(L-R): Councilman Wilson Terrero (District 2), Majority leader Patricia McDow (District-1), and Yonkers City council President Chuck Lesnick.
While Intent May be Good, Law Gives Police New Powers to Cite Property & Business Owners
Yonkers, NY, September 30, 2010 -- On September 28, 2010, the Yonkers City Council, by a vote of 4-3, approved a public nuisance abatement law that, regardless of conviction for such offenses, grants the police department the ability “to impose sanctions and penalties” for public nuisance violations that occur within the premises of any Yonkers building.
The new law creates a point system for various penal law violations that, if found to have occurred on premises within a certain period of time, can ultimately lead to fines, eviction, and property forfeiture of the building owner.
While agreeing with the intent of the proposed public nuisance legislation, that seeks to curb any crimes committed on both public and private property, Council members Wilson Terrero, Majority Leader Patricia McDow and Council President Chuck Lesnick were denied the opportunity to further review the law an additional two weeks to work out any potential legal issues on what they all described as a flawed bill.
"As a former business owner in the area I can see the potential for how this new law can give our local government the authority to single out certain property owners with over zealous prosecution," said Terrero. "The law is too broad and in addition to being misused, it can really threaten the property rights of small business and homeowners, and dampen business in the community,” he added.
McDow said, "This bill could have been written a lot better and much clearer. I don’t believe in its current form that it is either fair or reasonable.” McDow had also recently submitted similar legislation that was not reviewed in full prior to last night’s vote.
Concern over the possible "unintended consequences" prompted Lesnick to propose a 12 or 18 month sunset clause to test the impact of the proposed legislation. Lesnick also cited further reasons that included getting more detailed explanations from the police department on how they intend to investigate and enforce the proposed procedure and see if it differs from the intent and use of the federal trespass affidavit program (FTAP); review other municipalities and how they handle similar public nuisance violations; and allow time for review of McDow’s proposed legislation. These compromises were ultimately rejected by the council members who supported the bill.
The proposed law now goes to the mayor who is required to hold a public hearing before either vetoing or approving its adoption.
Chuck Lesnick is the Yonkers City Council President.
