[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of West Donegal as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Adopted 5-21-2018 by Ord. No. 229-2018]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the West Donegal
Township Key Lock Box Ordinance.
The following terms, phrases, words and their derivations shall
have the following meanings, and, when not inconsistent with the context,
words used in the present tense include the future, words in the plural
number include the singular number, words in the singular number include
the plural number, and words of the masculine gender shall include
the feminine. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely
discretionary.
The Board of Supervisors of the Township or its designee.
The person appointed as Building Code Official by the Board
of Supervisors.
The volunteer fire company providing first due response service
to the property at which a key lock box will be installed, i.e., Rheems
Fire Company or Elizabethtown Fire Department or Bainbridge Fire Company.
A key lock box compatible with a Knox Rapid Entry System.
A person retained by an owner to be responsible for a property.
The person who holds record title to a property.
Any individual, corporation, association, partnership, firm,
trust, estate or legal entity whatsoever which is recognized by the
law as the subject of rights and duties and the officers of such corporation
and the members of such partnership or association.
The Northwest Regional Lancaster County Police Department
or any successor municipal or multi-municipal police department having
jurisdiction within the corporate boundaries of the Township.
The Township of West Donegal, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
A.Â
The following structures shall be equipped with a key lock box at
or near the main entrance or such other location required by the Building
Code Official:
(1)Â
Commercial or industrial structures protected by an automatic alarm
system or automatic suppression system. Other commercial or industrial
structures that are secured in a manner that restricts access during
an emergency may be voluntarily equipped with such a key lock box.
(2)Â
Multifamily residential structures that have restricted access through
locked doors and have a common corridor for the access to the living
units.
(3)Â
Governmental structures, including public school facilities.
(4)Â
Institutional structures, including nursing care facilities.
B.Â
All newly constructed structures subject to this section shall have
the key lock box installed and' operational prior to the issuance
of an occupancy permit. All structures in existence on the effective
date of this section and subject to this section shall have a key
lock box installed and operational within one year of the effective
date of this section.
The key lock box shall contain keys or passcodes to locked ports
of entrance, whether on the interior or exterior of the structure,
keys to locked mechanical equipment rooms, keys to locked electrical
rooms, keys to elevator controls, and keys to any fenced or secured
areas.
The key lock box shall be mounted on the structure entrance
at a height of between four to six feet and within three feet of the
direct access port or such other location as approved by the Building
Code Official. Flush-mounted or surface-recessed key lock box installations
will be permitted, provided that the key lock box is clearly marked.
Once the key lock box is installed, the owner or manager shall contact
the Building Code Official to arrange for the inspection of the key
lock box and to install the access keys.
For those structures that shall have a key lock box and that
are within a fenced area where the fence is locked, the owner or manager
thereof shall also provide a key switch that opens the gate to the
fence or a padlock that opens the gate to the fence, which shall be
keyed the same as the lock box door.
Whenever the owner or manager of a structure required to have
a key lock box shall change the keys required to be contained in the
key lock box as set forth above, said owner or manager shall contact
the Building Code Official, who shall oversee all changes to the contents
of the key lock box.
The owner or manager of the structure required to have a key
lock box shall provide a list of contact persons indicating name,
home address, and home telephone number to the Code Official. The
owner or manager of the structure shall immediately upon any change
with respect to that list furnish the Building Code Official with
the changed information.
The owner shall at all times be responsible for compliance with
this article. If a manager is designated by the owner, the manager
shall be jointly responsible for compliance with this article. The
appointment of a manager shall not relieve the owner of responsibility
for compliance.
On the installation of any keys, codes or switches required
to be contained in the key lock box, the Building Code Official shall
immediately advise the Chief of the Fire Department
The owner of a property may request a waiver from the requirements
of this article in writing. The owner shall specify all grounds for
the request of the waiver and shall present the request to the Board
of Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors shall render a decision on
any request for waiver, which decision shall be final.
All members of the Police Department, the Building Code Official,
and the Township Manager are hereby authorized and directed to enforce
the provisions of this article.
For each violation of the provisions of this article, the owner
and manager of a structure who fails to install or maintain a key
box as required by this article or who otherwise commits, takes part
in or assists in any violation of any provision of this article shall
be liable, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding, to pay
a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 for each offense,
together with the cost of prosecution including attorneys' fees
as permitted by law. Each day or portion thereof in which a violation
exists shall be considered a separate violation of this article. Each
section of this article which is violated shall be considered a separate
violation.
