HomeMy WebLinkAboutSection 03 SECTION
3
ORDINANCE RELATING TO UNSAFE BUILDINGS
AND COLLAPSED STRUCTURES
Pursuant to the authority granted by Town Law, Section 130
subparagraph 16, the Town Board of the Town of Newfield does
ordain and enact as follows:
Section 1. This ordinance shall provide the procedure for
removal or repair of buildings and structures in the business ,
industrial and residentail sections of the Town of Newfield,
Tompkins County, New York, that, from any cause, may now be or
shall hereafter become dangerous or unsafe to the public.
Section 2. Upon a report to the Board of this Town of the
existence of a condition described in Section 1, the Board
shall adopt an Order appointing a qualified person to inspect
the alleged dangerous or unsafe building or structure and
report his findings to this Board at its next regular meeting
or at such other time or times as the Board shall direct.
Section 3. Upon the filing of the inspection report and
if same shows that the building or structure is unsafe or
dangerous to the public, the Board shall adopt an Order directing
notice to be served on the owner or some one of the owner' s
executors, legal representative, agents, lessees or any other
person having a vested or contingent interest in the premises ,
either personally or by registered mail, addressed to the last
known address, if any, of the owner or some one of the owner's
executors , legal representative, agents, lessees or other person
having a vested or contingent interest in the premises, as shown
by the records of the receiver or taxes or in the office of the
Clerk of Tompkins County, containing a brief description of the
premises, a statement of the particulars in which the building
or structure is unsafe or dangerous and requiring same to be
made safe and secure or removed. Said notice shall further
state that in the event the survey reports the building or other
structure unsafe or dangerous to the public, and the person
served with copy thereof does not commence the securing or removal
of the building or structure within fifteen days after service
of said survey report, an application may be made by the Town
Board at Special Term of the Supreme Court in the Sixth judicial
District for an Order determining the building or other structure
to be a public nuisance and directing that it be repaired and
secured or taken down and removed. If service of such notice
be made by registered mail, a copy of such notice shall be posted
on the premises within two days of such mailing.
Section 4. The person served with said notice shall
commence the securing or removal of the described building or
structure within fifteen days after service of the said notice
and shall thereafter diligently continue with such removal
or repair to the end that same be completed within a reasonable
time.
Section 5. I g
n event of neglect or refusal of the person
served with said notice to comply with same, the Board shall
-2-
cause a survey to be made of the premises described in the notice.
Such survey shall be made by an inspector and architect named by
the Town Board and by a practical builder, engineer or architect
appointed by the person notified as above.
Section 6 . The Town Board shall furnish the person notified
as above the names and mailing addresses of the surveyors so
appointed by the Town Board. The person so notified shall
appoint his surveyor within five days thereafter and give prompt
notice to the Town Clerk of the name and mailing address of his
surveyor. The three surveyors shall then survey the premises.
In event of refusal or neglect of the person so notified to
appoint such surveyor within the time prescribed, the Town Clerk
shall so certify and the two surveyors named by the Town Board
shall then make the survey and report.
Section 7 . A copy of the report of survey, signed by a
majority of the surveyors, shall be posted on the surveyed
premises within five days after the report has been submitted to
the Town Board and not more than five days after such submission
a conformed copy of said survey report shall be served, either
personally or by registered mail, on the person to whom notice
was given pursuant to Section 3 above.
Section 8. The Board shall pay the surveyors appointed
by the Board reasonable compensation for their services not ex-
ceeding twenty-five dollars for each day necessarily spent on
the survey. Notice of the compensation as fixed by the Board
-3-
shall be affixed to the building surveyed and a copy of such
notice shall be served on the person notified pursuant to
Section 3, either personally or by mail.
Section 9 (a) . The costs and expense incurred by the Town
in connection with the proceedings to remove or secure unsafe or
collapsed structures shall be determined by the Town Board
on not less than ten days notice to the person served with
notice as provided in Section 3 if no application is made to
the Supreme Court for an order determining the structure to
be a public nuisance.
(b) . If application is so made to the Court, the
costs and expenses incurred by the Town, including the costs of
actually removing or repairing such structure, shall be ascer-
tained and fixed by the Court.
(c) . Such costs and expenses, when determined, shall
be assessed against the land on which said buildings, or structure-
are located, to be collected in the same manner as other Town
charges.
Section 10. If any section, clause or provision of this
ordinance shall be held invalid or ineffective in whole or
in part, to the extent that it is not unconstitutional the re-
.
mainder shall be valid and effective.
Section n 11. This Ordinance shall become effective ten
days after posting and publishing as required by law.
-4-