Governor signs lawn litter law

Governor Eliot Spitzer has signed into law the “Lawn Litter” bill, authored by Senator Frank Padavan and sponsored in the Assembly by Assemblymember Mark S. Weprin, which will empower property owners to ban circulars, menus, leaflets, and advertisements being left on their property.
According to the new law, which should take effect in January, 2008, if a New York City property owner posts a sign indicating that distributed materials may not be left on the property, business owners must comply.
Weprin was careful to note that there is a specific exemption in the law for newspapers, like the Northeast Queens Courier Extra, and other free circulars that are published regularly and have appreciable news content. “We protect the first amendment,” he said.
Any business owner who distributes advertisements in violation of a property owner’s sign may face a civil penalty of between $250 and $1,000 per violation.
“We passed the bill four times in the Senate,” said Padavan, continuing, “It took a letter-writing campaign to the Assembly Speaker and hard work by my colleague [Assemblymember] Weprin to get it to the governor’s desk.”
“Quality of life issues such as neighborhood cleanliness are important for communities across New York City,” Weprin said. “The enactment of the ‘Lawn Litter’ law is a big win for all residents who want a cleaner, safer, more livable city.”
Before the law can take effect, implementing legislation, requested by New York City and the Governor, must be enacted in order for the law to take full effect.
The Senate and Assembly have to agree on its specific provisions - like the minimum size and exact wording for the signs.
Full agreement has been established and legislation, known as a “chapter amendment,” will be acted upon in an anticipated September Special Legislative session, according to Padavan.
“We started this at the behest of New York City,” Padavan said. “It took a tremendous amount of leg-work getting agreement between the city, Senate assembly codes committee, and all their counsels.”
According to Weprin, one provision of the amendment will be that in multiple family dwellings, the property owner could only put up the sign prohibiting distribution of unsolicited advertising if the occupant of every unit consented.
If not, the owner would have to post a sign indicating how many residents wish to receive advertisements and where exactly the materials may be left.
In owner-occupied dwellings with three units or fewer, the owner would have the exclusive authority to post the sign.