[Adopted 11-7-2016 by Ord. No. 2016-02 (Ch. 12, Part 1, of the 2006 codification)]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Temporary
Housing/Man Camp Ordinance of Prospect Borough, County of Butler,
Pennsylvania."
These regulations are hereby established to set requirements
for the design, construction, alteration, extension and maintenance
of man camps and related utilities and facilities for the purpose
of promoting and safeguarding the public health, safety, comfort and
welfare.
The Borough has jurisdiction and control of land and development
as set forth in Act 247 (as amended by Act 93 and Act 194, and other
amendments), the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, 53 P.S.
§ 10101 et seq., and the Borough Code, 8 Pa.C.S.A. § 101
et seq., as amended and supplemented.
A.
As used in these regulations,
words in the singular include the plural, and those in the plural
include the singular. The words "shall" and "will," for the purpose
of these regulations, are defined as mandatory.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following definitions
shall, for the purpose of these regulations, have the meanings herein
indicated. Any pertinent word or term not a part of this listing,
but vital to the interpretation of these regulations, shall be construed
to have its legal definition.
The person who owns or has charge, care or control of the
man camp.
The control and elimination of insects, rodents or other
pests by eliminating their harborage places; by removing or making
inaccessible materials that may serve as their food; by poisoning,
spraying, fumigating, trapping or by any other recognized pest-elimination
method.[1]
A parcel, or contiguous parcels, of land that has been so
designed and improved that it contains two or more temporary, self-contained,
mobile housing units used exclusively for temporary housing for oil
and/or gas field workers or support for related job fields. Units,
which can be single- or multiple-occupancy, are owned by the camp
management or other company and are transported to the site complete
and ready for occupancy except for minor and incidental unpacking
and assembly operations.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
A transportable, single-family dwelling intended for occupancy,
contained in one unit or in two or more units designed to be joined
into one integral unit capable of again being separated for repeated
towing, which arrives at a site complete and ready for occupancy except
for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations, and constructed
so that it may be used without a permanent foundation.
Written approval, in whatever form as issued by Prospect
Borough, authorizing a person to operate and maintain a man camp.
Any individual, firm, trust, partnership, public or private
association or corporation or other entity.
A vehicle with or without motor power which may be towed
on the public highways by a passenger vehicle or self-propelled without
a special permit and which is designed for human occupancy under transient
circumstances, such as camping, travel or other recreational uses,
sometimes variously known as a "travel trailer," a "camping trailer"
or a "motor home."
All perishable and nonperishable solids, except body wastes,
including garbage, rubbish, ashes and dead animals.
A structure, housing operation, office, recreational, camp
maintenance and other facilities built to conform to required local
standards.
Nonpermanent portable housing placed on a man camp location
for a short period of time, with the intent that the housing will
be removed at the end of its intended use; used to house workers.
That part of a man camp which has been prepared and reserved
for the placement of a temporary housing unit.
A single nonpermanent portable building capable of housing
single or multiple occupants in a man camp.
All man camps shall be conditional uses within the Borough's
Agricultural District within the Borough Zoning Map.
A.
All proposed man camps shall follow the regular procedures and requirements of a normal subdivision as set forth in Chapter 268, Subdivision and Land Development, of the Code of the Borough of Prospect, as well as comply with Borough and county ordinances and regulations.
B.
The developer must provide, at
the time of application to construct a man camp, a plan for the dismantling
and removing of the housing units, and they must post a bond, acceptable
to the Borough Council, ensuring removal of the man camp when it is
no longer used. If the buildings remain completely unoccupied, except
for camp management, for a period of more than six months, then the
camp management shall begin the removal process.
A.
Man camps shall have a gross
area of at least 10 acres of land.
B.
The location of all man camps
shall comply with the following minimum requirements:
C.
A recreation area shall be required
if there are 40 or more tenants.
D.
All camps shall be furnished
with lighting units so spaced, and equipped with luminaries placed
at such mounting heights, as will provide adequate levels of illumination
for the safe movement of pedestrians and vehicles at night.
E.
The camp management shall provide
for overflow parking: one extra parking space for every three tenants.
Recreational vehicles are not to be permitted to be stored on the
lot; and if provisions are made for storage, they must be in a separate
fenced area.
F.
Skirting, if required, for the
temporary housing must be installed within 60 days of placing a housing
unit on a lot.
The grounds of the man camp shall be graded in such a manner
that will not create excessive water runoff damage, create wetlands,
or other environmental hazards on or off the lot.
A.
Responsibilities of the camp
management.
(1)
The person to whom a permit
for a man camp is issued shall operate the camp in compliance with
this article and shall provide adequate supervision to maintain the
camp, its facilities and equipment in good repair and in a clean and
sanitary condition.
(2)
The camp management shall
supervise the placement of each temporary housing on its lot, which
includes securing its stability and installing all utility connections.
(3)
The camp management shall
give any authorized officer free access to all temporary housing units,
service buildings and other community service facilities for the purpose
of inspection.
