City residents may recall a number of years ago when code enforcement officials tamped down on all things unsightly, from overgrown grass and garbage cans left by the curbside to missing address numbers on homes and other property maintenance issues gone awry.

No one is exempt from this policy, and Sam Savarino of Savarino Companies has apparently made the unkempt list for his parcels at 40 Ellicott St. that have apparently been abandoned by the now-defunct Buffalo-based company.

The developer of the stalled Ellicott Station apartment complex received a list of code violations in September, City Manager Rachael Tabelski says.

Pretty much every living creature made it into City Council’s discussion about a restriction on certain animals and fowl during the group’s Monday meeting.

A proposed local law stems from a council meeting in January, and a request to research potential restrictions on animals and fowl in the city. Apparently some types of these creatures — chickens and goats in particular — have raised a bit of a ruckus in their neighborhoods.

“One of the issues that recently came up was, one of our neighbors has goats … and they're literally running around our neighborhood. They’ve been able to escape a number of times and might go across the street,” Councilman John Canale said during the meeting at City Hall. “Now, any animal is capable of charging someone at any time. But now we have horned animals running loose in the neighborhood. Animal control said ‘my hands are tied, there’s nothing I can do.’  A number of my neighbors are very concerned about their safety … we could have some neighbors that might possibly get hurt. That was my concern. Now it becomes kind of a safety issue.”

He asked about a clause in the law requiring that animals are properly housed. That means the animals must be penned appropriately, do not accumulate feces, cause odor or live in an unsightly or unsafe condition, Council President Eugene Jankowski said. If goats are running loose, then they are not being properly housed, Jankowski said.

Some council members wondered why anyone wants to keep goats in the city anyway. Canale said that, for example, he knows a young girl who is in 4-H and raises animals including goats.

There are rules for dogs, but not for goats, Jankowski said. Although it might be easy to come up with a laundry list of restrictions for these situations, Jankowski didn’t want to see that happen.

“I’m not for making a plethora of codes for every little thing,” he said. “But, unfortunately, it might be something we have to do … if they start to encroach on other people’s property.”

As for the goat that got loose, the animal control officer did some quick thinking on his feet. He cornered the animal at the front porch, got ahold of it and brought it back to its rightful home over a fence.

As for donkeys, and other cloven-hoofed animals, equine or fowl, those are restricted from being kept within the city limits. City Manager Rachael Tabelski’s research reviewed other cities, including Geneva, Canandaigua, Jamestown, Elmira, and Lockport. All of those areas have code restrictions “on animals in a variety of forms,” her memo to council said.

“With help from the code enforcement office and the city attorney, attached are the proposed restrictions to animals for City Council to consider,” the memo stated, including cattle, horses, sheep, goats, pigs, llamas, alpacas, ducks, turkeys, geese, feral cats, donkeys, ponies, mules and any other farm or wild animal within city limits.

Exceptions would be chickens in appropriate housing, transporting animals to and from race tracks, special events with an approved event application, and animals in transit through the city.

Council agreed to pass the law on to the City Planning Board for further discussion. Council members also hope that the public will provide feedback about the issue of atypical city occupants — primarily farm animals — living right next door.

“That’s what the planning board is for,” Jankowski said. “I think most people will see this as reasonable. I think it’s great that we have these healthy discussions.”

   The condition of buildings and land in the City of Batavia plays a vital role in the quality of life enjoyed by the City's residents, merchants and visitors. Enforcement of the Municipal Property and Zoning Codes ensures that each property meets required standards. The Municipal Property and Zoning Codes protect the health, safety and welfare of those who live, work and visit the City, and conserves the value of the property and neighboring properties. It also conserves the value of the property and neighboring properties.

   The City of Batavia has a total of 4,460 residential structures, 514 commercial structures, and 34 Industrial structures. The condition and maintenance of these existing structures as well as the safe and code compliant construction of new buildings plays a vital role in the success of our businesses and City.  In order to preserve these structure and enhance neighborhoods, the Bureau of Inspection conducts property and building code inspections and code enforcement activity.

  “It is important that residents understand the role inspections plays here in Batavia, “ said Jill Wiedrick, Assistant City Manager. “Residents in Batavia seek a high quality of life in an aesthetically pleasing environment and are affected by what they see when they open their door every day. The Bureau of Inspection’s mission is to ensure a City where all residents have a clean, safe environment to live, work and play.”

  The goal of the Bureau of Inspection is to achieve timely voluntary compliance of code violations. Code Enforcement Officers balance the goal of gaining voluntary compliance with ensuring the health and safety of our residents. They attempt to minimize the negative impact violations such as peeling paint, missing roof shingles, vehicles parked on lawns, trash, debris, and high grass have on neighborhoods.

Code Enforcement Officers follow a scripted process when inspecting structures and enforcing the Code.

