Source: https://ecode360.com/9445220
Timestamp: 2020-01-25 22:54:03
Document Index: 590238836

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 166', '§ 166', '§ 166', '§ 166', '§ 166', '§ 166', '§ 166', '§ 166', '§ 166', '§ 166', '§ 166', '§ 166', '§ 166', '§ 330', '§ 200', '§ 200', '§ 200']

Town of Brighton, NY Sidewalk Maintenance and Repair
Ch 166 Art II Sidewalk Maintenance and Repair
§ 166-6 Purpose.
§ 166-7 Definitions.
§ 166-8 Duties of owners.
§ 166-9 Standards and specifications.
§ 166-10 Unsafe sidewalks; notice to repair; appeals.
§ 166-11 Removal of sidewalk rubble.
§ 166-12 Damage by tree roots; removal of roots.
§ 166-13 Blacktop across sidewalks.
§ 166-14 Lots at end of dead-end streets.
§ 166-15 Corner lots and handicap access ramps.
§ 166-16 Noncompliance.
§ 166-17 Applicability.
Town of Brighton, NY / Part II, General Legislation / Streets and Sidewalks
[Adopted 5-25-1989 as L.L. No. 3-1989]
[Amended 8-8-1990 by L.L. No. 6-1990]
The purpose of this article is to promote the maintenance of safe and adequate sidewalks for pedestrian use by regulating the manner of construction, reconstruction, repair and maintenance of sidewalks and the materials to be used in the grades and widths thereof in the Town of Brighton, to prohibit any construction, reconstruction or repair which does not comply with such regulations and to provide guidelines for assuring the safety of such sidewalks and to delineate the responsibility of the Town of Brighton and of the property owner.
The Town of Brighton, New York 14618.
[Amended 1-24-1996 by L.L. No. 1-1996]
It shall, in all cases, be the duty of the owner of every lot or piece of land in said town to keep the sidewalks adjoining the owner's lot or piece of land in good repair and to remove and clean away all snow and ice and other obstruction from such sidewalks, except to the extent that such duty has been assumed by a sidewalk snow removal contractor, a sidewalk repair contractor, a sidewalk district and/or a sidewalk snow removal district. Failure to do so will result in the costs of any repair done by the Town of Brighton to be assessed against the landowner, and further said landowner shall be liable in tort for any injuries to any person or property as a result of the landowner's failure to comply with this article.
Quality of concrete, grade, thickness and width of sidewalks and other standards of construction and installation shall be determined by specifications adopted by the town's Commissioner of Public Works and available at the Town Department of Public Works upon request. Unusual circumstances which may affect installation or cause a deviation from these specifications may be approved on a case-by-case basis after investigation by the Commissioner of Public Works or authorized representative.
Sidewalks shall be considered to be unsafe if, by determination of the Commissioner of Public Works, they are so broken, cracked, lifted, spilled or scaled or otherwise deficient as to cause a clear and present danger to pedestrians. Upon such determination, the owner of the property where such sidewalk is located will be notified, in writing, by standard form of the need to repair or replace the sidewalk in question. Such notice shall specify the sidewalk or portions thereof which require repair or replacement and contain a brief summary of the reasons therefor. Such notice shall be served upon such owner by personal service or by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the last known address as shown on the latest completed assessment roll of the Town of Brighton. If delivery of the certified mail is returned or unclaimed, then service shall be made by regular mail and shall be deemed complete five days after the date of mailing. The cost of such repair or replacement will be borne by the property owner.
Upon delivery of the written notice, the property owner shall make every attempt to correct the deficiency noted within a reasonable time after delivery of the notice; in no event shall more than one year elapse between delivery of the written notice and correction of the deficient or unsafe sidewalk. However, no property owner shall be required to repair or replace more than 100 linear feet of sidewalk on any one lot within the first year after delivery of said notice, nor more than 50 linear feet each consecutive year thereafter.
If, within said one-year period, the sidewalks required to be repaired shall not have been repaired, then the Town Board may cause the same to be done at the expense of the property owner. If said expense, as determined by the town, is not paid within 30 days after billing to the property owner, such a charge shall be a lien upon the property benefited until paid and shall be added to the property owner's tax bill as an assessment as set forth in § 166-16, Noncompliance.
