[Adopted 5-21-1996 by Ord. No. 96-34]
[Amended 11-16-2004 by Ord. No. 04-102]
No person shall throw, sweep, rake, blow, or
deposit litter or rubbish in or upon any street, sidewalk, tree belt
or other public place within the City, except in public receptacles
for that purpose, authorized private receptacles for collection or
in an official City disposal area.
Persons placing litter in public receptacles
shall do so in such a manner so as to prevent such litter from being
carried or deposited by the elements on any streets, sidewalks or
other public place or upon private property.
[Amended 11-16-2004 by Ord. No. 04-102]
No person shall sweep, rake, throw, or blow
into or deposit into any gutter, street or other public place within
the City the accumulation of litter or rubbish from any building or
lot or from any public or private sidewalk, driveway or property.
Persons owning or occupying property shall keep the sidewalk and/or
tree belt abutting their premises free of litter or rubbish.
No person owning or occupying a place of business
shall sweep into or deposit in any gutter, street or other public
place within the City the accumulation of litter from any building
or lot or from any public or private sidewalk, driveway or property.
Persons owning or occupying a place of business within the City shall
keep the sidewalk and/or treebelt abutting their business free of
litter.
No person, while a driver or passenger in a
vehicle, shall throw or deposit litter upon any street or any other
public place within the City or upon private premises.
A.
No person shall drive or move any truck or other vehicle
within the City unless such vehicle is so constructed or loaded so
as to prevent any such load, contents or litter thereof from being
blown or deposited upon any street, alley or other public place or
upon any private premises.
B.
Nor shall any person drive or move any vehicle or
truck within said City, the wheels or tires of which carry onto or
deposit in any street, alley or other public place any mud, dirt,
sticky substances, litter or foreign matter of any kind.
A.
No person shall throw or deposit or cause to have
thrown or deposited litter of any kind within any park or on a terrace,
triangle, traffic island, circle or dingle under control of the Park
Department of the City except in public receptacles provided for the
purpose thereof, and it shall be deposited in such manner that the
litter will be prevented from being carried and/or deposited by the
elements upon any part of said parks or the aforementioned public
properties.
B.
No leaves, tree branches, grass or evergreen clippings,
winter sand and/or sand and salt mixture, rocks, litter, rubbish,
garbage or any other material shall be brought to and deposited in
any manner on any park property.
C.
No person, herein designated as a firm, individual,
corporation, organization, employee, agent or servant of any kind,
shall deposit or cause to have deposited on public property or in
public receptacles within the confines of any parks or public property
by any such person any litter, other than that obtained as a result
of use in said park or said public property.
No person shall throw or deposit, abandon or
leave or cause to have thrown or deposited, abandoned or left along
the shoreline or abutting property of any lake, river, stream or like
body of water situated within or bounding on the limits of the City
or in any fountain or like structure situated within said City any
automobiles or parts thereof building materials, litter, garbage,
rubbish or material of any kind.
The provisions of this article shall not apply
to the distribution of mail in the United States, nor to newspapers,
except that newspapers shall be placed on private property in such
a manner as to prevent their being carried or deposited by the elements
upon any sidewalk, street, alley or other public place or upon any
private property.
No person in any aircraft shall throw out, drop
or deposit or cause to have thrown out, dropped or deposited within
the City any litter, handbills or any other materials.
No person shall post or affix any notice, poster,
handbill or other paper or device calculated to attract the attention
of the public to any traffic or lamppost, public utility pole or public
shade tree or upon any public structure or building, except as may
be authorized or required by law.
No person shall throw or deposit or cause to
have thrown or deposited any litter on any occupied private property
within the City, whether owned by such person or not, except that
the owner or person in control of private property may maintain authorized
private receptacles for collection in such a manner that litter will
be prevented from being carried or deposited by the elements upon
any street, sidewalk, alley or other public place or upon any private
property. The owner or person in control of any private property shall,
at all times, maintain the premises free from litter.
No person shall throw or deposit or cause to
have thrown or deposited any litter on any open or vacant property
within the City, whether owned by such person or not. The owner or
person in control of any such vacant property shall at all times maintain
the premises free from litter.
A.
Notice to remove. The Building Inspector shall have, as provided by Chapter 139 and Chapter 111 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the power to abate a nuisance or health hazard caused by any such litter and shall have the powers by virtue of said General Laws and any ordinance relative thereto or an amendment hereof as heretofore or hereinafter ordained. Further, nothing contained in this article shall be construed to be in conflict with any provisions of said laws or ordinances but in addition to and in compliance with the provisions therein set forth. The Building Inspector is authorized to notify the owner, his agent or any person in control of said property, vacant or otherwise, within the City to remove and dispose of litter located on the property. Such notice shall be by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the owner, agent or person in control of the property by any person authorized to serve civil process or posted on said property for a period of not less than seven days.
B.
