[Adopted 5-19-1987 by Ord. No. 828]
[Amended 10-20-1987 by Ord. No. 833; 5-21-1991 by Ord. No.
872; 9-21-1993 by Ord. No. 887]
A certain document, copies of which are on file in the office of the Secretary of the Borough of Lewisburg, being marked and known as the "BOCA National Property Maintenance Code, 1990," or such newer edition of the said Code then in existence, as published by the Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc., with the changes noted herein for inspections, permits, certain procedures and penalties, is hereby adopted as the Property Maintenance Code of the Borough of Lewisburg and hereafter designated as such; for the control of buildings and structures as herein provided; and each and all of the regulations, provisions, penalties, conditions and terms of the said BOCA National Property Maintenance Code, its supplements and amendments, are hereby incorporated herein by reference and made a part hereof as if fully set out in this article, except as hereinafter modified in § 152-20 of this article.
[Amended 10-20-1987 by Ord. No. 833; 5-17-1988 by Ord. No.
836; 11-15-1988 by Ord. No. 839; 12-20-1988 by Ord. No. 841; 6-19-1990 by Ord. No. 859; 9-21-1993 by Ord. No. 887; 11-21-2000 by Ord. No.
922; 12-28-2000 by Ord. No. 927; 5-15-2001 by Ord. No. 929]
The following sections and subsections are hereby
added to and inserted in the BOCA National Property Maintenance Code
adopted as the Property Maintenance Code of the Borough as if they
were established by the said Code or existing provision of the said
Code are amended and revised in the following respects:
A.
Section PM-105.3. Right of entry. The following subsections
shall be added to this section to read in their entirety as follows:
(1)
The Building Official of the Borough shall have the
right to make inspections of any structure or premises either annually
or less or more often than annually in his/her sole discretion.
(2)
In addition to any inspection that may otherwise be
required for the issuance, suspension or revocation of a public housing
permit, the Building Official shall inspect a structure or premises
whenever:
(3)
The Building Official shall charge an inspection fee
for each inspection made in accordance with the fee schedule of the
Borough and as such fee schedule may, from time to time, be amended
or modified by resolution of the Lewisburg Borough Council.
B.
Section PM1-106.2 Penalty. This section shall be revised
to read in its entirety as follows:
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Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate
any provision of this code shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary
proceeding before a district justice, be sentenced to pay a fine of
not more than $1,000, together with the costs of prosecution or be
imprisoned for a period not to exceed 30 days, or both. Each day that
a violation continues after due notice has been served in accordance
with the terms and provisions hereof, shall be deemed a separate offense.
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C.
Section PM-111.2 Membership of the board. This section
shall be revised to read in its entirety as follows:
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In order to protect and maintain the existing
structures in the Borough by vigorous enforcement of the provisions
of this code, there shall be and is hereby created a Code Appeals
Board, hereafter referred to as the Board, consisting of seven members
who shall be appointed by the Borough as follows:
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(a)
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Two for five years.
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(b)
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One for four years.
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(c)
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One for three years.
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(d)
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One for two years.
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(e)
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One for one year.
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Each initial member shall serve until the first
day of January next following the expiration of the term of their
appointment or until a successor has bee appointed. Thereafter, each
new member shall serve for five years or until a successor has been
appointed.
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D.
Section PM-111.2.1 Qualifications. This section shall
be revised to read in its entirety as follows:
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Each member of the Board shall be a licensed
professional engineer or architect or a builder or superintendent
of building construction with at least 10 years experience, five years
of which shall have been in responsible charge of work.
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E.
Section PM-111.6 Board decision. This section shall
be revised to read in its entirety as follows:
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The Board shall hear all appeals relative to
the enforcement of this code and by a concurring vote of a majority
of its members present and voting shall reverse, affirm or modify,
in whole or in part, the decision appealed from and shall make such
order or determination as in its opinion out to be made. Failure to
secure such concurring votes shall be deemed a confirmation of the
decision of the Building Official. The Building Official shall take
immediate action in accordance with the decision of the Board.
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F.
