This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Borough
of Old Forge Neighborhood Preservation and Nuisance Abatement Ordinance."
Old Forge Borough Council and the Administration find that public
nuisances exist in the Borough of Old Forge in the operation of certain
buildings, structures and dwellings and in the use and occupation
of certain property in flagrant and persistent violation of state
and local laws or ordinances. Such nuisances substantially and seriously
interfere with the interest of the public for enhancing the quality
of life in the Borough and in fostering and facilitating commerce,
maintaining and improving property values, and preserving and protecting
the public health, safety, and welfare. Old Forge Borough Council
and the Administration further find that the persistence of such activities
and violations is detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of
the people of the Borough of Old Forge and of the dwellings and businesses
thereof and the visitors thereto.
It is the intent of the Borough of Old Forge to promote the
health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Old Forge, Pennsylvania.
Part of this responsibility includes protecting neighborhoods from
blighting and deteriorating conditions that have a negative impact
on property values and encourage social disorder and crime. This is
achieved through ordinances and by establishing a policy to guide
enforcement of the ordinances contained in the Old Forge Borough Code.
For the purposes of this section, a public nuisance shall be
deemed to exist whenever, through violations of any of the following
provisions from separate incidents at a building, structure, dwelling
or place. For the purpose of this chapter, an "incident" will be defined
as the execution of an enforcement action by any Borough department
in response to a reported violation of the law. In addition, any property
that is determined to be blighted, as defined in the Pennsylvania
Urban Redevelopment Law, 35 P.S. § 1712.1(c), is hereby
declared to be a nuisance.
For the purposes of this section, a conviction for any of the
previously listed offenses in a court of competent jurisdiction shall
not be required to establish that a specified violation of this chapter
has occurred at a building, structure, dwelling or place. Instead,
the Borough of Old Forge shall be required to prove a specified violation
by a preponderance of evidence. However, a conviction in any court
of competent jurisdiction shall constitute conclusive proof of such
violation of law. Conviction of an attempt to commit a violation of
any of the specified provisions shall be equivalent to a conviction
for the violation of the specified provision.
Upon final passage of this chapter, all owners or operators of rental units who shall apply for a license with the Borough of Old Forge Code Enforcement Division in accordance with §
229-8 of this chapter shall be subject to a check and verification of the property and/or owner to assess whether or not either have any outstanding warnings, violations, citations or reported police incidents, as documented by the Borough of Old Forge crime analyst software program, against them. If, at the conclusion of the verification process, no outstanding records are found, the license application will be accepted with proof of property liability insurance; no fee will be assessed, no inspection shall be required, and the landlord license will be granted. If, however, the property and/or owner does in fact have a pending warning, violation, citation, or documented police incident(s), a landlord license will not be granted until an inspection of the property is completed and compliance is achieved, as certified by the Code Enforcement Officer, and a fee as set from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council is paid to the Borough of Old Forge for each unit to be inspected and licensed.
It shall be unlawful for any residential property, including all rental properties, to be owned or operated by any person residing outside the Borough of Old Forge, Pennsylvania, unless such owner or operator provides to the Code Enforcement Officer the name, address and twenty-four-hour telephone number of a designated responsible agent. This agent shall be an individual who shall reside or maintain a place of business within the Borough. Designation of a responsible agent shall authorize the agent to receive and accept notices and communications necessary or deemed appropriate by the Code Enforcement Officer under the terms of all laws of the Borough of Old Forge, including but not limited to each chapter of the Borough Code, Chapter
350, Zoning, Chapter
247, Property Maintenance, and this chapter, relative to the property in which said agent is designated. Nothing contained herein shall affect the right of the Code Enforcement Officer to submit notices and communications directly to the owner, rather than the responsible agent, or to serve process or initial and subsequent pleadings in any manner permitted by law. Such authorization and designation must be signed by the owner or operator and the designated responsible agent.
Any owner or operator who subsequently changes his or her place
of residence and resides outside the Borough of Old Forge or changes
the designation of a responsible agent shall notify the Code Enforcement
Officer within 30 days after such change.
