[Amended 7-9-2025 by Ord. No. 1013-2025]
A. 
The provision of this chapter will be administered and enforced by the Zoning Officer. The Zoning Officer shall be appointed by the Borough Council. It shall be the duty of the Zoning Officer, who is hereby given the power, to:
(1) 
Administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter.
(2) 
Review zoning permit applications for compliance with the provisions of this chapter, all other applicable ordinances and with all federal, state, county and local laws and regulations which are relevant to the subject property.
(3) 
Collect fees and fines as provided herein to be deposited into the Borough's general fund.
(4) 
Issue and revoke zoning and use permits according to the provisions stated herein.
(5) 
Maintain permanent files of all zoning and use permits and applications for such permits as public records.
(6) 
Attend meetings of Borough Council and the Zoning Hearing Board, as needed, and provide the Council and the Board with information concerning applications and site plans.
(7) 
Examine the progress of the work as stated in specific permit applications to ensure that it is proceeding according to the stated information in that application.
(8) 
Prepare and maintain a list of nonconforming uses and structures.
(9) 
Process requests for hearings before the Zoning Hearing Board.
(10) 
Issue notices of violations of this chapter.
B. 
The Assistant Zoning Officer, if appointed by the Borough Council, shall exercise the same powers as the Zoning Officer when he is acting on behalf of the Zoning Officer.
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to erect, alter, relocate, enlarge or structurally change a sign or other advertising structure, unless specifically exempted by these regulations, without first obtaining a permit in accordance with the provisions set forth herein.
B. 
Zoning permits are required to control physical changes to land, buildings, structures and signs and to assure that such activities are conducted in conformance with all applicable Borough ordinances.
C. 
A zoning permit shall be required to construct, reconstruct, erect, alter, enlarge, raze or move a building, a structure, an accessory building, an accessory structure, any lighted or flashing sign, or any sign larger than 6 1/2 square feet in area.
D. 
No activity described in Subsection C shall be undertaken by any person unless that person shall first have obtained a zoning permit.
E. 
No zoning permit shall be issued unless the proposed activity conforms to the requirements of this and other applicable Borough ordinances, to all Borough codes and other applicable Borough ordinances, to all Borough codes and to any appropriate State or Federal requirements affecting the activity.
[Amended 5-9-2018 by Ord. No. 966; 5-8-2019 by Ord. No. 980; 7-9-2025 by Ord. No. 1013-2025]
A. 
Use permits are required for all properties in order to control changes in the use of the land, buildings and structures; to be certain that such uses are allowed by this chapter prior to the use being allowed. A use permit shall be required in the following instances:
(1) 
Use or occupancy of buildings, structures or land previously vacant.
(2) 
Reuse or reoccupancy of buildings, structures or land previously used or occupied.
(3) 
To use or occupy a new building or structure.
(4) 
To use or occupy a building or structure or part thereof that has been altered, moved or enlarged so that a zoning permit was required.
(5) 
To use or occupy a lot or zoning lot newly created by way of subdivision or rezoning.
(6) 
Change in the use or character of any building, structure or lot.
(7) 
Change of a nonconforming use.
B. 
No activity, as specified in Subsection A of this section, shall be undertaken by any person until said person shall have first obtained a use permit.
C. 
No use permit shall be issued unless the proposed activity conforms to the requirements of this and other applicable chapters of the Borough of Irwin Code and to any appropriate state or federal requirement affecting the activity.
D. 
Where a person or entity:
(1) 
Leases a residential structure to residential tenants;
(2) 
Has complied with the registration requirements of the Borough of Irwin Code Chapter 195 for all leased residential dwelling units within the structure; and
(3) 
All residential rental dwelling units were inspected pursuant to Chapter 195 and were found to be in compliance with the requirements therein, that residential real property shall be exempted from the occupancy permit requirements of this section.
[Amended 5-9-2018 by Ord. No. 966; 7-14-2021 by Ord. No. 995; 7-9-2025 by Ord. No. 1013-2025]
A. 
Zoning and use permits may only be obtained after the filing of an application with the Zoning Officer and approval by him or her of the application following a review of all application materials and an inspection of the premises, where the application is for an occupancy permit or where the Zoning Officer otherwise deems the same appropriate.
(1) 
The application for such permits shall be a standard form to be provided by the Borough.
(2) 
The completed application shall be accompanied by such information as the Zoning Officer may require for administration of this chapter.
(3) 
An applicant for a permit of either kind shall pay a fee, to be set by Council by way of resolution, with the application.
(4) 
Before granting approval for such permits, the Zoning Officer may require such changes in the plans as may be necessary to assure compliance with this chapter and other ordinances of the Borough of Irwin.