Section PM-112.0 Public housing permits. This section
and the following subsections shall be added to and inserted in said
Code to read in their entirety as follows:
(1)
Permits. No person shall operate or rent to another
for occupancy any of the structures governed by the Property Maintenance
Code until such person has been issued a public housing permit by
the Building Official of the Borough. Such permit shall be separate
from any building or other permit required by any other ordinance
of the Borough.
(2)
Application for permits. Application for said permits
shall be made to the Building Official on forms furnished by it and
shall include the following:
(a)
The name and address of the owner and if the
owner resides more than 30 miles from the Borough for 30 or more days
at any time, also the name and address of the operator, who must be
a person residing within 30 miles of the Borough, to be designated
by the owner as the owner's agent for the purpose of receipt of service
of notices and other legal documents as provided in this article.
(b)
The location of the structure by street and
number.
(c)
The number of rooming and/or dwelling units
available for occupancy and the number of persons who may be accommodated
in accordance with the provisions of this code.
(d)
Unless the use of the structure changes or an
alteration thereof results in a change in the number of units or the
habitable occupancy of such structure, in which event a new permit
must be applied for, a permit shall be renewed annually on the anniversary
date of its issuance upon payment of the applicable renewal fee, subject
to the right of the Building Official to reinspect the structure at
his/her discretion.
(3)
Issuance of permits.
(a)
The Building Official shall issue a permit to
the applicant upon inspection of the structure as set forth in § PM-105.3
of the Property Maintenance Code concerning "right of entry," as amended
by this article, provided that this limitation shall only apply to
the issuance of an initial or new permit to the applicant, although
nothing herein shall affect the Building Official's right to inspect
the structure at his/her sole discretion in accordance with the said
section and also upon reasonable proof that:
[1]
The structure complies with provision of this
code and any other applicable codes and ordinances of the Borough.
(b)
If an applicant is denied a permit because the
structure does not comply with any of the provisions of the foregoing
paragraph of this subsection, than the Building Official shall promptly
notify the applicant of such denial and the reason or reasons therefor
and allow the applicant to bring the structure into compliance within
the time period specified by the Building Official, the application
for such permit will be deemed void and the applicant must thereafter
apply for a new permit and pay the fees applicable to such new permit.
(c)
A permit shall be valid for a period of one
year from the date of its issuance, unless otherwise suspended or
revoked as hereinafter provided.
(d)
Unless the use of the structure changes or an
alteration thereof results in a change in the number of units or the
habitable occupancy of such structure, in which event a new permit
must be applied for, a permit shall be renewed annually on the anniversary
date of its issuance upon payment of the applicable renewal fee and
submission in writing of the dates during the prior year when monthly
inspections were made of the structure pursuant to Subsection (G)
of this section, subject to the right of the Building Official to
reinspect the structure at his/her discretion.
(4)
Permit fees.
(a)
The fee payable upon application for a permit
shall be $50 per structure, plus $10 for each additional dwelling
and/or rooming unit of such structure.
(b)
The renewal fee shall be $50 per structure,
plus $10 for each additional dwelling and/or rooming unit of such
structure, payable annually on the anniversary date of the issuance
of the permit.
(c)
Inspection fees shall be charged at the hourly
rate then in effect with a minimum charge of one hour.
(d)
Failure to pay any fee when due shall result
in the revocation of a permit or the nonrenewal thereof as the case
may be.
(5)
Display and use of permit.
(a)
A permit shall be issued for the structure,
which shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the public hallway
or inside the front door of a rooming house or other multiunit structure
and in the front hallway or inside the front door of all other structures
covered by this code and also for each dwelling and/or rooming unit
of such structure, which shall be posted in a conspicuous place inside
the front door of each unit.
(b)
An issued permit shall not be transferable.
(c)
New owners or operators shall notify the Building
Official within 10 days of any transfer of ownership of any structure
or a change in the operator.
(d)
The owner or operator shall keep, or cause to
be kept, a complete and accurate list of all occupants of the structure
at all times. Such list shall be made available by the owner or operator
to the Building Official for inspection and copying upon request.
(6)
Violations; suspension and revocation of permits.
