or trash.
B.
Duty of owner or occupant. It shall be the duty of the owner or occupant
of any real property located within the Village of Interlaken to cut,
trim and remove any such brush, grass or weeds thereon and to remove
from such real property any accumulation of rubbish or trash thereon.
C.
Failure of owner or occupant to comply; enforcement procedures. In case the owner or occupant of real property located within the Village of Interlaken shall fail to comply with Subsections A and B of this section:
[Amended 4-10-2014 by L.L. No. 2-2014]
(1)
First notice:
(a)
The Village police shall give first notice of such violation to the
person, persons or entities responsible therefor under this section.
Such notice shall be in writing and shall include a concise statement
of the reasons for its issuance. Such notice shall be deemed to be
properly and sufficiently served if a copy thereof is personally served
in any of the following methods:
[1]
Sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known
address of the person or entity upon which the same is served, as
shown by the most recent tax records of the municipality; or
[2]
A copy thereof handed to said person or persons; or
[3]
A copy thereof left at the usual place of abode or office of said
persons or entities.
(b)
Notice shall be given as aforesaid within or without the municipality.
The notice shall also state that unless the violation is abated, removed,
cured, prevented or desisted within seven days of the date of service
of such notice (exclusive of the date of service), such person, persons
or entities may be charged with a violation of the Village Code.
(2)
Second notice:
(a)
If such violation is not abated, removed, cured, prevented or desisted
within seven days of the date of service of such notice (exclusive
of the date of service), the Village Clerk/Treasurer shall give second
notice of such violation to the person, persons or entities responsible
therefor under this section. Such notice shall be in writing and shall
include a concise statement of the reasons for its issuance. Such
notice shall be deemed to be properly and sufficiently served if a
copy thereof is personally served in any of the following methods:
[1]
Sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known
address of the person or entity upon which the same is served, as
shown by the most recent tax records of the municipality; or
[2]
A copy thereof handed to said person or persons; or
[3]
A copy thereof left at the usual place of abode or office of said
persons or entities.
(b)
Notice shall be given as aforesaid within or without the municipality.
The notice shall also state that unless the violation is abated, removed,
cured, prevented or desisted within seven days of the date of service
of such second notice (exclusive of the date of service), a summons
shall be issued for such violation.
(3)
In
the event that the violation is not abated, removed, cured, prevented,
or desisted from or otherwise fully remedied within said fourteen-day
period, pursuant to the foregoing, a summons shall be issued against
the person, persons, entity or entities so notified.
(4)
Violations and penalties. Any person or entity who shall violate any of the provisions of this chapter or any other promulgated hereunder shall, after a summons is issued under the terms hereof, be punished pursuant to the provisions of § 1-16 of the Village Code (“Penalties for offenses”) as shall be in effect at the time of such violation.
[Added 4-12-2012 by L.L.
No. 1-2012]
No person shall make or cause to be made any excavation on any
private property within the Village which shall remain unfilled for
more than 30 days unless during such thirty-day period work or construction
is being accomplished in and around such excavation.
A.
Safeguards. Any person making an excavation shall provide such safeguards,
warnings and barriers as maybe reasonably necessary to protect the
public.
B.
Failure to fill in excavations; procedures. In case any person shall
fail to comply with any of the provisions of this section, the Village
Clerk, upon direction of the Board of Trustees, shall cause to be
served upon such owner or occupant, by mail, a written notice requiring
such owner or occupant to comply with the provisions of this section.
(1)
If such owner or occupant fails neglects or refuses to so comply
within five days after service of such notice, the Superintendent
of Public Works shall cause the excavation to be filled or perform
such other work as may be reasonably necessary to protect the public.
In any such case, the owner or occupant of such real property shall
pay to the Village all costs in connection with such excavation, together
with a service charge of 50% thereof to cover supervision and administration,
within 30 days after completion thereof.
(2)
Upon failure of such owner or occupant to pay such costs, the Village
Clerk shall report the same to the Board of Trustees, which shall
certify such costs to the Assessor, and thereupon such costs shall
become a lien upon the real property involved and shall be added to
and become a part of the taxes next to be assessed and levied upon
such real property and shall bear interest at the same rate as, and
be collected and enforced in the same manner as, general Village taxes.
Whenever a petition is filed with the Village Board by the Mayor or by any two members of the Village Board or by any two adjoining property owners whose property is contiguous to the subject property (a husband and wife is to be one property owner for the purpose of this chapter unless separate parcels are owned) residing in the Village wherein it appears there is a violation of § 110-3, the Board shall make such investigation as it deems necessary and shall set a date for a hearing on the petition to be held before the Code Enforcement Officer or his designee. The property owner shall be given at least 10 days' notice, in writing, by mail of the date of said hearing. The notice shall be mailed to the property owner at the address set forth in the tax rolls. Notice sent by regular mail shall be deemed sufficient for the purpose of this chapter. The owner and parties may appear and give testimony and examine the petition and other information which the Board reviewed prior to fixing the date for the hearing. The hearing may be adjourned from time to time as needed as determined by the Code Enforcement Officer or his designee.
If, after such hearing, the Code Enforcement Officer or his designee determines there is a violation of § 110-3 and that a dwelling or structure constitutes a nuisance and menace or that there is rubbish, rubble and debris to be removed which may be injurious to the property, safety, health, comfort and general welfare of the other inhabitants of the Village, he shall set forth, in writing, in the minutes of the hearing and the Code Enforcement Officer or his designee shall order that a copy of these findings shall be served upon the property owner of the property being investigated. The findings shall contain an order directing the property owner to repair, alter, improve or otherwise repair the dwelling or structure or to remove the rubbish, rubble and debris within a specified period of time after the service of the order upon the property owner. Said order may include razing the offending structure. Service shall be in the same manner as the notice of hearing.
In the event that the property owner does not correct the condition,
as ordered, within the time set forth or, if the time is extended,
within the extended time, then the Village Board may cause the order
to be executed, and the expense of such order being executed shall
be assessed against the real property and added to the tax roll next
due. Five days before executing the order, the Village Board shall
cause to be mailed to the property owner and mortgagees, if any can
be found after reasonable search, a letter notifying him that the
Village is to execute the order and assess the costs of executing
said order against the real property. A notice shall also be posted
on the premises five days before the order is to be executed.
As an alternative method of enforcing this chapter in court,
the Village Board, Code Enforcement Officer or his duly appointed
designee may issue a summons and file a related information alleging
a violation of this chapter which said summons shall be returnable
before the local court having jurisdiction within the Village of Interlaken.
An offense against the provisions of this chapter shall be punishable
by a fine of not more than $250 or by imprisonment for not more than
15 days, or both, and each day that said violation exists may be treated
as a separate offense. Violation of this chapter is hereby declared
to be a violation pursuant to the Penal Law and may be treated as
such by the Board of Trustees and the local court having jurisdiction
within the Village of Interlaken.
