Southampton, NY Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Chapter 316, Vehicles, Junked and Abandoned, dates to a 1966 Town Board ordinance and applies to any location within the Town of Southampton, including private property. Section 316-2 defines a JUNKED VEHICLE broadly to include trailers, campers, boats, motorcycles and automobiles that lack a currently valid license plate or state-issued registration and are rusted, wrecked, discarded, dismantled, partly dismantled, inoperative or abandoned to the point of no longer being fit for legal use on public highways or waterways; the Building Inspector, ordinance enforcement officer or fire marshal makes the final call on that classification.

Under § 316-3, once an officer classifies a vehicle as junked, the owner gets a notice specifying the defect and 30 days to remove it, or less in an emergency. The owner may request a hearing within 15 days of that notice, heard before the public safety commission, which can affirm or rescind the classification; court rules of evidence do not apply. If the owner still fails to remove the vehicle, the Building Inspector may have it removed under contract, and § 316-4 requires that notice be served at least 30 days before the compliance deadline, either by posting it on the premises and vehicle and mailing a copy by certified or registered mail to the owner's address on the tax rolls.

All removal, administration and handling costs become a lien on the land under § 316-3F, and the Town may also sue the owner directly to recover those costs. Chapter 199 (Junkyards) and Chapter 261 (Property Maintenance) address related but separate violations, such as a commercial junkyard operation or a broader property-maintenance nuisance.