Action upon noncompliance. Upon the failure, neglect
or refusal of any owner, agent or person in control of said property,
so notified, to properly dispose of said litter within five days after
receipt of written notice, as provided in this article, or within
seven days after the date of such notice, in the event the same is
returned to the Post Office Department because of the inability to
make delivery thereof, provided that the same was properly addressed
to the last known address of such owner, agent or person in control
of said property, or within seven days after the end of the period
for posting said property, the Building Inspector is authorized and
empowered to pay any and all costs incidental to the removal and disposition
of the litter or to order the removal of the litter by the City.
C.
Charge for removal. When the City has effected by
itself or its duly authorized agent the removal of the litter or has
paid for the removal of the litter, a bill for the actual cost thereof,
if not paid by such owner prior thereto, shall be forwarded to such
owner by the City and such charge shall be due and payable within
30 days.
D.
Charge included in tax bill; recordation constitutes
lien.
(1)
In the event that the full amount due the City is not paid by such owner within said 30 days from the date of billing, as provided in this article, the Building Inspector shall cause to be recorded in the office of the City Clerk a sworn statement showing the cost and the expense incurred for the work, the date the work was done and the date of the billing as provided in Subsection C. The City Clerk shall forthwith cause said statement to be recorded in the Hampden County Registry of Deeds in the manner required.
(2)
Upon such recordation of the statement by the City
Clerk in the Hampden County Registry of Deeds, the actual cost for
the removal of the litter shall be charged to the owner of such property
on the next regular tax bill forwarded to such owner by the City,
and the charge shall be due and payable by said owner at the time
of payment of such bill.
(3)
The recordation of said statement shall constitute
a lien and privilege on the property and shall remain in full force
and effect for the amount due in principal and interest, plus cost
of the court, if any, for collection, until final payment has been
made. Said cost and expense shall be collected in the manner fixed
by law for the collection of taxes and shall be subject to a delinquent
penalty at the same rate as that on unpaid tax bills in the event
the same is not paid in full on or before the date the tax bill upon
which said charge appears becomes delinquent. Sworn statement recorded
in accordance with the provision as set forth in this article shall
be prima facie evidence that all legal formalities have been complied
with and that the work has been done properly and satisfactorily,
and shall be sufficient notice to every person concerned that the
amount of the statement, plus interest, constitutes a charge against
the property designated or described in the statement and that the
same is due and collectible as provided by law.
[Added 5-6-2014 by Ord. No. 14-5]
All supermarkets, retail and discount stores and any other businesses
which provide shopping carts for the use and convenience of their
customers shall comply with the following requirements in order to
prevent the disposal of the carts as waste or litter interfering with
the use of public and private property, including bodies of water.
A.
Every shopping cart owned or used within the City of Chicopee shall
have a permanently affixed and clearly visible cart identification
sign. Every cart owner shall continuously maintain or cause to be
maintained the cart identification sign so that the owner's name is
accurate and clearly legible.
B.
Shopping carts so identified shall be used only on the business premises.
Signs informing the public of this requirement shall be prominently
located at the entrance and exit of the store or business.
C.
All stores and businesses providing such carts for the convenience
of their customers shall be responsible for installing, operating
and maintaining a cart retrieval program which shall include, at a
minimum, a contract or agreement with a cart retrieval service that
is sufficient to respond to complaints from the public or the City
of Chicopee regarding abandoned shopping carts in a manner that results
in the retrieval of the carts on an ongoing basis.
D.
All stores and businesses providing shopping carts to its customers
shall lock or otherwise secure all shopping carts during hours when
the business or store is closed.
E.
No person shall be authorized or deemed authorized to remove a shopping
cart from the business premises unless they are in possession of written
permission from the cart owner.
F.
Any shopping cart found on public property or private property other
than that of the business utilizing the same shall be removed from
said property by the owners of said shopping cart. Failure of the
owner to remove the shopping cart shall be a violation of this section
and shall result in the City of Chicopee or its designee retrieving
said cart(s).
G.
In the event that the City of Chicopee retrieves a shopping cart,
the City shall hold the cart at a location that is reasonably convenient
to the owner of the shopping cart and open for business at least six
hours on business days.
(1)
When the City has retrieved a shopping cart, the City shall so notify
the owner that the City has impounded its shopping cart. This notice
shall include the following:
(a)
Information as to the cart's location.
(b)
How the shopping cart may be retrieved.
(c)
That failure to retrieve the shopping cart within 15 days from
the date of the letter may result in the cart's sale or destruction.
(d)
That the owner will be responsible for the City's costs of retrieval,
totaling $25 per cart.
(e)
That a fine totaling $75 per cart shall be imposed.
(2)
In the case of a cart that does not provide adequate identification
or markings to determine its owner, the City shall only be required
to notify the cart owner if the City obtains actual knowledge of the
owner's identity.
(3)
The Superintendent of Public Works or his or her designee shall issue
a seventy-five-dollar fine upon an owner for any cart in violation
of any section of this chapter.
(4)
No cart shall be released to its owner under the procedures in this
section unless the owner pays a fee for the City's cost of retrieval
and storage, in addition to the seventy-five-dollar fine, for a total
of $100 per cart.
