[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and City Council of the City
of College Park 6-14-2016 by Ord.
No. 16-O-03. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Division 4 of Subtitle 11 of the Fire Safety Law of Prince George's
County, Maryland, 2012 Edition, as amended from time to time, with
the exception of Section 11-293, is incorporated herein and adopted
by reference. This section also incorporates by reference Chapter
24 of the NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, 2015 Edition, and is applicable
to one- and two-family dwellings as defined therein. References in
the Fire Prevention Code of Prince George's County to the Fire
Chief or authorized representative shall be construed to include the
City Public Services Department Director and Code Enforcement Officers.
Inspections shall be performed by the City's Public Services
Department, and violations shall be enforced in accordance with the
provisions of this section. Nothing herein shall be construed as preventing
county personnel from performing inspections and enforcing the county's
fire safety laws.
The owner(s) of all rental rooming or dwelling units, to include
but not be limited to apartment units, boarding and rooming houses,
fraternities, sororities, rooms rented as a home occupation but required
to have an occupancy permit, hotels, motels, tourist homes, and single-
and dual-family homes, within the City of College Park are required
to install, maintain, and have in operation at all times smoke alarms
of a type, make and model approved by, and mounted in locations as
set forth in, Division 4 of Subtitle 11 of the Fire Safety Law of
Prince George's County.
A.
Dormitories, which for purposes of this section shall include any
fraternity and sorority house, regardless of the number of sleeping
accommodations, shall be protected throughout by installation of an
automatic fire sprinkler system meeting the requirements of National
Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard No. 13, 13D or 13R, in
accordance with the compliance deadlines set out in this section.
B.
All connections shall be located on the street side of each building,
and activation of the sprinkler system shall activate both the required
fire alarm system and a supervisory alarm at a twenty-four-hour certified
and licensed alarm monitory service. Installation shall be performed
by a contractor possessing a sprinkler contractor license from the
State of Maryland. Said contractor must obtain a permit from Prince
George's County prior to installation of the sprinkler system.
C.
Detached and secondary buildings. Existing dormitory buildings are
exempt from the requirements of this section as to fire sprinkler
systems if they have no more than 1,000 square feet of floor area,
are not directly connected to the main building used for sleeping,
and have no facilities intended or used for sleeping.
D.
Disabling sprinkler system. No person shall shut off or disable an
automatic fire sprinkler system installed pursuant to this section,
except during the actual performance of maintenance work by a licensed
contractor.
E.
Maintenance of sprinkler system. Any sprinkler system installed pursuant
to this chapter shall be maintained in accordance with NFPA 25, as
amended, by a contractor licensed by the state to perform such maintenance.
The requirements of Section 11-295 of the Prince George's
County Code to install and maintain carbon monoxide detectors shall
also apply to all existing single-family residences.
Whenever the Code Enforcement Officer determines that there
are reasonable grounds to believe that there has been a violation
of any provision of this chapter or of any rule or regulation adopted
pursuant thereto, notice of such alleged violation shall be given
to the person or persons responsible therefor, as hereinafter provided.
Such notice shall:
A.
Be put in writing.
B.
Include a statement of the reasons why it is being issued.
C.
State the time for the performance of any act it requires.
D.
Be served upon the owner or his/her agent or the occupant, as the
case may require, provided that such notice shall be deemed to be
properly served upon such owner or agent or upon such occupant if
a copy thereof is served upon him/her personally or if a copy thereof
is sent by regular mail to his/her last known address or if a copy
thereof is posted in a conspicuous place in or about the dwelling
affected by the notice or if he/she is served with such notice by
any other method authorized or required under the laws of this state.
Failure to comply with the provisions of this section within 24 hours of notification shall subject the owner to an immediate abatement/correction order, issuance of a municipal infraction and penalties as provided in § 110-2. An additional citation may be issued for each successive twenty-four-hour period in which the violation is not fully corrected.
Any person affected by any notice or order which has been issued
in connection with the enforcement of any provision of this chapter
may request and shall be granted a hearing on the matter by the Advisory
Planning Commission, provided that such person shall, within 10 days
after service of a notice or order, file in the office of the Public
Services Director a signed, written notice of appeal, requesting a
hearing and setting forth a brief statement of the reasons therefor.
Upon receipt of such notice of appeal, the Public Services Director
shall notify the Advisory Planning Commission.
The Advisory Planning Commission shall hear appeals from alleged
violations of the provisions of this chapter. A quorum of three or
more permanent and/or temporary members shall be required before the
Commission may take any official action. Action may be taken by the
affirmative vote of the majority of the panel. The Advisory Planning
Commission shall set a time and place for such hearing and shall give
the person appealing and the Public Services Director notice thereof.
The Board shall determine such appeals as promptly as practicable.
After such hearing, the Advisory Planning Commission may affirm,
amend, modify or withdraw the notice or order appealed from. The decision
of the Advisory Planning Commission shall constitute an order, and
any person who shall fail, refuse or neglect to comply with any such
order shall be guilty of violating the provisions of this chapter.
The decision of the Commission shall in all cases be final, except
that any appellant or party directly aggrieved by a decision of the
Commission may, provided that he/she does so, appeal to a court of
record of competent jurisdiction within 30 days after the rendering
of such decision.
Upon a determination that a fire safety emergency exists which
requires immediate action to protect the public health, the Director
of Public Services may, without notice or hearing, issue an order
reciting the existence of such an emergency and requiring such action
to be taken as is deemed necessary to meet the emergency. Notwithstanding
the other provisions of this chapter, such order shall be effective
immediately. If requested, a hearing shall be afforded as soon as
possible.
