town wants to come in to the property (Islip, Huntington: 2013, to rent)
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I live at my sisters house in huntington ny and town gave me a violation ticket for chicken coup and garbage so i have removed the garbage and the chicken coup... my sister doesnt want me to allow the town to come in to her property which i think it is her right since the town took the pictures from neighboors yard without her permission they should be able to dismiss or close the case without coming to her property. the pictures i took should be good enougf. town insist on coming to the property which i have no control over... does town can force you to come in to your property where landlord refuses...??? any recommandations??? what should i do???
If they can bust your chops with pictures, then you should be able to satisfy them with pictures as well. Do not let them on the property without a court order.
sounds a bit far reaching for the town to come on to the property for a chicken coupe. Typical abuse of power.
If someone (a neighbor, say) complains to the Town (any town) about any code violation, the Town is obligated to send someone out. No matter how trivial it may seem. I know that from experience.
Back in the late 90s I came home from work one day to find a violation notice on my front door from the Town of Islip because two azaleas in my front yard were 4 ft tall. It was a corner lot and I honestly was not aware that the height restriction on a corner lot actually extends further into the property than just along the border where the fence is (the fence was a 3 ft high chain link that had shrubs on the inside but those were no higher than the fence.) The azaleas were not along the fence but were in the "triangle" that by code also has to be no more than 3 ft high. When I called the town, thinking it was a mistake because the fence stuff was legal, I was told that if any kind of complaint is filed they are required to check it out, issue a violation if legit, and follow up to make sure it was done. I had a hunch which neighbor complained but the Town said they couldn't confirm or deny or identify. **
Anyway, Town of Huntington does allow chickens BUT only under certain conditions, including:
No person shall keep, maintain, house or possess more than eight (8) chickens or ducks or any combination thereof on any premises.
All pens, coops or houses maintained for the keeping of chickens or ducks in all zoning districts shall comply with the setback and side yard requirements
The pens, coops or houses in which such chickens or ducks are kept must be cleaned once each day and maintained in a sanitary condition, free of refuse, debris and any other dirt or excess food, so as not to endanger the public health and safety.
Chicken or duck refuse and feed must be stored in metal containers and securely covered with metal covers.
Pens, coops or houses shall be suitably screened from the view of surrounding residences and surrounding streets by a fence or by shrubs, unless said pen, coop or house is located in such a manner as not to be visible from the surrounding residences and streets.
It sounds as if the OP's chicken coop violated one or more of the conditions and someone complained. Not the Town's fault. And I think the regs in that link are fair and reasonable.
The people next door to me now (different Town) have six chickens but are in compliance with all of the regs of my Town about them. I'll tell you this though, if their setup was posing a health issue (including stuff that was attracting rats) I would have no hesitation about filing a complaint if they were in violation. And I'd expect my Town to respond to it. After all, it's my money paying their salaries.
** Ironically, just one block away there was a corner house with HUGE yews within the same 'triangle' that my 4 ft azaleas were. Those yews were easily a good 7 ft high. Yet because nobody ever complained about them, the Town never bothered those people. And the Town inspector would have had to drive right by that other house in order to get to mine!
Last edited by BBCjunkie; 06-13-2019 at 02:57 PM..
They know the law requires they obtain permission that's why they are asking and not just entering the property, tell them no.
Well, here's the thing. If Huntington is anything like Islip, the violation will require proof that it was corrected/eliminated within a specified number of days, otherwise fines will be start to be assessed and will increase over time, etc. So at that point the burden of proof is on the homeowner, not the Town, to prevent or stop that from happening.
The Town is within their legal rights to issue a violation if one exists. If the homeowner refuses to let the Town verify that there is no longer a violation, then that's on them (the owner.) Nowadays photos can be so easily doctored, I am not surprised if Towns no longer accept them as proof of correction (or violation) unless the Town is the entity taking the photos.
Town's position then becomes, "Okay Ms. Homeowner, you won't let us inspect so we have to assume the violation continues to exist and we'll proceed accordingly."