(a)
The Building Official may suspend or revoke
a public housing permit issued to an owner as hereinafter provided
whenever the owner or operator has violated any provision of this
code or any other applicable code or ordinance of the Borough, the
application for the public housing permit is found to contain false
information, or upon inspection of a structure, the Building Official
finds that conditions or practices exist which are in violation of
the provisions of this code or any other applicable code or ordinances
of the Borough.
(b)
Upon violation as aforesaid, the Building Official
shall serve, or cause to be served, upon the owner or operator a notice
of such violation. Such notice shall be in writing and given by personal
service upon the addressee or by United State Mail, postage prepaid,
addressed to the person to be notified at his/her last known address.
Service of such notice shall be effective upon the completion of personal
service or upon the placing of the same in the custody of the United
States Postal Service. Such notice shall state that unless the violation(s)
cited is/are corrected within a period of three days from the date
of such notice, the public housing permit will be revoked and the
owner will be prosecuted as provided in this code.
(c)
Before any suspended or revoked housing permit
is again issued, the Building Official shall reinspect the subject
structure and if it is then determined that the conditions of the
violation have not been corrected, the owner will be further prosecuted
as provided in this code.
(d)
The Building Official shall maintain a record
of all violations, complaints and warning notices issued by the Building
Official and the Buffalo Valley Regional Police Department. Owners
shall be notified of all violations of this code and other laws or
ordinances of the Borough committed upon or in their structure or
by any occupants thereof.
[Amended 4-17-2012 by Ord. No. 1014]
(e)
The owner or operator shall not evict an occupant
or cause the occupant to suffer any financial loss because such occupant
has complained about a possible violation of this code. This shall
not, however, prohibit the owner or operator from evicting such occupant
for reasons unrelated to the aforesaid complaint.
G.
Section PM-301.4 Inspection. This section shall be
added to and inserted in the said Code to read in its entirety as
follows:
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The owner of the premises, or in his/her absence,
an operator of such premises, of whom the Building Official has prior
written notice, shall be responsible for regularly inspecting the
said premises.
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H.
Section PM-302.1 General. The following term shall
be added to the words and terms defined in this section and shall,
for the purposes of this code, have the meaning herein indicated:
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“Prohibited furniture." Interior type
furniture which would be adversely affected by the elements and/or
susceptible to infestation by insects, rats or other vermin including,
but not limited to, upholstered couches and chairs or other fabric
covered articles not designed or intended for exterior use.
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I.
Section PM-303.1 Sanitation. This section shall be
revised to read in its entirety as follows:
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All exterior property and premises shall be
maintained in a clean, safe and sanitary condition. No prohibited
furniture shall be placed outside of a structure. The occupant shall
keep that part of the exterior property which such occupant occupies
or controls in a clean and sanitary condition and free from all prohibited
furniture.
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J.
Section PM-303.9 Removal of abandoned or prohibited
furniture. This section shall be added to and inserted in the said
Code to read in its entirety as follows:
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Whenever the Building Official determines that
abandoned or prohibited furniture is located in an exterior property
area, he/she shall notify the owner or operator as provided in § PM-112.0
of this code to remove such furniture within the time set forth in
such notice. If the abandoned or prohibited furniture is not removed
in such time, the Borough Official may request the Borough Manager
to cause such furniture to be removed and the owner assessed the cost
thereof in accordance with the provisions of this code or other applicable
ordinance of the Borough and if not thereafter paid within 15 days,
to cause a line to be imposed therefor in accordance with the provisions
of this code or other applicable ordinance of the Borough or as otherwise
provided by law.
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[Amended 10-20-1987 by Ord. No. 833; 9-21-1993 by Ord. No.
887]
Nothing in this article or in the Property Maintenance
Code hereby adopted, or in the Borough's former Existing Structures
Code, shall be construed to affect any suit or proceeding now pending
in any court, or any rights acquired, or liability incurred, or any
cause or causes of action acquired or existing under Ord. 73-4, or
any other ordinance hereby repealed as cited in § 5 of Ord.
828; nor shall any just or legal right or remedy of any character
be lost, impaired or affected by this article.
