Where any building or structure is erected, reconstructed, convened
or maintained, or any building, structure or land is used in violation
of this chapter, the Director of Building and Planning may, in the
name of Lower Merion Township:
Where it appears to the Township that a violation of any provisions
of this chapter has occurred, the Director of Building and Planning
shall initiate enforcement proceedings by sending an enforcement notice
as provided in this section.
A.
Recipients. The enforcement notice shall be sent to the owner of
record of the parcel on which the violation has occurred, to any person
who has filed a written request to receive enforcement notices regarding
that parcel, and to any other person requested in writing by the owner
of record.
B.
Contents. The enforcement notice shall state the following:
(1)
The name of the owner of record and any other person against whom
Lower Merion Township intends to take action.
(2)
The location of the property in violation.
(3)
The specific violation with a description of the requirements which
have not been met, citing in each instance the applicable provisions
of the chapter.
(4)
The date before which the steps for compliance must be commenced
and the date before which steps must be completed.
(5)
That the recipient of the notice has the right to appeal to the Zoning
Hearing Board within a prescribed period of time in accordance with
procedures set forth in the chapter.
(6)
That failure to comply with the notice within the time specified,
unless extended by appeal to the Zoning Hearing Board, constitutes
a violation, with possible sanctions clearly described.
Where the notice of violation is not complied with in the time
period set forth in the notice, the Director of Building and Planning
shall order the discontinuance of such unlawful use of land, structure,
or building involved in said violation.
Any person who shall violate the provisions of this chapter
shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding, be sentenced to pay
a fine of not more than $500, plus all court costs, including reasonable
attorney fees incurred by the Township as a result thereof. If the
defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, Lower Merion
Township may enforce the judgment pursuant to applicable rules of
civil procedure. Each day a violation continues constitutes a separate
violation, unless the magisterial district judge determining that
there has been a violation further determines that there was a good
faith basis for the person violating the chapter to have believed
there was no such violation, in which event there shall be deemed
to have been only one such violation until the fifth day following
the date of the determination of a violation by the district justice
and thereafter each day that a violation continues shall constitute
a separate violation. All judgments, costs, and reasonable attorney
fees collected for the violation of this chapter shall be paid over
to Lower Merion Township.
Any appeal from a decision or action of the Board or of any
officer of the Township in matters pertaining to this chapter shall
be made to the Zoning Hearing Board in the same manner and within
the same time limitations as is provided for zoning appeals in Article
IX of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10901 et seq.
