Brockport Mayor Margaret Blackman says it is time for the village to take another look at a system of points and penalties to address crimes and code violations which occur on private property.
The mayor made her proposal during her report at the regular meeting of the Brockport Village Board Monday, March 6. Mayor Blackman said an armed home invasion late last year at 51 Adams Street, which drew concerns from residents during the December 19 meeting of the village board, as well as a more recent incident during a party at 37 Adams Street, have prompted her to consider the move.
“It’s a town/gown issue (and) an issue of neighborhood quality of life,” Mayor Blackman said.
Officials at the College at Brockport want to be part of the discussion, she noted, and, “property owners will be part of the discussion as well.”
Mayor Blackman said she met with college officials February 9 and has been working with the village’s code enforcement officer, the village attorney and Trustee Katherine Kristansen to look into systems of points and penalties from villages and cities around New York State.
Under a system of points and penalties, property owners would accrue points for repeated violations of the village code as well as criminal activity. Offenses would be assigned points – the least being violations of the village code and the most for felony crimes. The points and penalties would apply to any property, the mayor said, not just rental properties.
Penalties under the system would include fines and potentially the withdrawal of certificates of occupancy for rental properties or businesses, Mayor Blackman said.
She said Brockport would likely base their system on one used in the Village of Delhi, New York, which in addition to points and penalties, has a party nuisance law somewhat similar to Brockport’s “disorderly house” law last updated in 1908, Mayor Blackman said.
Under the party nuisance law, a host may be fined a maximum of $250 for village code violations including disorderly conduct, open containers and unlawful possession of a controlled substance.
Mayor Blackman said the Delhi law is better than the current law in Brockport because in addition to fining the host, “it includes points applied to the property owner.” The laws have worked well in Delhi, Mayor Blackman said, and have not been contested in court.
She said she will be meeting with representatives from the College at Brockport on March 29. Establishing a system of points and penalties/party nuisance law would require a public hearing and passage of a resolution by the village board, the mayor said.
Mayor Blackman said she felt the system could be in place by the beginning of the 2017/2018 college year. “Our intent is not to close down properties,” she said. “It is to get people to obey the law and make neighborhoods safe.”
She said in Delhi, property owners are notified of points by the village attorney and points are tracked by both the police department and code enforcement office. Appeals come before a committee consisting of the mayor, a member of the code enforcement office and the police department.
