Town of Great Valley

GV ADOPTS LAW PROVIDING FOR CODE ENFORCEMENT:

Great Valley officials will have the power to enforce their zoning code after the town council acted last week to adopt a new law. ... Members of the council learned in march that the previous law, providing for administration and enforcement of the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building code, was invalid.

Charles Bliss, a senior building construction engineer with the New York State Department of State Division of Code Enforcement Southern Tier Regional Office told board members last that their previous local law was "not a legal law. The law simply states the town is adopting the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code. It contains none of the required provisions of 19 NYCRR 1203. The town has no compliance with 19 NYCRR 1203. As a consequence, the town does not have the authority to require building permits, perform inspections, or otherwise enforce the code."

After Bliss observed the omission left the town vulnerable to liability, council members acted quickly, asking Town Attorney Ron Ploetz to draft a new law.

The new law provides for the code enforcement officer to act as building [inspector] and gives that office power to issue appearance tickets.
...
At the advice of Bliss, the law requires that the code enforcement officer's records be kept at the town hall where they are accessible to the public. The records had been kept at code Enforcement Officer James Woodmancy' residence.