Any property owner aggrieved by a determination to repair the sidewalk or any portion thereof as contained in the written notification of the same shall have a right to appeal such determination to the Town Board by delivering a written request for review of the determination to the Town Clerk within 60 days of delivery of said notification, which the Town Clerk shall thereupon transmit to the Town Board. Upon receipt of a timely request for review, the Town Board shall refer the matter to a person whom it shall designate for the purpose of hearing all evidence and arguments both against and in support of such determination. For this purpose, the person so designated by the Town Board shall schedule a time and place for such a hearing and shall give or cause to be given adequate notice thereof to the property owner and the Commissioner of Public Works. On such hearing the formal rules of evidence shall not apply. Upon conclusion of such hearing the person designated shall prepare and transmit to the Town Board a recommended decision, based on the evidence and arguments presented, either annulling, modifying or affirming the determination of the Commissioner of Public Works, together with a summary of the reasons therefor. Upon receipt of such recommended decision, the Town Board shall take the matter up at the next regularly scheduled Town Board meeting and shall accept, reject or modify said recommended decision. The determination of the Town Board so made shall be deemed final and binding upon the property owner and the Commissioner of Public Works.
The Town of Brighton shall dispose of the rubble from the replacement of sidewalks within the right-of-way, provided that the rubble is placed at the curb or road edge.
The Town of Brighton will not be responsible for damage to sidewalks in the form of cracked or lifted blocks caused by tree roots or for any root damage. The Department of Public Works will cut out roots of trees within the right-of-way under the sidewalk in conjunction with a sidewalk contractor and/or at the request of the property owner. It is suggested that the owner/contractor remove any blocks involved beforehand. In the case of such root removal by the town, a one-year guaranty will be accorded the property owner by the town against the cost of further repairs caused by such roots damaging sidewalks.
No blacktop or blacktop sealer of any kind shall be permitted along the path of a sidewalk where it crosses a driveway or parking area. Exceptions to this provision will be allowed only in the case of such conditions preexisting this article, unless deemed hazardous. Whenever such preexisting blacktop should deteriorate or be replaced or when the blacktop driveway abutting such a blacktop area shall be replaced, the blacktopped sidewalk area must be replaced with concrete.
In the case where an occupied lot is situated at the end of a dead-end street, sidewalk otherwise required along the frontage of the property shall be permitted to terminate at the driveway on such property rather than be installed to the end of the right-of-way.
In the event that sidewalks are replaced at intersecting streets, corner lots or at other locations that would require the curb and sidewalk to be reconstructed as provided for in § 330 of the Highway Law, then the Town of Brighton shall assume the responsibility and pay for the cost of resetting the curb and sidewalk for the handicap access from the curb to the first intersecting block of the main sidewalk. Work associated with these conditions shall be conducted in accordance with the town's minimum specifications for dedication regarding curbing and sidewalk as contained in the text and standard detail sheets and the most recent edition of the specifications.
Owners of premises in the Town of Brighton, subject to this article, must comply therewith and with any regulations, specifications and any order passed by the Town Board of the Town of Brighton pursuant to the Town Law, §§ 200-a and 130, Subdivision 4. In the event that any owner or occupant, as the case may be, fails to comply with this article, the sections of the Town Law set forth above, any regulations passed by the Town Board or the specifications or any orders of the Town Board pursuant thereto, the town may cause the construction, reconstruction, repair or removal of obstructions to be accomplished and audit and pay the expense of doing the same. If the owner or occupant in question does not reimburse the town, the town shall assess the expense thereof against the property benefited as a whole, in any five or fewer annual installments, in the same manner as street improvements constructed pursuant to the Town Law, § 200, and in accordance with the Town Law, § 200-a.
If such expense is assessed in installments, there shall be assessed as part of each installment, except the first, as interest, an amount not exceeding 6% of such installments, such rate to be fixed by the Town Board in the order providing for the assessment.
If such expense is assessed as a whole and the Town Board resolution assessing such expense against a particular piece of property shall so provide, the assessment against such property may be paid in five or fewer annual installments on the dates fixed by such resolution with interest, not exceeding 6% of each such installment, fixed by such resolution.
[Added 8-8-1990 by L.L. No. 6-1990]
This article shall be applicable to all outstanding notices requiring the repair and/or reconstruction of sidewalks on the effective date of this article, and those outstanding notices shall be automatically extended for a period of one year from the date that the prior notice to repair was received by the property owner.