Township of Upper Tulpehocken, PA Chapter 315 Permit Procedures

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Upper Tulpehocken 10-10-2017 by Ord. No. 9-2017. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 315-1 Permit denial authorized.

The Township may deny issuing to an applicant a municipal permit if the applicant owns real property in any municipality in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including the Township, for which there exists on the real property:

A. A final and unappealable tax, water, sewer, permit, or refuse collection delinquency on account of the actions of the owner; or

B. A serious violation of state law or a code, and the owner has taken no substantial steps to correct the violation within six months following notification of the violation, and for which fines or other penalties or a judgment to abate or correct were imposed by a Magisterial District Judge (previously a District Justice) or municipal court, or a judgment at law or in equity was imposed by a court of common pleas. However, no denial shall be permitted on the basis of a property for which the judgment, order or decree is subject to a stay or supersedeas by an order of a court of competent jurisdiction or automatically allowed by statute or rule of court until the stay or supersedeas is lifted by the court or a higher court, or the stay or supersedeas expires as otherwise provided by law. Where a stay or supersedeas is in effect, the property owner shall so advise the Township.

§ 315-2 Exceptions.

The Township shall not deny a municipal permit to an applicant:

A. If the municipal permit is necessary to correct a violation of state law or a code.

B. If the applicant's delinquency on taxes, water, sewer or refuse collection charges is under appeal or otherwise contested through a court or administrative process.

C. Where the property was inherited by will or intestacy.

§ 315-3 Denial issuance.

In issuing a denial of a permit based on an applicant's delinquency in real property taxes or municipal charges or for failure to abate a serious violation of state law or a code on real property that the applicant owns in this commonwealth, the Township or Board shall indicate the street address, municipal corporation and county in which the property is located, and the court and docket number for each parcel cited as a basis for the denial. The denial shall also state that the applicant may request a letter of compliance from the appropriate state agency, municipality or school district, in a form acceptable to the Township Solicitor.

§ 315-4 Proof of compliance.

A. All Township permits denied in accordance with this subsection may be withheld until an applicant obtains a letter from the appropriate state agency, municipality or school district indicating the following:

(1) The property in question has no final and unappealable tax, water, sewer or refuse delinquencies;

(2) The property in question is now in state law and code compliance; or

(3) The owner of the property has presented, and the appropriate state agency or municipality has accepted, a plan to begin remediation of a serious violation of state law or a code. Acceptance of the plan may be contingent on:

(a) Beginning the remediation plan within no fewer than 30 days following acceptance of the plan or sooner, if mutually agreeable to both the property owner and the municipality.

(b) Completing the remediation plan within no fewer than 90 days following commencement of the plan or sooner, if mutually agreeable to both the property owner and the municipality.

B. In the event that the appropriate state agency, municipality or school district fails to issue a letter indicating tax, water, sewer, refuse, state law or code compliance or noncompliance, as the case may be, within 45 days of the request, the property in question shall be deemed to be in compliance for the purpose of this section. The Township shall specify the form in which the request for a compliance letter shall be made.

C. Letters required under this section shall be verified by the appropriate Township officials before issuing the permit to the applicant.

D. Powers of Zoning Hearing Board and other boards.

(1) Township permits or approvals may be denied by a board in accordance with the requirements of this section to the extent that approval of the municipal permit or approval is within the jurisdiction of the Board. For purposes of this section, "Board" shall mean the Township's Zoning Hearing Board.

(2) In any proceeding before a board other than the Township's Board of Supervisors, the Township may appear to present evidence that the applicant is subject to a denial by the Board in accordance with this section.

(3) For purposes of this subsection, a Township permit may only be denied to an applicant other than an owner if:

(a) The applicant is acting under the direction or with the permission of an owner; and

(b) The owner owns real property satisfying the conditions of § 315-1.

§ 315-5 Applicability of other laws.

A denial of a permit shall be subject to the provisions of 2 Pa.C.S.A. Chapter 5, Subchapter B (relating to practice and procedure of local agencies), and Chapter 7, Subchapter B (relating to judicial review of local agency action), or the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code,[1] for denials subject to Act 90 of 2010[2] or this chapter.

[1] Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq.

[2] Editor's Note: See 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 6101 et seq.

§ 315-6 Penalty for commencing work without permits.

A. Double fees. Any person, firm or corporation who shall commence any work for which a permit is required by the applicable codes and ordinances, without first having obtained a permit therefor, shall, if subsequently permitted to obtain a permit, pay double the permit fee fixed for such work, provided that this provision shall not apply to emergency work.

B. Amendment of fee schedules. All fee schedules adopted pursuant to, as amended, and resolutions adopted containing fee schedules for permits, are hereby amended to reflect the additional permit fees for work prior to permit issuance.