[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Mount Pleasant 4-8-1969.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Mount Pleasant Property Maintenance
Ordinance of the Town of Mount Pleasant."
[Amended 7-13-1976]
In order to prevent blight and the spread thereof, it is hereby declared
that all land and structures, including but not limited to one- and two-family
dwellings, garden apartments, 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, whether occupied or vacant, and accessory structures, located
in the Town of Mount Pleasant, shall be maintained in conformity with the
standards set out in this chapter so as to assure that these structures and
properties will not adversely affect the neighborhood and the community at
large. 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
same are not curtailed and removed, the aforesaid conditions will grow and
spread and will, in time, necessitate 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.
This chapter has been prepared and adopted with consideration to the character
of the various zoning districts and the stability for the particular uses
therein.[1]
A.
PERSON
TOWN
The following definitions shall govern the interpretation
of this chapter unless otherwise expressly defined herein:
Includes a natural person or persons, corporation, copartnership,
unincorporated association or any other organization of two or more persons
who is or are the owner or owners, mortgagee or vendee in possession, assignee
of rents, receiver, executor, trustee, lessee, occupant or agent directly
or indirectly in control of a building within the confines of the town as
defined herein.
Includes all areas within the Town of Mount Pleasant exclusive of
areas wholly within any incorporated village.
B.
Words used in the singular shall include the plural and
vice versa. The word "shall" is always mandatory.
A.
Open areas.
(1)
Surface and subsurface water shall be approximately drained
to protect buildings and structures and to prevent the development of stagnant
ponds.
(2)
No shopping baskets, carts or wagons shall be left unattended
or standing, and said baskets, carts or wagons shall be regularly collected
and removed to the interior of the building or buildings from which they were
taken by the person responsible for 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 the
replacement and/or repair of fences which may become in disrepair.
(4)
All landscaping shall be well maintained so that lawns,
hedges, bushes and trees shall be kept trimmed and free from becoming overgrown
and unsightly where exposed to public view and where the same may constitute
a blighting factor thereby depreciating adjoining property. Such maintenance
shall include but not be limited to the replacement of trees and shrubs which
may die and/or otherwise be destroyed.
(5)
All recharge stormwater basins shall be maintained by
the person responsible for the property. Such maintenance shall include but
not be limited to:
(a)
The cleaning of storm sewers and other drainage appurtenances
serving said basin so that said installations function as designed.
(b)
The removal of any garbage, rubbish, silt, topsoil or
other foreign material which creates an unsanitary condition or prevents or
impedes the leaching action of said basin.
(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
or necessary repairs or replacement carried out. All off-street parking facilities
shall be swept at least monthly.
(7)
Yards, courts and vacant lots shall be kept clean and
free of physical hazards, rodent harborage and infestation. They shall be
maintained in a manner that will prevent rubbish from being blown about the
neighborhood. Open wells, cesspools or cisterns shall be securely closed or
barricaded from access to the public.
(8)
All permanent signs exposed to public view shall be maintained
in good repair. Excessively weathered or faded signs shall be removed or put
into a good state of repair. All non-operative or broken electrical signs
shall be repaired or removed. All temporary signs except "for rent" signs
shall be removed at the expiration of the event or sale for which it is erected
or within 60 days after erection, whichever shall occur sooner.
(9)
No person shall deposit, throw or scatter or suffer, permit or allow the accumulation of any filth, dirt, ashes, junk, garbage, wastepaper, dust, rubbish, sticks, stones, grass, wood, leaves, paper or paper boxes, iron, tin, nails, bottles or glass of any kind, unregistered cars and parts thereof or cars without a current valid New York State motor vehicle inspection certificate, except currently registered out-of-state vehicles and except automobile dealers having a certificate of occupancy pursuant to § 218-62 of the Zoning Ordinance of the Town of Mount Pleasant, or any other kind of rubbish or waste material, upon any sidewalk, highway or public place or upon any vacant or improved lot, piece or parcel of ground abutting upon any sidewalk, highway or public place or upon any private property within the town.
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 or weathering.
(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 collapse of the same or 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 shall 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 evidences 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 materials.
Such objects or materials shall be removed, repaired or replaced.
(5)
Vacated buildings.
(a)
The owner of a vacated building shall take such steps
and perform such acts as may be required of him from time to time to ensure
that the building and its adjoining yards remain safe and secure and do not
present a hazard to adjoining property or to the public.
(b)
All openings shall be provided with painted exterior
grade plywood closures, securely fastened.
[Added 9-23-1980]
(6)
Buildings and structures shall be maintained free of
insect, vermin and rodent harborage and infestation. Methods used for exterminating
insects, vermin and rodents shall conform to generally accepted practice.
[Amended 5-26-1998[1] ]
Any person violating any provisions of this chapter shall be guilty
of an offense punishable by a fine not to exceed $250 or imprisonment for
a term not to exceed 15 days, or both. In lieu of the foregoing, any person
violating any provisions of this chapter shall be subject to a penalty in
the sum of not more than $250 for the first violation and in a sum of not
more than $500 for subsequent violations, said penalties to be recovered in
a civil action in the name of the Town of Mount Pleasant.
This chapter shall be enforced by the designated Building Inspector
of the town or by deputies whom said Building Inspector designates for this
purpose.
