[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Yorktown 4-29-1975 as Ch. 72 of the 1975. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Amended 12-19-2006 by L.L. No. 18-2006]
In order to prevent blight and the spread thereof,
it is hereby declared that all structures, including but not limited
to one- and two-family and multiple-family dwellings, whether or not
used for residential purposes, garden apartments, all other apartment
complexes, all shopping centers, supermarkets, retail stores, discount
houses, warehouses, manufacturing or fabrication plants, factories,
gasoline service stations, public garages, motor vehicle repair shops
or other business uses, and accessory structures to all of the foregoing,
whether occupied or vacant, shall be maintained in conformity with
the Property Maintenance Code of New York State and the standards
set out in this chapter so as to assure that none of these structures
or properties will adversely affect their neighborhood or the larger
community. It is found and declared that by reason of lack of maintenance
and progressive deterioration, certain structures and properties have
the further effect of creating blighting conditions and initiating
slums and that, if the same are not curtailed and removed, the aforesaid
conditions will grow and spread and will necessitate in time the expenditure
of large amounts of public funds to correct and eliminate the same.
By reason of timely regulations and restrictions, as herein contained,
the growth of slums and blight may be prevented and the neighborhood
and property values thereby maintained, the desirability and amenities
of residential and nonresidential uses and neighborhoods enhanced
and the public health, safety and welfare protected and fostered.
For the purposes of this chapter, the terms
used herein are defined as follows:
Includes a natural person or persons, firm, corporation,
partnership, association or any other combination of two or more persons
who is or are the owner or owners, mortgagee, assignee of rents, receiver,
executor, trustee, administrator, lessee or agent directly or indirectly
in control of a building or other structure or area.
All discarded, useless, unusable, unused or worthless solid
waste matter or materials, combustible or noncombustible, including,
by way of example and not by limitation, garbage, trash, ashes, paper,
paper goods and products, wrappings, cans, bottles, containers, yard
clippings, garden waste, debris, junk, glass, boxes, crockery, wood,
mineral matter, plastic, rubber, leather, furniture, household goods,
appliances, bedding, scrap lumber, scrap metal, construction material,
inoperable machinery or parts thereof, garden or farming implements
and supplies, dead or rotting vegetation, tires, abandoned, inoperative
or unusable automobiles and vehicles and solid commercial or industrial
waste.
[Added 12-19-2006 by L.L. No. 18-2006]
A.
Open areas.
(1)
Surface and subsurface water shall be appropriately
drained to prevent the development of stagnant ponds.
(2)
No shopping baskets, carriages or wagons shall be
left unattended outside of the building from which they were taken
by the person responsible for the said building or buildings.
(3)
All fences shall be maintained by the person responsible
for the property. Such maintenance shall include, but not be limited
to, painting as needed and the replacement or repair of fences which
may come into disrepair.
(4)
All landscaping shall be maintained so that lawns,
hedges, bushes and trees shall be kept neatly and free from becoming
overgrown and unsightly where exposed to public view and where the
same may constitute a safety hazard or a blighting factor having a
tendency to depreciate adjoining property. Such maintenance should
include, but not be limited to, the pruning or removal of trees and
shrubs which may die and/or otherwise be destroyed.
[Amended 12-19-2006 by L.L. No. 18-2006]
(5)
That portion of the public land between the property line and the traveled portion of any right-of-way fronting the property shall be maintained by the abutting owner in a condition that is neat, mowed as necessary and free of litter in its natural or improved state. Snow and ice shall be removed from sidewalks as per § 216-10 of the Yorktown Town Code.
[Amended 7-1-1978 by L.L. No. 10-1978; 4-5-1994 by L.L. No. 11-1994; 3-8-2000 by L.L. No. 8-2000]
(6)
Steps, walks, driveways, parking spaces and similar
paved areas shall be maintained so as to afford safe passage under
normal use and weather conditions. Any holes or other hazards that
may exist shall be filled, and necessary repairs or replacement accomplished.
All off-street parking facilities shall be swept as often as necessary,
in the determination of the enforcing officer.
(7)
Yards, courts and vacant lots shall be kept clean and free of physical hazards, rodent harborage and infestation and shall be maintained in a manner that will prevent rubbish from being blown about them. No person shall install a collection bin (as defined in § 138-1) on private or public property, except upon the granting of a permit pursuant to Chapter 138 or as part of an approved site plan. Collection bins, the property upon which they are located, and the public property adjacent thereto, including sidewalks, shall at all times be kept free and clear of litter, debris and any substance that may damage the sidewalk or cause pedestrian injury and shall meet all requirements of § 138-4 or the approved site plan.
[Amended 10-21-2014 by L.L. No. 5-2014]
(8)
All signs exposed to public view shall be maintained
in good repair. Excessively weathered or faded signs shall be removed
or put into good repair. Any nonoperative or broken electrical or
other sign shall be repaired or removed.