(5) 
The application shall include the name and address of the applicant and contractor and the site location on which construction is proposed.
(6) 
Each application shall stipulate the proposed use of the land, building or structure. If more than one use is proposed or existing, the application shall include tabulation and description of all uses on the property and a brief description of the proposed work and the estimated cost.
(7) 
The application shall include a site layout plan indicating the location, dimensions, height and relation to property and street lines of proposed buildings or structures and all existing buildings or structures. The site layout plan shall be prepared and certified by a registered professional engineer, land surveyor or landscape architect licensed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B. 
Review of application.
(1) 
Planning Commission review. Sign proposals submitted in conjunction with the proposed construction of a new building or addition to an existing building that requires review by the Planning Commission shall be shown on the site plan.
(2) 
Building Official review. The Building Inspector shall review the sign permit application for any proposed sign.
C. 
Application fees. All applicants shall pay to the Borough at the time of application a fee in the amount established in the fee schedule adopted by resolution of the Borough Council. In the event an application requires a request to Borough Council for consideration of a conditional use or to the Zoning Hearing Board for consideration of a variance or appeal of a decision of the Code Enforcement Officer, each applicant shall pay to the Borough the appropriate application fee in the amount established in the Fee Schedule.
No zoning permit shall be issued until the Zoning Officer has determined that the proposed use of land, the proposed tenant or occupant, or the existing or proposed building or structure complies with the provisions of the applicable zoning district and other provisions of this chapter. The issuance of a zoning permit does not permit construction or occupancy of building or structure. A certificate of occupancy is also required pursuant to the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code, as amended. In case of refusal of the Code Enforcement Officer to issue a permit, the applicant shall be advised in writing of the reasons for denial and his or her rights of appeal to the Zoning Hearing Board.
A. 
The Zoning Officer shall be empowered to revoke a permit if he has evidence that the activity for which the permit was granted is not occurring in accordance with the information provided with application for that permit.
B. 
The revoking of a permit shall require the former permit holder to cease and desist any activity previously allowed to occur while his permit was in effect or which was occurring in violation of this chapter and the terms under which his permit had been granted.
If any activity authorized by a permit shall not have been commenced within six months after the issuance of such permit, the permit shall be said to have expired and be invalid. Under such conditions neither the permit fee nor any part thereof shall be returned to such permit holder, and if at any further time such permit holder shall make application for another permit for the same activity, he shall follow the same procedure and pay the same fee as if no previous permit had been issued. The Zoning Officer is responsible for tracking permits and maintaining a list of the permits outstanding.
A. 
The Zoning Officer is hereby authorized and directed, in the name of the Borough, to enforce the provisions of this article and to institute civil enforcement proceedings as provided in this chapter when acting within the scope of his or her employment.
B. 
If it appears that a violation of this chapter has occurred, the Zoning Officer shall initiate enforcement proceedings by sending an enforcement notice as provided herein. The enforcement notice shall be sent to the owner of record of the parcel on which the violation has occurred.
C. 
The enforcement notice shall state the following:
(1) 
The name of the owner of record and any other person against whom the Borough intends to take action.
(2) 
The location of the property violation.
(3) 
The specific violation with a description of the requirements which have not been met, citing in each instance the applicable provisions of this chapter.
(4) 
The date before which the steps for compliance must be commenced and the date before which the steps must be completed.
(5) 
Recipient of the notice has the right to appeal to the Zoning Hearing Board within a period of 10 days.
(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.
A. 
Any person, partnership or corporation who or which has violated or permitted the violation of provisions of this chapter shall, upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Borough, pay a judgment that covers any expenses the Borough shall incur to rectify the violation, plus court costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Borough as a result thereof. No judgment shall commence or be imposed, levied or payable until the date of the determination of a violation by the Magisterial District Judge. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Borough may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable rules of civil procedure. Each day a violation shall continue shall constitute 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, partnership or corporation violating this chapter to have believed that 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 Magisterial District Judge; thereafter each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate violation.
B. 
The court of common pleas, upon petition, may grant an order of stay, upon cause shown, tolling the per diem fine pending a final adjudication of the violation and judgment.
C. 
When a property owner, partnership or corporation within the Borough of Irwin has violated an ordinance or ordinances, the Borough will send out three notices to notify the property owner, partnership or corporation of the violation(s), and after the third notice the Borough has the authority to hire personnel to rectify the violation at the expense of the property owner, partnership or corporation. Upon being found liable therefor in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Borough, the property owner, partnership or corporation shall pay a judgment that covers any expenses the Borough shall incur plus any court and attorneys' costs the Borough incurs.