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History
- Print number 690a
- Amend and recommit to cities
- Referred to cities
- Referred to cities
Full text
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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S690A
Title of bill
An act to amend the New York city charter, the vehicle and traffic law and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the "open driveway act" regarding the environmental control board adjudication of disputes concerning the blocking of a driveway; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
Purpose or general idea of bill
This bill, which is referred to as the "Open Driveway Act," grants the Environmental control Board the power to adjudicate disputes arising between adjoining real property owners over the blocking of a driveway, the ownership or use of which is shared by such adjoining property owners. This bill also defines "blocking" to mean the parking or standing of a motor vehicle in a manner that prohibits the ingress or egress of other vehicles authorized to use such driveway.
Read the full memo (840 words)
Summary of specific provisions
Subdivision d of Section 1404 of the New York City Charter is relettered as Subdivision e and a new Subdivision d is added which:
(1) Requires the environmental control board to adopt rules and regulations to adjudicate disputes regarding a blocked driveway arising between adjoining property owners who share ownership and use of a such driveway, and requires such rules and regulations to provide that the board:
(a) Provide proper notice to persons who are affected by the adjudication.
(b) Render a decision that includes a determination of the rights of the parties concerning the property.
(c) Impose penalties in accordance with a schedule of monetary fines, which will not exceed one hundred fifty dollars, whenever a blocking of a driveway is determined to have occurred.
(2) Requires the board to appoint a hearing officer who shall be an attorney with a background and experience in real property to adjudicate these disputes.
(3) Defines "blocking" as the parking or standing of a motor vehicle in a manner which prohibits the ingress or egress of other vehicles authorized to use such driveway.
(4) Nothing in this subdivision shall he deemed to diminish or extinguish a person's right to a trial by jury.
(5) Requires that if any provision of this subdivision or application of which is held invalid, the remainder of this subdivision and section shall not be affected thereby.
Amends subdivision a of section 1404 of the New York City charter section 23 of part 4 of proposal number 5 by increasing the number of mayoral appointees to the environmental control board from six to seven and requires that the additional member be one who shall be an attorney with a background and experience in real property law.
Amends section 237 of the vehicle an traffic law by adding a new subdivision 12 which:
(a) Requires said disputes regarding shared blocked driveways be heard and determined by the environmental control board prior to the issuing of a notice of violation for such dispute.
(b) Defines "blocking" in same manner as above.
Justification
Many residential properties, especially in urban areas throughout the state, have shared driveways, or access to available garages and parking spaces via common alleyways. These shared spaces are private properties, and current law does not provide for local authorities to intervene to expeditiously resolve these disputes.
For example, if one party blocks the space with a vehicle or other object and refuses to move it upon the request of the other neighbor, the only civil way to resolve the problem is for one party to take the matter to court. Unfortunately. this never solves the problem quickly enough when one party needs ingress or egress to the spike. On occasion, this situation has led to violent physical confrontations between neighbors, resulting in criminal charges. In other instances. individuals such as senior citizens have been the victims of intimidation and are denied the right to ingress and egress. and local authorities are unable to assist in resolving the dispute.
Accordingly, this bill amends the New York City Charter to give the Environmental Control Board (ECB) the power to hear and decide these cases in an expeditious manner. Moreover, the bill will require the ECB, which is comprised of individuals with specialized expertise, to hire two attorneys with a background in real property law: one to serve on the board and one to act as a hearing officer on these cases. While the Parking and Violations Bureau will be responsible for issuing violations to offenders, the ECB will be solely responsible for hearing these cases and imposing fines not to exceed $150.
Prior legislative history
S.5511 of 2009 05/13109 REFERRED TO CITIES 01/06/10 REFERRED TO CITIES
Fiscal implications for state and local governments
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the 90th day after it shall have become a law, shall expire on July 1, 2017 when upon such date the provisions of this act shall be deemed repealed; provided, however. that the Environmental Control Board and the Parking Violations Bureau shall
promulgate rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act prior to such effective date.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.