Unless the OP's sister has other reasons for not wanting to allow a Town empoyee into her backyard (such as perhaps more stuff that shouldn't be there or shouldn't have been done) all she's doing by refusing is setting herself up for more hassles.
Also, the Town doesn't need a homeowners permission to take pictures from outside that homeowners' property. They can take them from the street, they can take them from a drone, they can take them from a neighbor's property if that neighbor gives permission for them to do so. And I would bet that the neighbor from whose yard the Town's photos were taken is the same neighbor who complained, or at least that person agreed that the chicken etc issue needed to be addressed, if they were not the one who filed the complaint.
OP, I suggest that you or your sister tell the Town that they should inspect your back yard from the same location that they took their original photos from. If they could see the violation from that vantage point then, they will be able to see from that same vantage point that the coop and garbage are no longer there.
Last edited by BBCjunkie; 06-13-2019 at 03:01 PM..
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Originally Posted by BBCjunkie
OP, I suggest that you or your sister tell the Town that they should inspect your back yard from the same location that they took their original photos from. If they could see the violation from that vantage point then, they will be able to see from that same vantage point that the coop and garbage are no longer there.
I agree with you, if they can determine a violation exists without entering the property then they can determine that the violation has been removed from the same location.
If someone (a neighbor, say) complains to the Town (any town) about any code violation, the Town is obligated to send someone out. No matter how trivial it may seem. I know that from experience.
Back in the late 90s I came home from work one day to find a violation notice on my front door from the Town of Islip because two azaleas in my front yard were 4 ft tall. It was a corner lot and I honestly was not aware that the height restriction on a corner lot actually extends further into the property than just along the border where the fence is (the fence was a 3 ft high chain link that had shrubs on the inside but those were no higher than the fence.) The azaleas were not along the fence but were in the "triangle" that by code also has to be no more than 3 ft high. When I called the town, thinking it was a mistake because the fence stuff was legal, I was told that if any kind of complaint is filed they are required to check it out, issue a violation if legit, and follow up to make sure it was done. I had a hunch which neighbor complained but the Town said they couldn't confirm or deny or identify. **
Anyway, Town of Huntington does allow chickens BUT only under certain conditions, including:
No person shall keep, maintain, house or possess more than eight (8) chickens or ducks or any combination thereof on any premises.
All pens, coops or houses maintained for the keeping of chickens or ducks in all zoning districts shall comply with the setback and side yard requirements
The pens, coops or houses in which such chickens or ducks are kept must be cleaned once each day and maintained in a sanitary condition, free of refuse, debris and any other dirt or excess food, so as not to endanger the public health and safety.
Chicken or duck refuse and feed must be stored in metal containers and securely covered with metal covers.
Pens, coops or houses shall be suitably screened from the view of surrounding residences and surrounding streets by a fence or by shrubs, unless said pen, coop or house is located in such a manner as not to be visible from the surrounding residences and streets.
It sounds as if the OP's chicken coop violated one or more of the conditions and someone complained. Not the Town's fault. And I think the regs in that link are fair and reasonable.
The people next door to me now (different Town) have six chickens but are in compliance with all of the regs of my Town about them. I'll tell you this though, if their setup was posing a health issue (including stuff that was attracting rats) I would have no hesitation about filing a complaint if they were in violation. And I'd expect my Town to respond to it. After all, it's my money paying their salaries.
** Ironically, just one block away there was a corner house with HUGE yews within the same 'triangle' that my 4 ft azaleas were. Those yews were easily a good 7 ft high. Yet because nobody ever complained about them, the Town never bothered those people. And the Town inspector would have had to drive right by that other house in order to get to mine!
Do you have any knowledge or idea In regards to TOH? My neighbor made a complaint about another house who’s owner no longer lives there but is renting rooms out illegally (single family home). I would never personally call the town on someone myself however I don’t mind that my neighbor did. This was about a month ago and I still see that the owner occasionally shows the house to people looking to rent. Is this fixable?
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