Step One: Inspection:

An inspection is conducted by a Code Enforcement Officer on the basis of a complaint, neighborhood survey, or a referral.  The primary focus of these inspections are on health, safety and removal of blight.  If violations are present, a Notice and Order citation is issued to the owner requiring correction.

Step Two: Re-inspection:

The Code Enforcement Officer re-inspects a cited property.  If the owner does not comply with the Notice and Order citation, the case will be prepared for the court process.

It ranked Class 9. In the ranking system, from 1 to 10, Class 1 represents an exemplary commitment to building-code enforcement.

ISO is responsible for evaluating all jurisdictions that have a building code enforcement department. They use the Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule, BCEGS, to recognize building codes in the community, and how your community enforces its building codes.

“The concept is simple: municipalities with well-enforced, up-to-date codes should demonstrate better loss experience,” according to a letter from Joseph Bindas, a field representative from ISO, to David Mason, the zoning/code enforcement officer. “The anticipated upshot: safer buildings, less damage, and lower insured losses from catastrophes.”

Mason presented the letter at the Bergen Town Board meeting on Tuesday.

“What stands out to me is that out of a one to 10, one being the best, we scored a nine,” said Donald Cunningham, town supervisor. “I was under the impression that we were somewhere in the middle.”

ISO will review the community again to determine whether or not the BCEGS rating should be revised.

Mason said the fire hydrants are a problem they know they need to fix. Replacing the fire hydrants will help improve the rating, and currently, the fire department is evaluating the hydrants.

This evaluation effects homeowners' insurance, Mason said.

“If State Farm is insuring a house on the outskirts of town, they look at this rating,” Mason said. “They base their insurance on that.”

ISO will meet with Mason on Aug. 29 to review the questionnaire and responses, as well as supporting documentation, and come up with a plan to improve the rating. 

Earlier this year, Liles installed a new sign on his business, Oliver's Candies, at Main and Oak with an electronic message board.

Under the current city ordinance, he can only change the message on the board once every 24 hours. He would like to change it hourly, especially this time of year when he might have four or five different promotions going to attract holiday business.

Tuesday night the city's planning board unanimously rejected his request for a variance to allow the message to change at least hourly.

Duane Preston, chairman of the board, said his vote was based on the fact there is no precedent in the city for allowing an exemption.

Liles argued that signs at Salvation Army and Batavia High School change more often than every 24 hours, but Preston said the city's code enforcement officers report that no permission has been granted for such changes where the city has jurisdiction. He doesn't have jurisdiction over the school property, he said.

Liles said the inconsistency bothers him.

He vowed to continue the fight after the vote, including bringing it up during the city's comprehensive plan update.

One apparent argument against frequently changing signs is that it creates a traffic hazard. Liles said he doesn't buy that argument. Distracted driving from mobile phones is a bigger problem than business signs, he said.

"There were two accidents in front of Oliver's this morning and that had nothing to do with my sign," he said.

Gust said Weber owns property at the corner of Route 20 and Alaura Drive that has been used to store unregistered, uninspected vehicles for a long time.

In Alden, apparently, rather than enforce the property code through the courts, the Town of Alden Board can vote to levy judgements against alleged violators.

The Alden board voted to file a judgement against Weber for $42,500 on Aug. 19, according to a board resolution sent to The Batavian by Gust.

"The officers of the Alden Chamber of Commerce, which Mr. Weber is a member of, the Alden Town Board, the Alden Economic Development Committee and nearby residents are all very concerned about this situation and the negative visual impact Mr. Weber’s property has along the Town of Alden’s main east-west route," Gust said.

As of today, he said, Weber has yet to remove vehicles from the property. In fact, he said, over the past month Weber seems to have added even more vehicles to the lot.

Weber removed the vehicles from his property at 11076 Lake Road and from his parent's property at 11256 Perry Road.

Jacob Weber, Steven's father, was fined $22,000 for the vehicles stored on his property.

Jacob Weber -- who entered a guilty plea July 9 to 46 violations for storing unregistered and uninspected vehicles on his property at 11256 Perry Road -- was fined $22,000 and given a one-year conditional release from jail time.

Steven Weber -- who entered a guilty plea the same day as his father to 16 violations for storing unregistered and uninspected vehicles on his property at 11076 Lake Road (the former firehouse) -- received $4,500 fine, 50 hours of community service and one-year conditional release.

A failure to abide by release conditions could result in a new charge for violating a court order and a resentencing on the original charges.

Dan Lang, code enforcement officer for Pavilion, said the violations on both properties have been corrected.

In Pavilion Town Court today, Pavilion Attorney Jamie Welch agreed that Steven Weber has complied with a requirement to remove illegally stored vehicles from his property at 11076 Lake Road.

