Board of Estimate & Contract:
RESOLVED, that an ordinance adopted by the City Council on May 14, 2025, and signed by the Mayor on May 15, 2025, authorizing the Amendment of Article IX, Section 105-B, entitled “Abatement of Nuisance” of the Code of the City of Mount Vernon; be, and the same is hereby approved.
City Council:
AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE AMENDMENT OF
ARTICLE IX, SECTION 105-B, ENTITLED “ABATEMENT OF
NUISANCE” OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MOUNT VERNON
Whereas, by letter dated April 17, 2025, the Commissioner of the Department of Public Works has requested legislation authorizing Amendment to Article IX - The Department of Public Works; § 105-B- Abatement of Nuisance of the City of Mount Vernon Municipal Code; and
The City of Mount Vernon, in the City Council convened, does hereby ordain and enact:
Section 1. Section 105-B of Chapter IX of the Code of the City of Mount Vernon, entitled “Abatement of Nuisance,” is hereby amended as follows:
Article IX. -Department of Public Works
§ 105-B. Abatement of Nuisance.
§ 105-B- Abatement of Nuisance
[Added by L.L. No. 2-1929; amended by L.L. No. 3-1942; L.L. No. 2-1962; L.L. No. 5-1962; L.L. No. 3-1964; L.L. No. 2-1970; L.L. No. 1-1972; L.L. No. 7-1980[1] <https://ecode360.com/13909866>; L.L. No. 1-1981; L.L. No. 1-1986; 8-9-2023]
The Commissioner of Public Works shall have the power to enter upon property, both public and private, and to remove accumulations of rubbish and deleterious matter therefrom, to fill in depressions where water is likely to gather and stagnate, and to abate any other conditions creating or tending to create a condition detrimental to the health, safety and general welfare of the immediate neighborhood or the public at large. Where the owner of property upon which any accumulations of rubbish and deleterious matter or depression or condition detrimental to health, safety and general welfare exists [shall] fails to abate, remove or fill in the same within [five days] forty-eight (48) hours after written notice so to do has been served upon him either personally or by delivering the same at his last known place of residence, or if he be a nonresident, by mailing the same to him at his last known place of residence, or if the name of the owner or his place of residence cannot be ascertained after due diligence, by posting the same in a conspicuous place upon the premises, the Commissioner of Public Works shall impose a fine/penalty of [no less than $500.00 and not more than $3,000.00 for each violation] $750 for a first offense; $1,500 for a second offense; and $3,000 for each subsequent offense (third and any thereafter) and/or have said rubbish and deleterious matter removed and depressions filled in and conditions abated, either by the Department of Public Works or by hiring a private contractor, subject, however, to the laws pertaining to public bidding. In the event that the Department of Public Works is so employed, it shall, upon completion of the work of such removal, filling in or abatement, send to the owner of the property upon which said work has been done whose name appears on the last assessment roll, a bill for the value of the work done and the expense incurred.
The purpose of imposing an associated fine structure is to support enforcing city ordinances that optimize the quality of life. Public education and outreach will always be our first step, but enforcement must be established to prosecute chronic violators of the City’s ordinances. Other Municipalities are prepared to impose hefty fines and penalties on chronic violators of the abatement of nuisance ordinance. Various factors, such as health, environmental impact, infestation, blight, and property values, are affected when we do not effectively address nuisances. The amendment of this Ordinance will demand zero tolerance for blighted properties throughout the City.
Section 2. This ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its approval by the Board of Estimate & Contract.
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