[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Groton 5-21-2012 by L.L. No.
5-2012. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter is enacted pursuant to the authority of a) Municipal
Home Rule Law (MHRL) § 10, Subdivision 1(i) which authorizes
a village to adopt a local law not inconsistent with the provisions
of the Constitution or not inconsistent with any general law relating
to its property, affairs or government, and b) MHRL § 10,
Subdivision 1(ii)a(1), which authorizes a village to establish qualifications
for its officers and employees; and c) MHRL § 10, Subdivision
1e(3), which authorizes a Village, under certain defined circumstances,
to adopt a local law amending or superseding the provisions of the
Village Law of the State of New York; and, furthermore, this chapter
recognizes that the State Legislature amended Public Officer's
Law § 3 and Village Law § 3-300, adding new subsections
to each such law expanding the residency requirements for appointed
public offices, making Public Officer's Law § 3 and
Village Law § 3-300 special laws (see CFNY Op. Atty. Gen.
[inf] No. 91-37).
The purpose of this chapter is to supersede the residency requirement
provisions of Public Officers Law § 3 and Village Law § 3-300
with respect to any person serving as a nonelected officer of the
Village and to promote the public health, safety and welfare by establishing
residency requirements for persons hired or promoted to certain offices
or positions of employment with the Village of Groton after the effective
date of this law.
The title of this chapter shall be "Village of Groton Residency
Requirements Law" and may be cited as "Village of Groton Local Law
No. 5 of 2012."
As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise, have the following meanings:
To maintain one's actual principal domicile —
that is, the place where he or she normally sleeps and maintains usual
personal and household effects — at an abode which is inhabited,
occupied and used as one's home.
The Village of Groton.
The Board of Trustees of the Village of Groton.
Any person serving as a nonelected officer of the Village, including,
without limitation, the Village Clerk, Village Treasurer, Deputy Village
Clerk, Deputy Village Treasurer, Village Attorney, Code Enforcement
Officer, etc., shall, at the time of his or her appointment to said
position and at all times during the continuance of employment in
said position, reside either:
This chapter shall apply to all persons initially employed by
the Village, or appointed to Village office, on or after the effective
date of the chapter and to all persons promoted on or after the effective
date of the chapter. Such persons shall, as a condition of their employment
and service by and for the Village, be and remain in continuous compliance
with the residency requirements effecting the position held by them.
A.
Should it be alleged that an employee or officer is not in compliance
with the provisions of this chapter, the Village Board may initiate
a hearing by providing the employee or officer with written notice
of his or her alleged violation and shall allow the employee or officer
seven calendar days in which to respond. If there is a failure to
respond or if, in the judgment of the Village Board, the response
is not sufficient to satisfy the requirements of this chapter, the
Village Board shall set a date to hear the charge of nonresidence.
The employee or officer shall be sent a notice of the hearing date
at least 15 calendar days prior to the hearing. A record of the hearing
shall be made. Should an employee or officer establish residency to
the satisfaction of the Village Board prior to the hearing date, it
shall result in a cancellation of the hearing authorized by this section.
B.
To conduct the hearing, the Village Board may, in writing, designate an individual who, for the purpose of the hearing, shall be vested with all the powers of the Village Board and who shall refer the hearing record and his or her recommendations to the Village Board for review and decision. Should the Village Board determine that an employee is a nonresident in violation of this chapter, the Village Board may impose a penalty in accordance with the provisions of § 50-8 of this chapter.
Should any employee or officer of the Village fail or omit to comply with the residence requirements provided in this chapter, the Village Board, at its option, may, after a hearing held in accordance with the provisions of § 50-7 hereof, declare such person's office or position of employment to be "vacant" and inform the officer or employee that he or she has been deemed to have voluntarily resigned from his/her employment or office as of the date of the determination of noncompliance; may suspend, dismiss or otherwise discipline such person, pursuant to § 8-804 of the Village Law and/or § 75 of the Civil Service Law; may maintain an action or proceeding in the name of the Village in a court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with, or restrain by injunction the violation of, this chapter; or may exercise any other rights or remedies available to the Village at law or in equity. Such rights and remedies shall be deemed cumulative, and not exclusive, of each other.
If any term or provision of this chapter, or the application
thereof to any person or circumstance, shall to any extent be determined
by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable,
the remainder of this chapter, or the application of such term or
provision to persons or circumstances other than those to which it
is held invalid or unenforceable, shall not be affected thereby, and
each term and provision of this chapter shall be valid and be enforced
to the fullest extent permitted by law.
This chapter shall supersede Public Officers Law § 3
and Village Law § 3-300 in their application to the residency
requirements for persons serving as a nonelected officer of the Village.