(4)
The management shall maintain
a register containing the names of all occupants. Such register shall
be available to any authorized person inspecting the camp. The management
shall notify the appropriate officer, in accordance with state and
local taxation laws, of the arrival and departure of each temporary
housing unit.
(5)
A representative of the camp
management shall be on premises at all times.
(6)
The camp management shall
provide Prospect Borough with the contact information of the individual
or individuals responsible for the operation and activities at the
man camp. Such information shall include a phone number where such
individual or individuals can be contacted 24 hours per day, 365 days
a year.
B.
Removal of temporary housing.
No temporary housing, whether installed on a single lot of record
or on a temporary housing lot in a man camp, shall be removed from
the Borough without first obtaining a removal permit from the Prospect
Borough Tax Collector. Such permit shall be issued upon payment of
a fee, as established from time to time by resolution of the Borough
Council, and real estate taxes assessed against the unit and unpaid
at the time the permit is requested.
Modifications to this article shall be granted by the Borough
Council under the modification provisions of the Subdivision and Land
Development Regulations of the Borough of Prospect, County of Butler,
Pennsylvania.
It shall be the duty of the Prospect Borough Council to enforce
the provisions of this article. Borough Council designates the Borough
Code Enforcement Officer to enforce this article.
A.
It shall be the responsibility
of the Prospect Borough Code Enforcement Officer to make periodic
inspections, no less than annually, of man camps in the Borough and
make such reports as the Borough Council may require.
B.
If the Prospect Borough Code
Enforcement Officer shall find that any man camp has been established
or is being maintained in violation of the provisions of this article,
the Code Enforcement Officer shall promptly notify the owner thereof,
in writing. If the owner fails to abate the said violation and comply
with the provisions of this article within five days, the Code Enforcement
Officer shall cause such violation to be removed or remedied. The
cost of such removal or remedy shall be borne by the owner or lessor
and shall be a lien upon the premises.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any
person to construct, alter or extend any man camp within the limits
of Prospect Borough unless he applies for and receives a valid permit
issued by the Prospect Borough Council in the name of such person
for the specific construction, alteration or extension proposed and
also plans approved by the Prospect Borough Council.
B.
Upon receipt of such application,
the Prospect Borough Council shall forthwith inspect the applicant's
plans and proposed camp to determine compliance with the provisions
of this article. If Council favorably determines that the application
complies with this article, the Borough Council shall issue a man
camp permit to the applicant, which shall be valid for a period of
one year thereafter.
C.
Renewal permits for a one-year
period shall be issued by the Borough Council upon proof furnished
by the applicant that his man camp continues to meet the standards
prescribed by this article.
A.
Application. At the time of filing
for approval of the plan for a man camp, the application shall be
accompanied by the appropriate fee for review of said plans. This
fee shall be determined and established, from time to time, by resolution
of the Council. In the event that the Council is required to perform
additional or unusual services in determining if said application
conforms to the provisions of this article, the cost of such additional
service shall be borne by the applicant. Such charges shall be levied
whether or not the application is approved.
B.
License. An annual permit fee
is required from all owners of man camps. The fee shall be established
from time to time by resolution of the Council for each calendar year.
Such license shall be renewed annually on or before the first day
of January of each year. In cases where a camp is established in the
Borough on or after the first day of July in any year, the license
fee payable by the owner for the remainder of such year shall be 1/2
the yearly rate.
Every person holding a permit to operate a man camp shall file
notice, in writing, to Prospect Borough within 10 days after having
sold, transferred, given away or otherwise disposed of interest in
or control of any man camp.
A.
Any person or owner or any person acting as agent, employee,
contractor, tenant or servant of said person or owner who shall violate
any provision of this article shall, upon conviction in a summary
proceeding under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be
guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not
more than $1,000, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees
incurred by the Borough in the enforcement proceedings. Upon judgment
against any person by summary conviction, or by proceedings by summons
on default of the payment of the fine or penalty imposed and the costs,
the defendant may be sentenced and committed to the county correctional
facility for a period not exceeding 30 days. Each day that such violation
continues after notice shall constitute a separate offense, and each
section of this article that is violated shall also constitute a separate
offense. In addition to or in lieu of enforcement under this section,
the Borough may enforce this article in equity in the Court of Common
Pleas of Butler County.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
B.
Civil enforcement.
(1)
Nothing in Subsection A hereinabove shall prevent the Borough from initiating civil enforcement proceedings before a Magisterial District Judge or other court. If this article is to be enforced through civil proceedings, the violators shall be liable for the penalty imposed, including additional daily penalties for continuing violations, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Borough in the enforcement proceedings.
(2)
In any case where a penalty
for a violation of this article has not been timely paid and the person
or owner upon whom the penalty was imposed is found to have been liable
therefor in civil proceedings, the violators shall be liable for the
penalty imposed, including additional daily penalties for continuing
violations, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred
by the Borough in the enforcement proceedings.
C.
The Borough reserves the right
to enforce the provisions of this article in any manner permitted
by law, and all fines and penalties collected for violation of this
article shall be paid to the Prospect Borough Treasurer.
