Babylon removes pot possession from public nuisance law

Babylon Town officials have updated it's public nuisance law. Credit: Barry Sloan
The Town of Babylon has made changes to its public nuisance law, removing certain types of offenses that allow the town to take possession of homes.
Under the public nuisance law, the town was able to board up homes and evict all occupants if multiple arrests for offenses such as prostitution or gang assault occur within a year at a property. The law is also known as the "crack house" law since it was enacted in the mid-1990s at the height of the crack cocaine epidemic.
The town has now changed the time frame for arrests to two years. They have also removed marijuana possession as one of the qualifying offenses and are giving the town discretion in considering arrests involving domestic violence.
Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer said marijuana possession was removed to reflect changes in state law partially decriminalizing marijuana possession. He said the town may still count arrests related to the growing and distribution of marijuana.
The change in counting domestic violence arrests as part of the law’s arrest tally is because of a 2019 state law that protects tenants from losing their housing based on 911 calls. Schaffer said the town doesn’t "want to dissuade anyone from reporting domestic violence."
The supervisor said the extended time frame between arrests was done to keep owners "on the straight and narrow" especially in rental situations. It allows property owners time to evict problem tenants, he said, and it also "keeps the property owners on notice that they need to be very careful and selective as to who they’re bringing in."
The town’s use of the public nuisance law was minimal in the years after the crack crisis subsided but the town began ramping up proceedings in late 2019. The town held public hearings on nine properties under the law in 2020, but only two of those cases resulted in homes boarded up. Schaffer said the town typically gets compliance once warning notices are given.
"The goal here is not to board it up," he said. "The goal is to alert them, tell them that we’re not going to tolerate this and give us your game plan and we’ll work with you on resolving it."

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