Showing ordinances that apply to Siena College, NY
Siena College is an unincorporated community (population 2,281) in Albany County, New York. Because Siena College is not an incorporated city, it does not have its own municipal code. Instead, Albany County ordinances apply directly to properties here. The wildfire zones rules below are the ones that govern your area.
Albany County has no formal wildfire hazard severity zones, but NYSDEC enforces a statewide residential brush-burning ban from March 16 to May 14 under 6 NYCRR §215. The Albany Pine Bush Preserve uses prescribed fire for ecological management, and ECL §9-1105 authorizes emergency burn bans during elevated fire-danger ratings.
New York State does not operate a California-style wildfire hazard zone mapping system, and Albany County has not adopted local WUI (wildland-urban interface) defensible space rules. Instead, fire risk is regulated through NYSDEC statewide rules: 6 NYCRR §215 prohibits open burning of brush, leaves, and residential debris between March 16 and May 14 each year, the peak fire-risk period for the Northeast. Outside this window, burning of untreated wood in towns under 20,000 population is allowed, but campfires must be under 3 feet high and 4 feet wide per 6 NYCRR §215.3. Albany County contains two notable fire-prone ecosystems: the Albany Pine Bush Preserve (a globally rare inland pitch pine-scrub oak barrens) where the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission conducts prescribed burns under ECL Article 46, and the Helderberg Escarpment in the Hilltowns (Berne, Knox, Rensselaerville) with mixed hardwood forests. The DEC Region 4 office monitors fire-danger ratings daily during fire season and can issue emergency burn bans under ECL §9-1105 when conditions warrant. Albany County Local Law requires compliance with NYS Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code (19 NYCRR Part 1225), which references IBC/IFC provisions for ignition-resistant construction in designated WUI areas (none currently mapped in Albany County). Homeowners in wooded Hilltowns areas are encouraged by DEC's Firewise program to maintain 30-foot defensible space, though this is voluntary. Property insurance underwriters (not local code) increasingly evaluate brush clearance and roof material for rural Hilltowns properties.
Open-burning violations during March 16 to May 14 ban: DEC administrative fines $500 to $1,500 first offense, up to $10,000 for repeated or wildfire-causing violations per ECL §71-2703. Escaped fires causing wildland damage: civil liability for suppression costs plus criminal charges under Penal §240.20 reckless endangerment. Violating an ECL §9-1105 emergency burn ban: misdemeanor.
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