There are still at least a dozen vehicles that need to be removed from the property of his parents, Jacob and Mary Weber, at 11256 Perry Road, Pavilion.

Because of the progress Weber has made, his attorney, Richard Sherwood, and Welch reached an agreement to delay Weber's sentencing for two weeks in order to give him more time to remove the disabled vehicles from his parent's property.

On July 9, Steven Weber entered a guilty plea to a 15-count indictment accusing him of violating the state's property maintenance code. Jacob Weber admitted to 46 such violations.

Both were scheduled to be sentenced today, but the sentencing has been postponed until Aug. 27.

In exchange for the delay, both agreed to waive their right to appeal whatever sentences they receive.

Under a prior plea agreement, Jacob Weber will not receive any jail time, but he could still be fined a maximum of $750 per violation of the code. 

Steven faces the possibility of jail time plus a $350 per-violation fine.

Jacob's fine is higher because of a prior conviction on the same charges within the past five years.

In court today, Steven disputed that there were really 15 violations on his property, saying that there were only 11 disabled, unregistered vehicles on his property. Sherwood reminded him he had already entered a guilty plea to 15 counts.

Sherwood said there are 18 remaining cars on Jacob's property that Steven owns. At least six of the vehicles are in fact licensed. Of the remaining cars, they haven't been removed because the brakes have seized and the wheels can't turn.

Sherwood said those cars will need to be jacked up and the brakes repaired or removed before the wheels will turn and the cars can be placed on flatbed trailers and hauled away.

While Welch was willing to go along with a delay in sentencing, he wasn't willing to give the Webers much credit for progress made.

"We disagree with the defendant that he has made a lot of progress," Welch said. "In March he received a letter containing all the charges and nothing was done. Several months went by with no progress. Now he tells the court the cars are in such a state of disrepair from their long storage that their wheels are seized and some of them need to be dug out of the earth. We are trying to work with Mr. Weber here. We've given him every chance. If he comes back in 14 days and there's a single violation, the court will have full discretion to sentence him up to the maximum."

When asked if he understood the terms of the extension, Steven Weber said he did, but wanted to dispute some of the statements made by Welch.

When his attorney tried to quite him, Steven said, "but it ends up in The Batavian and I don't appreciate what winds up in The Batavian."

Prior to the hearing, Weber spoke with The Batavian briefly and said the stories about his case have been inaccurate. He said his cars are not junk. He said he wasn't willing to talk further at this time.

Sherwood told Weber he will be able to tell the court anything he wants about the case at his sentencing on Aug. 27.

Jacob and Steven Weber, father and son, entered guilty pleas in Town of Pavilion Court to 45 and 15, respectively, violations of the state's property maintenance code.

Under the plea deal, Jacob Weber will avoid jail time, but Steven Weber could still be incarcerated if he does not rid his property of the remaining seven disabled, unregistered vehicles on his property at 11076 Lake Road.

Weber admitted in court today that he had 16 unregistered, disabled vehicles on his property -- one more than the law allows. He made a point of clarifying before pleading guilty that he was allowed one vehicle on the property.

The 46 vehicles on property owned by Jacob and Mary Weber at 11256 Perry Road are also apparently the property of Steven Weber.

The Webers are scheduled to appear for sentencing at 3 p.m., Aug. 13.

Town of Pavilion Attorney Jamie Welch said the agreement includes no sentence cap and doesn't limit any possible fines beyond what is allowed under the law.

Previously: Town of Pavilion begins enforcement effort on two properties with alleged code violations

The Town of Pavilion has begun enforcement action against property owners that have for years been storing apparently broken down vehicles on their parcels.

At the beginning of the year the town entered into a shared services agreement with the Town of Batavia and Dan Lang is now code enforcement officer in Pavilion.

He said the first order of business was to go after the most obvious alleged code violations, and the properties at 11076 Lake Road and 11256 Perry Road certainly met that criteria.

In letters to Jacob Weber and Steven Weber, the town asserts they have 47 and 12 broken down vehicles on their properties, respectively.

The Webers appeared in town court Monday and asked for more time to work with an attorney on resolving the issue. They are scheduled back in court June 4.

The state's property maintenance code states:

Except as otherwise provided for in statute or other regulations, two or more inoperative or unlicensed motor vehicles shall not be parked, kept or stored on any premises, and no vehicle shall at any time be in a state of major disassembly, disrepair, or in the process of being stripped or dismantled. Painting of vehicles is prohibited unless conducted inside an approved spray booth.

The town is demanding that the inoperative vehicles be removed from the property. The Webers, if the issue isn't resolved and they are convicted, could be fined $350 or spend six months in jail for each code violation.

Lang said he won't be looking for every little code violation in Pavilion, but property owners with obvious code violations will be contacted and he will also respond to complaints from residents.

The photo of the Perry Road location was taken in October.