Oyster Bay moves to establish in-house court system for code violations
Oyster Bay Town Hall on Audrey Avenue, as seen on Wednesday. Credit: Newsday/Howard Schnapp
The Town of Oyster Bay is working to establish a town-run court system to adjudicate code violations in-house — moving the cases away from the state court system.
Oyster Bay would become the first Nassau County town to operate its own adjudication bureau to resolve issues ranging from overgrown grass in front yards to expired building permits. State lawmakers attempted to implement a bureau for Oyster Bay in 2021, but the legislation died in Albany.
Town officials tried again in March 2023. The town board established the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication to hear cases at Town Hall on Audrey Avenue in Oyster Bay. The new court could be up and running next year, officials said.
The bureau intends to help residents comply with town code at Town Hall, which is in the same complex as the town's building department, Oyster Bay officials have said. It will be more convenient for residents who won't have to make separate trips to district court in Hempstead, he said.
"It's all about compliance," Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said in an interview. "We give them plenty of time to fix whatever the problem might be."
But Democratic lawmakers, as well as representatives of the New York Civil Liberties Union, have opposed the initiative.
Justin Harrison, an NYCLU senior policy counsel, expressed concern about Oyster Bay prosecuting cases in a court it also operates.
Harrison said he worried the court would force residents to go before the municipality "that gave them the violation in the first place" and before "judges who were picked out by the friends who serve on the board."
Assemb. Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove) questioned the town's intentions.
"My fear or my concern here is that this simply will turn into a cash cow for the town of Oyster Bay to the detriment of our citizens," Lavine said in an interview.
A spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration, which oversees New York's court system, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the plan.
Code violations create a source of recurring revenue for the Town of Oyster Bay.
Last year, the town collected about $400,000 in court fines. The state court system takes a 15% cut, according to Brian Nevin, a town spokesman.
Town officials are taking steps to empower the bureau to adjudicate a range of violations.
Last month, the Oyster Bay Town Board held a hearing to consider referring "public assembly" violations to the bureau. That could include businesses that exceed occupancy limits.
Oyster Bay would join Suffolk towns such as Huntington, Babylon, East Hampton and Islip, which operate their own adjudication bureaus. North Hempstead and Hempstead do not have an adjudication bureau and refer cases to district court.
Municipalities with populations between 300,000 and 350,000 are allowed to create bureaus without special state authorization.
When Oyster Bay tried to establish an adjudication bureau in 2021, the town needed state authorization because its population was less than 300,000. By 2022, new census data showed the town had exceeded 300,000.
Code enforcement in the Town of Oyster Bay falls under the Department of Planning and Development.
Commissioner Timothy Zike said the department has 10 code enforcement inspectors and 16 other inspectors who review various complaints.
After the department receives the complaint, an inspector will investigate. Then, the town can issue a notice of violation to homeowners and advise them to correct issues in a given time frame.
"If it's not addressed in a certain amount of time, then our department will take the next step and issue an appearance ticket for district court," Zike said.
Criminal cases will not be heard at the adjudication bureau and will be directed to district court in Hempstead.
Harrison, of the NYCLU, said he worried the new bureau would pit neighbors against one another.
"What that can lead to is this sort of snitch culture where people report on their neighbors if somebody's grass is too long, or if somebody's shutters are the wrong color," Harrison said. "It makes it easier for people to anonymously gripe about their neighbors."
With Joshua Needelman
The Town of Oyster Bay is working to establish a town-run court system to adjudicate code violations in-house — moving the cases away from the state court system.
Oyster Bay would become the first Nassau County town to operate its own adjudication bureau to resolve issues ranging from overgrown grass in front yards to expired building permits. State lawmakers attempted to implement a bureau for Oyster Bay in 2021, but the legislation died in Albany.
Town officials tried again in March 2023. The town board established the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication to hear cases at Town Hall on Audrey Avenue in Oyster Bay. The new court could be up and running next year, officials said.
The bureau intends to help residents comply with town code at Town Hall, which is in the same complex as the town's building department, Oyster Bay officials have said. It will be more convenient for residents who won't have to make separate trips to district court in Hempstead, he said.
"It's all about compliance," Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said in an interview. "We give them plenty of time to fix whatever the problem might be."
But Democratic lawmakers, as well as representatives of the New York Civil Liberties Union, have opposed the initiative.
Justin Harrison, an NYCLU senior policy counsel, expressed concern about Oyster Bay prosecuting cases in a court it also operates.
Harrison said he worried the court would force residents to go before the municipality "that gave them the violation in the first place" and before "judges who were picked out by the friends who serve on the board."
Assemb. Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove) questioned the town's intentions.
"My fear or my concern here is that this simply will turn into a cash cow for the town of Oyster Bay to the detriment of our citizens," Lavine said in an interview.
A spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration, which oversees New York's court system, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the plan.
First steps
Code violations create a source of recurring revenue for the Town of Oyster Bay.
Last year, the town collected about $400,000 in court fines. The state court system takes a 15% cut, according to Brian Nevin, a town spokesman.
Town officials are taking steps to empower the bureau to adjudicate a range of violations.
Last month, the Oyster Bay Town Board held a hearing to consider referring "public assembly" violations to the bureau. That could include businesses that exceed occupancy limits.
Oyster Bay would join Suffolk towns such as Huntington, Babylon, East Hampton and Islip, which operate their own adjudication bureaus. North Hempstead and Hempstead do not have an adjudication bureau and refer cases to district court.
Municipalities with populations between 300,000 and 350,000 are allowed to create bureaus without special state authorization.
When Oyster Bay tried to establish an adjudication bureau in 2021, the town needed state authorization because its population was less than 300,000. By 2022, new census data showed the town had exceeded 300,000.
Enforcement
Code enforcement in the Town of Oyster Bay falls under the Department of Planning and Development.
Commissioner Timothy Zike said the department has 10 code enforcement inspectors and 16 other inspectors who review various complaints.
After the department receives the complaint, an inspector will investigate. Then, the town can issue a notice of violation to homeowners and advise them to correct issues in a given time frame.
"If it's not addressed in a certain amount of time, then our department will take the next step and issue an appearance ticket for district court," Zike said.
Criminal cases will not be heard at the adjudication bureau and will be directed to district court in Hempstead.
Harrison, of the NYCLU, said he worried the new bureau would pit neighbors against one another.
"What that can lead to is this sort of snitch culture where people report on their neighbors if somebody's grass is too long, or if somebody's shutters are the wrong color," Harrison said. "It makes it easier for people to anonymously gripe about their neighbors."
With Joshua Needelman
An in-house court
- Oyster Bay collects about $400,000 in annual revenue from code violation fines.
- State legislation to create a similar bureau failed in 2021.
- Oyster Bay would be Nassau's first town with an adjudication bureau. In Suffolk, there are adjudication bureaus in the towns of Huntington, Babylon, East Hampton and Islip.
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