A public hearing has been set for Monday April 12
By Andrew Harris, photo from Wgpfoundation.org
Residents of the Village of Canaserega NY have been voicing serious concerns about a sweeping “Local Law No. 1, Establishing Property Maintenance Regulations,” as known as the, “Property Maintenance Law,” PML for this purpose. The village of Canaseraga will hold a Public Hearing on the law on Monday April 13:
The state purpose of the PML seems generic, quaint, and reasonable:
All properties in the Village of Canaseraga shall be maintained in a safe, clean condition and shall pose no risk to occupants, neighbors, and other Village residents.
What has residents concerned is the amount of specific power the law vests in the village code enforcement officers. The village has contracted all code enforcement duties to MACE, Municipal Association for Code Enforcement, a group of code enforcement officers serving many municipalities in Western New York.
Under this new local law some of the regulations are not sitting well with residents. Some examples from the text of the law:
“Grass and turf in any front yard shall not exceed seven inches (7″) in height”
“Dead or incurably diseased trees shall be cut down”
“Prohibited Exterior Materials. Materials not designed as finished exterior wall coverings shall not be used or maintained as a permanent exterior surface, including but not limited to:
a) Plywood or oriented strand board (OSB)
b) House wrap or other WRB materials
c) Tarps, plastic sheeting, or similar coverings
d) Insulation board not designed as exterior cladding”
Prohibited: “The open storage of junk, garbage, litter, rubbish, and/or waste materials, regardless of
quantity.”
“Front Yard Prohibition: No storage structure shall be placed in the front yard or within twenty (20) feet of the edge of any public road.”
“Prohibition of Open Storage. The open storage of junk, junk vehicles, and junk motor homes is prohibited within the Village of Canaseraga”
Residents
Reaction from residents acknowledges that Canaseraga needs some clean up but that this new law goes to far. The “Village of Canaseraga info” Facebook page is full of debate:
Matt Watkins said:
” I do agree that this community does need help with some clean up.. there is alot of things that do need to be cleaned up but the way “they” want to FORCE this is wrong. We are a SMALL community and to be honest alot of us do things at home like work on vehicles mowers and other automotive things, some cut wood, some have building supplies..”
Gretchen Townsend said:
“I know how much we all love this Community and want to better it in the best way we can…. It’s been a long time since this Village has come together, maybe this Situation is what we needed to come together 
“
A petition has been circulated on line, stating that
Law 1 2026 is being advocated without sufficient input from the residents of Canaseraga. It plans to introduce regulations that could result in drastic changes that we, the residents, have not agreed to. The transparency promised by our local government seems to have failed in this instance, leaving many in the dark about the details and ramifications.
You can find that petition here.
Village of Canaseraga Mayor Edna Brewster responded to our inquiry and issued this statement ahead of the Monday April 13 public hearing:
“I understand this law represents a significant change. We’re not asking anything of this community that isn’t already expected elsewhere. The reality is that our local laws haven’t been updated in over 50 years, so we’re now working to catch up.“
