[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Common
Council of the City of Westminster as indicated in article histories.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted as Ch. 7, Art. I, of the 1972 Code, as amended
through 1990]
It shall be unlawful for any person without
proper authority so to do to use, remove, damage, deface, tamper with
or render inoperative any property or equipment of the Fire Department,
including the fire alarm system thereof, or any fire hydrant of the
City or water main supplying water to any fire hydrant or to obstruct
access by the Fire Department to any fire hydrant; and it shall be
unlawful for any person without proper authority so to do to remove,
damage, deface, tamper with, render inoperative or obstruct access
to any fire escape or other fire exit from any structure or any fire
extinguisher or sprinkler system in any structure.
[Adopted as Ch. 7, Art. II, of the 1972 Code, as amended
through 1990]
For the purpose of prescribing regulations governing
conditions hazardous to life and property from fire or explosion,
there is hereby adopted that certain code known as the "Fire Prevention
Code, Abbreviated Edition, 1965," recommended by the American Insurance
Association, a copy of which is and shall remain on file in the office
of the City Clerk, and such code is hereby incorporated in and made
a part of this section as fully as though it were set out at length
herein; and the code adopted by this section shall be known and may
be cited as the "Fire Prevention Code of the City," and the provisions
thereof shall be controlling within the City and as to fire hazard
nuisances within 1/2 mile beyond the City.
As used in this article and the Fire Prevention
Code adopted herein, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
The executive officer, as defined in this section.
The officer designated by the Mayor, with the approval of
the Common Council, to administer and enforce the provisions of the
Fire Prevention Code.
This City.
The limits referred to in Section 53b of the
Fire Prevention Code, in which storage of explosives and blasting
agents is prohibited, the limits referred to in Section 74a of that
code, in which storage of Class I liquids in outside aboveground tanks
is prohibited, and the limits referred to in Section 114 of that code,
in which bulk storage of liquefied petroleum gas is restricted, are
hereby established as the entire City limits, except as may be provided
otherwise in the Zoning Ordinance.[1]
A.
The legislative body shall establish reasonable fees
for permits required by the Fire Prevention Code in the General Fee
Ordinance.[1] No permit for which a fee is required by such ordinance
shall be valid until initialed by the City Clerk-Treasurer upon payment
of such fee. A copy of such schedule shall be maintained on file in
the office of the executive officer.
[Amended 11-24-2008 by Ord. No. 791]
B.
Permits required by the Fire Prevention Code shall
be issued by the executive officer and shall be valid for a period
of one year from the date of issue, unless a shorter period is specified
in any permit, provided that where a license is required in addition
to a permit and such license is renewable annually, such permit may
be made valid for an indefinite period.
The executive officer shall have power to modify
any of the provisions of the Fire Prevention Code upon application,
in writing, by the owner or lessee of the property thereby affected
or his duly authorized agent when there are practical difficulties
in the way of carrying out the strict letter of the code, provided
that the spirit of the code shall be observed, public safety secured
and substantial justice done. The particulars of such modification
when granted or allowed and the decision of the executive officer
thereon shall be entered upon the records of the Department, and a
signed copy shall be furnished to the applicant.
Whenever the executive officer shall disapprove
an application or refuse to grant a permit applied for or when it
is claimed that the provisions of the Fire Prevention Code do not
apply or that the true intent and meaning of the code have been misconstrued
or wrongly interpreted, the applicant may appeal from the decision
of the executive officer to the legislative body within 30 days from
the date of the decision appealed.
A.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of the Fire Prevention Code or fail to comply therewith or who shall violate or fail to comply with any order made thereunder or who shall build in violation of any detailed statement of specifications or plans submitted and approved thereunder or any certificate or permit issued thereunder and from which no appeal has been taken or who shall fail to comply with such an order as affirmed or modified by the legislative body or by a court of competent jurisdiction within the time fixed therein shall severally, for each and every such violation and noncompliance, respectively, be guilty of an offense and, upon conviction, shall be punished as provided in § 1-18A, and the imposition of one penalty for any violation shall not excuse the violation or permit it to continue; and all such persons shall be required to correct or remedy such violations or defects within a reasonable time; and when not otherwise specified, each 10 days that prohibited conditions are maintained shall constitute a separate offense.
B.
The application of the above penalty shall not be
held to prevent the enforced removal of prohibited conditions.
If, in the case, any provision of the Fire Prevention
Code of the City is found to conflict with any applicable provision
of the State or County Fire Prevention Code or any rule or regulation
of the Fire Prevention Commission or any statute, the provision which
is more stringent or imposes a higher standard shall govern.
