The town of Ulster is proposing a law that that would require contractors to secure a license to work in the town, but the initial reaction to early wording is negative. ?At an Ulster Town Board public hearing Aug. 6 that attracted about 100 people, only one person spoke favorably of the law while 20 spoke against it.
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Town Supervisor Nick Woerner said the law will help property owners identify legitimate contractors and recover funds if there are problems with projects and could speed some projects by reducing the time it takes town officials to ensure a contractor has insurance before issuing a building permit.
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Among concerns expressed at the hearing was leeway in the law that gives town officials discretion to turn down requests for licenses and the amount of personal information about business owners a license request would require for approval.?“I do not challenge your intentions to protect the public from unscrupulous people who do contracting work,” said Catherine Patrinello, spokeswoman for New York State Landlords and Homeowners. “What I do suggest is that the proposed law will hurt more innocent people than punish guilty ones.” ?She said the law was so loosely written that a building official could deny a license based on “subjective judgment.”
If adopted, the law would affect anyone who “purports to have the capacity to … construct, alter, repair, add to, subtract from, improve, move, wreck or demolish any building, highway, road, parking facility, excavation or other structure, project, development or improvement.”?Other work covered under the law would include scaffolding or other structures or work in connection with or cleaning of grounds or structures; preparation and removal of roadway construction zones, lane closures, flagging, or traffic diversion; and installation, repair, maintenance, or calibration of monitoring equipment for underground storage tanks.?The board expects to review the proposed law and discuss it again at a meeting later this month.
