Unlicensed motor vehicles are prohibited to be stored out-of-doors in all residential districts. Commercial districts would be restricted to one unlicensed car/vehicle per parcel.
Our office was recently asked if any “junk” vehicles around town were even noticed; and if they were, why we haven’t done anything about them.
This refocused our awareness of this issue. And there are more out there than you may realize.
Some are discrete, parked like any other licensed car in-use, others are pretty obvious.
Some are, or at least appear to be in decent condition and others are obviously not road worthy.
The Town’s local zoning ordinances and the NYS Property Maintenance Code regulate the storage of unlicensed motor vehicles on all properties.
By local law 480.28.C.28.F (a section in the zoning ordinance):
“No unlicensed motor vehicle shall be parked or stored out-of-doors or other than in a fully enclosed structure in a residential district.”
Local laws take care of the residentially zoned areas… unlicensed vehicles are prohibited.
However there’s no language prohibiting unlicensed vehicles in commercial/business districts.
This is where the NYS Property Maintenance law kicks in.
As per the NYS Property Maintenance Code Section 302.8 Motor vehicles:
“Except as otherwise provided for in statute or other regulations, two or more inoperative or unlicensed motor vehicles shall not be parked, kept or stored on any premises, and no vehicle shall at any time be in a state of major disassembly, disrepair, or in the process of being stripped or dismantled.
“Painting of vehicles is prohibited unless conducted inside an approved spray booth.”
Exception: A vehicle of any type is permitted to undergo major overhaul, including body work, provided that such work is performed inside a structure or similarly enclosed area designed and approved for such purposes.
There are plenty of junked out, unlicensed vehicles out there, so don’t be surprised if we knock on your door.
Granted, there are some properties that getting rid of “old” cars or trucks can be quite a challenge.
Places like Beaver River Station… you have to barge them out to Stillwater, then take them away.
This may be a challenge, but it’s not impossible either.
The idea of unlicensed vehicles lying around has the same potential impact on neighbors, or the community, as last week’s article regarding construction projects that seem to go on and on, year after year.
These things do impact the neighbors, the neighborhood and the community in general.
Agree or disagree on the merit of such laws, they are there for a reason.
The benefit to the neighborhood and community in general will take precedence over an individual’s benefit to host such things.
If you have unlicensed vehicles, and you want to keep them, store them indoors, not outside.
If it just sits there never to be used again, get rid of it.
Either way, don’t get upset when we knock on your door or send out a kindly worded warning letter, or the more official Notice of Violation.
Remembering once when the code office was make a determination on siding for a new project, specifically that the siding had to be of a “Adirondack style”… (whatever that is supposed to be), and we objected.
It was argued that tar paper and Tyvek could be considered a typical Adirondack style…unless there is better definition.
The same could be said for the typical Adirondack property, there certainly are plenty of places that have at least one unlicensed vehicle.
Is that a typical Adirondack property?
Hopefully we’ll see dozens of old cars heading south to get turned in for metal and crunched down.