[Adopted 8-1-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-2[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed
and replaced former Art. III, Chimneys, Stovepipes and Solid-Fuel-Burning
Stoves, adopted 10-6-1980 by Ord. No. 6-80.
East Greenville Borough shall join with Upper
Hanover Township, Pennsburg Borough, Red Hill Borough, Green Lane
Borough and Marlborough Township, contiguous units of local government
situate in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, each of which has chosen
to adopt, as its municipal building code, the Uniform Construction
Code contained in 34 Pa. Code, Chapters 401-405, in establishing a
five-member board, to be known as the Upper Montgomery Board of Appeals
to hear and decide appeals taken from the decisions of each of their
municipal code enforcement officers.
A.
Members of the Upper Montgomery Board of Appeals shall
be selected by majority vote of those serving on a nominating committee
comprised of the presidents of the borough councils and chairmen of
the boards of supervisors of the member municipalities.
B.
The initial members of the Upper Montgomery Board
of Appeals shall be chosen to serve for staggered terms. One member
shall be chosen to serve for a term of two years, two members chosen
to serve for terms of three years, and two members shall be chosen
to serve for terms of four years. Subsequent appointments shall be
for terms of four years each. If any member of the Board should resign
or be unable to complete his tenure, the nominating committee shall
select a replacement to serve for the balance of his term. Board members
shall not be limited in the number of successive terms they may serve.
D.
No member of the governing body of a constituent municipality
or any of their code enforcement officers may serve upon the Upper
Montgomery Board of Appeals. In the absence of a resident from one
of the constituent municipalities who is willing and qualified to
accept Board appointment, the nominating committee may seek a qualified
nonresident to serve.
It shall be the function of the Upper Montgomery
Board of Appeals to rule upon:
A.
Appeals from decisions rendered by the code enforcement
officers of the member municipalities regarding the meaning of Uniform
Construction Code provisions or the applicability of such provisions
to prospective building projects.
B.
Applications for variance from the provisions of the
Uniform Construction Code or for extensions to the period of time
granted an owner by either the code or the code enforcement officer
of a member municipality to take some required action.
A.
In considering an appeal, the Board shall find for
the owner/appellant if it determines that:
(1)
The true intent of the Uniform Construction Code,
or the act which establishes it as a statewide code, was incorrectly
interpreted by the code enforcement officer;
(2)
The provisions of the Pennsylvania Construction Code
Act, Act of Nov. 10, 1999, P.L. 491, 35 P.S. § 7210.101
et seq., do not apply to the circumstances out of which arose the
decision appealed from; or
(3)
A form of construction equivalent to that prescribed
by the Uniform Construction Code is to be used.
B.
In ruling on a request for extension of time or variance,
the Board shall consider the following:
(1)
The reasonableness of the Uniform Construction Code's
applicability to a given set of circumstances.
(2)
The degree to which the variance or extension of time
requested deviates from strict adherence to the requirements of the
Uniform Construction Code.
(3)
The extent to which granting the variance or extension
of time requested will create an unsafe condition.
(4)
The availability of such professional or technical
personnel as is needed to bring the appellant's project into compliance.
(5)
The availability of such materials and equipment as
is needed to bring the appellant's project into compliance.
(6)
The efforts of the appellant to come into compliance
as quickly as possible.
(7)
Compensatory measures that will provide equivalent
protection to the community.
A.
An owner seeking relief from the Upper Montgomery
Board of Appeals shall commence proceedings before that Board by filing
a petition with the code enforcement officer of the member municipality
in which his property is situate. Petitions shall be on a form prepared
by the Board and provided to appellants for such purpose. Filing shall
be complete when the petition, with supporting documentation and filing
fees, is postmarked or hand delivered to the pertinent code enforcement
officer.
B.
An appeal to the Upper Montgomery Board of Appeals
will suspend, for the duration of the Board's deliberations, all municipal
enforcement efforts against the appellant, excepting those brought
under § 403.84 dealing with unsafe buildings, structures
or equipment.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 34 Pa. Code, Chapters 401-405.
C.
Unless an appellant, in his petition requests a hearing,
the Board shall render its decision based upon a consideration of
the petition along with such supporting documents and legal memoranda
as accompany it.
D.
Being an agency, as such is defined in the Sunshine
Act, 65 Pa. C.S.A. § 701 et. seq., the Upper Montgomery
Board of Appeals can take official action only at an open meeting
conducted in accordance with public notice. The Board shall meet to
consider appellant's petition, or to conduct a hearing if such has
been requested, at a meeting to be held within 10 days of the date
a filing is complete. Written notification of the date, time and place
when and where the petition will be considered or the evidence heard
shall be given to appellant and the Code Enforcement Officer.
E.
The Board shall provide a written notice of its decision
to the appellant and to the code enforcement officer. In its decision
the Board of Appeals may:
F.
The Upper Montgomery Board of Appeals may not act
upon appeals, requests for variance or for extension of time relating
to accessibility. Such appeals and applications are within the exclusive
purview of the Accessibility Advisory Board under § 403.142
of the Uniform Construction Code.
A.
The Upper Montgomery Board of Appeals shall reorganize
annually, at its first scheduled meeting of the year, by selecting
one of its members as Chairperson and another as Secretary.
B.
The function of the Chairperson shall be to conduct
meetings and preside at hearings before the Board. In the Chairperson's
absence, the Secretary shall assume the Chair with a member selected
from the balance of those in attendance substituting as Secretary.
C.
The function of the Secretary shall be to prepare
and publish public notice of Board meetings, keep minutes of all Board
proceedings, prepare all items of Board correspondence and draft and
circulate the decisions of the Board. In the absence of the Secretary,
a member other than the Chairperson, selected from those in attendance,
shall assume his role.
D.
In all matters brought before the Board, the presence
of three of the Board's five members shall be sufficient to allow
for the transaction of business.
A.
When it considers an appeal taken with respect to
the impact of the Uniform Construction Code upon a construction project
within the Borough of East Greenville, the Upper Montgomery Board
of Appeals functions as an internal agency of the Borough. It shall
apply the Uniform Construction Code with such modifications thereto
as the Borough Council of the Borough of East Greenville has enacted.
All Board meetings pertinent to such an appeal shall be held at an
East Greenville facility. The Borough, through its Code Enforcement
Officer, shall be a party to each proceeding pertinent to construction
within its borders.
B.
The Borough of East Greenville does hereby establish
Five Hundred ($500.00) Dollars as a fee imposed upon those persons
who present a petition to the Upper Montgomery Board of Appeals pertinent
to construction within the Borough. This fee shall be used to defray
the cost of public notice of any Board meetings held to hear or consider
the matter raised in appellant's petition, to compensate the members
of the Board and to cover any other costs associated with the proceedings.
Within 30 days of the date of the written decision, the Borough Secretary
shall forward to the appellant an itemized statement listing all draws
upon the fee paid at the outset of the appeal. The statement shall
be accompanied by the Borough's check in the sum of the unused portion
of the appellant's fee.
Any member municipality may depart the Upper
Montgomery Board of Appeals by advising the remaining members of its
intention to do so.
