Town schedules public hearing on proposed nuisance‑abatement law to address blight and hazards

Deputy Building Inspector Liz Garrity told the Town Board the draft local law on property maintenance and nuisance abatement would establish clear minimum standards, a notice‑and‑hearing process, and a mechanism to recover abatement costs by adding them to tax rolls. "We would have to follow due process, notify, post, and then schedule a public hearing with the Town Board and the Town Board would make the determination whether the town should proceed and then roll the cost onto the tax rolls," she said.

Garrity said the measure targets properties that have become community blight or safety hazards — for example sites with overgrown weeds, dumped furniture, or imminent tree failures — and that life‑safety conditions would allow expedited action. She told the board the draft is scheduled for public hearing on July 22 and could be passed at a later meeting and filed thereafter (staff estimated the law could be effective in October if adopted and filed promptly).

Board members welcomed the measure as a tool to help neighbors who have reported rodents or unsafe trees; questions focused on procedural timing and the town’s ability to respond immediately for imminent threats. Garrity said examples like a fallen or unstable tree could be handled promptly by the forestry officer when a life‑safety risk is present.