(9)
All exterior property and premises shall be maintained in a clean, safe and sanitary condition, free of accumulations of garbage, junk, refuse, rubbish and trash. Rubbish disposal containers and collection bins as defined in § 138-1 shall be tightly covered and maintained free of insect, vermin and rodent harborage and infestation.
[Added 12-19-2006 by L.L. No. 18-2006; amended 10-21-2014 by L.L. No.
5-2014]
B.
Buildings and structures.
(1)
All exterior exposed surfaces not inherently resistant
to deterioration shall be repaired, coated, treated or sealed to protect
them from deterioration.
(2)
Floors, walls, ceilings, stairs, furnishings and fixtures
of buildings shall be maintained in a clean, safe and sanitary condition.
Every floor, exterior wall, roof and porch or appurtenance thereto
shall be maintained in a manner so as to prevent injury to the occupants
of the building or to the public.
(3)
The foundation walls of every building shall be maintained
in good repair and be structurally sound.
(4)
Exterior walls (including doors and windows), roofs
and the areas around doors, windows, chimneys and other parts of a
building shall be so maintained as to keep water from entering the
building and to prevent undue heat loss from occupied areas. Materials
which have been damaged or show evidence of dry rot or other deterioration
shall be repaired or replaced and refinished in a workmanlike manner.
Exterior walls, roofs and other parts of the building shall be free
from loose and unsecured objects and material. Such object or materials
shall be removed, repaired or replaced.
(5)
Buildings and structures shall be maintained free
of insect, vermin and rodent harborage and infestation.
[Amended 5-5-1987 by L.L. No. 12-1987; 7-16-1991 by L.L. No. 25-1991; 12-19-2006 by L.L. No. 18-2006]
The Building Inspector and his agents are authorized to enforce the provisions of this chapter and all rules, conditions and requirements adopted or specified pursuant thereto. This grant of enforcement authority is in addition to, not in lieu of, the enforcement authority and responsibility conferred upon the Yorktown Police Department pursuant to § 1-14 of this Code.
[Amended 5-5-1987 by L.L. No. 12-1987; 6-2-1998 by L.L. No. 19-1998; 4-20-2004 by L.L. No. 10-2004]
A.
Any person committing an offense against any provision
of this chapter shall be guilty of a violation punishable by imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 15 days or by a fine of $500 a day, not to
exceed $5,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment. The continuation
of an offense against the provisions of this chapter shall constitute,
for each day the offense is continued, a separate and distinct offense
hereunder.
B.
A person convicted of a violation of this chapter
within one year of a prior conviction for an unrelated offense under
this chapter shall be punished by a fine of $1,000 a day, not to exceed
$10,000 or by imprisonment not to exceed 30 days, or by both such
fine and imprisonment.
[Amended 5-5-1987 by L.L. No. 12-1987]
In addition to, and not in substitution for, the penalty provision of § 225-5, the Building Inspector may refer an incident of an offense against any provision of this chapter to the Town Board for further action. Upon failure of a responsible person to promptly correct said offense, the Town Board may direct correction of the violation as provided by law at the expense of the town, and may appropriate funds therefor, and all costs of such correction shall constitute a lien upon the subject property and shall draw interest equal to interest on delinquent taxes, and may be collected in the same manner as delinquent taxes.
The Building Inspector shall initiate inspections
and investigations and shall receive information and complaints concerning
compliance with this chapter. Covering the calendar month preceding
the report, he shall submit a written report to the Town Board containing
cumulative totals of inspections and investigations initiated.
[Added 12-19-2006 by L.L. No. 18-2006]
Where it reasonably appears that there is present a clear and imminent danger to the life, safety or health of any person or property unless an unsafe condition is immediately remedied, removed or repaired, the Town Board may, by resolution, authorize the Building Inspector to immediately cause the remedy, removal or repair of such unsafe condition. The expenses of such remedy, removal or repair shall be a charge against the land on which it is located and shall be assessed, levied and collected as provided in § 225-9.
[Added 12-19-2006 by L.L. No. 18-2006]
All expenses incurred by the Town in connection
with the proceedings to remedy, remove or repair any unsafe condition,
as well as a surcharge of 10% and legal expenses, shall be assessed
against the land on which such unsafe condition is located and shall
be levied and collected in the same manner as provided in Article
15 of the Town Law for the levy and collection of a special ad valorem
levy.
[Added 12-19-2006 by L.L. No. 18-2006]
Properties enrolled in an agricultural district
established by the County of Westchester and certified by the New
York State Department of Agriculture and Markets shall be exempt from
the provisions of this chapter to such extent as is necessary to prevent
unreasonable restriction or regulation of farm operations within such
agricultural district in contravention of the purposes of Article
25-AA of the New York State Agriculture and Markets Law, unless it
can be shown that the public health or safety is threatened.