When the Borough of Old Forge receives a complaint, either verbal
or written, from a person, the Code Enforcement Officer will process
the complaint in the following manner:
A. Inspection/initial warning.
(1) If the alleged violation concerns a potential hazard which is deemed
by the Code Enforcement Officer to be an imminent threat to the health,
welfare or safety of the neighborhood or immediate neighbors, inclusive
of open/vacant buildings, fire and/or health hazards, unsecured pools
or other health and safety hazards, the Borough will respond with
an immediate inspection.
(2) The Borough of Old Forge will respond to all other complaints in
order of receipt.
(3) Following the initial inspection, the Borough will issue a letter
and initial warning to the respective owner/responsible agent notifying
them that specific complaints have been received and an initial inspection
has been conducted at their property. Included with the initial warning
will be an explanation of the inspection findings and specific corrective
actions required within 10 days. They will also be advised of what
further action will be taken by the Borough if they do not comply.
Finally, the owner/agent will be put on notice of the Borough's
repeat offender policy, whereby repeat offenders will receive only
one official notice of ordinance violation. Repeat offenses of Borough
ordinances may result in legal action without issuance of further
notices of ordinance violation.
(4) An administrative fee in an amount as set from time to time by resolution
of the Borough Council shall be assessed to the owner of each property
requiring an initial warning. ("Blight sweep" initial warnings shall
be exempt from this administrative fee.)
(5) If the property owner is a repeat offender, as described herein,
the administrative fee assessed for an initial warning shall be as
set from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council.
B. Reinspection/certified warning.
(1) After the ten-day period allotted for corrective actions has lapsed,
the Code Enforcement Officer shall reinspect the subject property.
If all violations are not corrected, the Code Enforcement Officer
shall issue a certified warning (via certified mail). The owner/agent
will once again be advised of specific corrective action required
within 10 days and the process of what further action will be taken
if they do not comply.
(2) An administrative fee in an amount as set from time to time by resolution
of the Borough Council shall be assessed to the owner of each property
requiring a certified warning.
(3) If the property owner is a repeat offender, as described herein,
the administrative fee assessed for a certified warning shall be as
set from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council.
C. Reinspection/criminal citation.
(1) After the second ten-day period has lapsed, the Code Enforcement
Officer shall reinspect the subject property. Owners/responsible parties
who fail to correct all violations will be subject to the issuance
of a criminal citation by the Borough Police Department, to be adjudicated
by a Magisterial District Judge.
(2) An administrative fee in an amount as set from time to time by resolution
of the Borough Council shall be assessed to the owner of each property
requiring a criminal citation.
(3) If the property owner is a repeat offender, as described herein,
the administrative fee assessed for a criminal citation shall be as
set from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council.
(4) Any and all court appearances by the Code Enforcement Officer shall
be subject to an administrative fee as set from time to time by resolution
of the Borough Council per instance.
(5) Any further civil and/or criminal proceedings requiring the services
of the Borough Solicitor that may develop as a result of a criminal
citation, including, but not limited to, a summary appeal or the filing
of a contempt petition, shall be subject to an administrative fee
as set from time to time by resolution of the Borough Council.
D. In the case of rental properties, the following general guidelines
will apply:
(1) Tenants/occupants will be held responsible for items concerning routine
maintenance and for personal property items.
(2) In situations where tenants/occupants have failed to fulfill their
responsibility for compliance with Borough ordinances, owners/responsible
parties may also be held accountable.
(3) In cases involving unoccupied properties, owners/responsible parties
will be held accountable for all property conditions.
Upon determination that a public nuisance, as defined herein, does exist at a property, the owner of said property will receive written notification from the Code Enforcement Division. This notification is intended to advise the owner of the situation(s) present at their property and serve as a final warning that the Borough is lawfully positioned to take action in order to remedy the situation(s). This warning shall not be required for any violation as described within §
229-6A.
The owner of the property affected by the orders hereunder shall
be presumed to be the person in whose name the real estate is recorded
in the office of the Recorder of Deeds in and for Lackawanna County,
Pennsylvania.
The lack of knowledge of participation in or responsibility
for a public nuisance on the part of the owners, lessors, lessees,
mortgagees and all those persons in possession or having charge of
the property as agent or otherwise or having any interest in the property,
real or personal, used in conducting or maintaining the public nuisance
shall not be a defense by such owners, lessors and lessees, mortgagees,
and such other persons.