[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of New Wilmington 12-4-1967
by Ord. No. 286 (Ch. VIII, Part 1, of the 1967 Code). Amendments
noted where applicable.]
There is hereby adopted by the Borough of New Wilmington, for the purpose of prescribing regulations governing conditions hazardous to life and property from fire and explosion, that certain code known as the "Fire Prevention Code, Abbreviated Edition," recommended by the American Insurance Association, being particularly the 1965 Edition thereof, and the whole thereof, save and except such portions thereof as are hereinafter deleted, modified or amended by § 149-4 of this chapter, copies of which code have been and are now filed in the office of the Borough Secretary. The same is hereby adopted and incorporated as fully as if set out at length herein, and from the date on which this chapter shall take effect, the provisions thereof shall be controlling within the limits of the Borough of New Wilmington.
The code hereby adopted shall be enforced by the Fire Prevention Officer
of the Borough of New Wilmington, who shall be appointed by the Borough Council
from time to time, shall serve at the pleasure of the Council and shall receive
such compensation for his services as the Council shall from time to time
determine.
The limits referred to in Section 53b of the code hereby adopted, in
which the storage of explosives and blasting agents is prohibited, the limits
referred to in Section 74a of the code hereby adopted, in which the storage
of Class I liquids in outside aboveground storage tanks is prohibited and
the limits referred to in Section 114 of the code hereby adopted, in which
bulk storage of liquefied petroleum gas is restricted are hereby established
as the entire Borough of New Wilmington.
The code hereby adopted is amended and changed in the following respects:
A.
The term "Fire Prevention Officer" shall be substituted
for the term "Chief of the Fire Department" wherever the latter term shall
appear in the code.
B.
In Section 16, the term "certified mail" shall be substituted
for the term "registered mail."
C.
Paragraph c of Section 17 is hereby amended by adding
the following sentence at the end thereof: "No permit fee or part thereof
shall be refunded upon revocation of any permit."
D.
Section 17 is further amended by adding the following
paragraph thereto: "d. All permits shall be issued by the Fire Prevention
Officer, upon payment of a fee as set from time to time by resolution of the
Borough Council, which shall be for the use of the borough. Each permit shall
be valid for the period of time specified by the Fire Prevention Officer,
but in no instance for longer than one year from the date of issuance of the
permit."
E.
MUNICIPALITY
INSPECTOR
Section 18 is hereby amended by adding the following
thereto:
The Borough of New Wilmington.
The Fire Prevention Officer or any person designated or appointed
by the Borough Council as an assistant to the Fire Prevention Officer.
F.
Article 4 of said code, "Dry Cleaning Plants," is hereby
deleted.
G.
Section 52 is hereby amended by adding the following
at the end thereof: "Provided: no permit need be obtained from the borough
under this section where a license or permit is required by law or departmental
regulation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and where a valid state license
or permit is in possession of the person desiring to have, keep, use, store
or transport explosives or blasting agents."
H.
Paragraph a of Section 53 of the code is hereby amended
to read as follows: "a. The manufacture of any explosives, blasting agents,
including small arms ammunition, and pyrotechnics, as herein defined, is hereby
prohibited within the borough. this prohibition shall not apply to hand loading
of small arms ammunition for personal use when not for resale."
The Fire Prevention Officer, with written approval of Borough Council,
shall have the authority to modify any of the provisions of the code hereby
adopted upon application, in writing, from the owner or lessee, 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 every such modification, when granted or allowed, and the decision of the
Fire Prevention Officer thereon shall be committed to writing; one copy thereof,
signed by the Fire Prevention Officer, shall be filed with the Borough Secretary,
and another such signed copy shall be furnished the applicant.
Whenever the Fire Prevention Officer shall disapprove an application
or refuse a permit applied for, or when it is claimed that the provisions
of the code hereby adopted 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 Fire Prevention Officer to the Borough Council
within 30 days from the date of the decision appealed. The decision of the
Council shall be handed down within 30 days from the date of the appeal.
In interpreting any of the provisions of the code hereby adopted, the
following principles shall be governing:
A.
The code shall not supersede any provision of any law
of the commonwealth or of any regulation promulgated by any department or
agency of the commonwealth by authority of law, where such law or regulation
is in conflict with or identical to a provision of the said code or where
such law or regulation deals with a subject that local authorities have no
authority to regulate; provided, however, that any provision of said code
that is stricter than or in addition to any state law or regulation governing
a particular subject or activity shall be in effect and shall be enforced
within the Borough of New Wilmington, subject to the penalties herein prescribed
for violation of said code hereby adopted.
B.
Mention in or regulation by the code hereby adopted of
any specific use of property or of any business or industry shall not in itself
authorize such use of property. It is hereby declared that it is the intent
of the Borough Council that permitted or prohibited uses of property within
the borough shall be as governed by the Zoning Ordinance[1] of the borough, as amended and supplemented.
A.
Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of
the code hereby adopted or who shall fail to comply herewith or who shall
violate or fail to comply with any order issued 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 shall have been taken or who shall fail to comply with
such an order as affirmed by the Borough Council or by a court of competent
jurisdiction within the time limit fixed therein shall severally, for each
and every such violation and noncompliance, be punishable by a fine not exceeding
$1,000, plus costs of prosecution for each offense. The imposition of any
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 violation
of defect within a reasonable time; and when not otherwise specified, each
10 days that any prohibited condition is maintained shall constitute a separate
offense.
[Amended 1-3-2000 by Ord. No. 442]
B.
The application of the above penalty shall
not be held to prevent the enforced removal of the prohibited conditions.
