Be it ordained and enacted by the Council of the Borough of
Sharpsburg, and it is hereby ordained and enacted by the authority
of the same, that from and after the effective date of this Part 6,
the following Part 6 shall be in full force and effect in the Borough
of Sharpsburg.
This Part 6 shall be known as the "Borough of Sharpsburg Commercial
Fire Safety Inspection Ordinance."
This Part
6 is adopted pursuant to the Borough Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Act of February 1, 1996, P.L. (1965), No. 581, § 1202, as amended, 53 P.S. § 46202 et seq., and the provisions hereof and all sections contained herein
shall be construed as having been adopted in the interests of the
health, safety, and general welfare of the people of the Borough of
Sharpsburg, Allegheny County, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
It is the purpose of this Part 6 to:
1. Promote, protect and facilitate the public health, safety and the
general welfare of the community and to protect and to promote the
safety of commercial tenants and other inhabitants in the Borough
from fire and the hazards of fire.
2. Prevent one or more of the following: loss of health, life or property
from fire, explosions, noxious gases and other dangers or hazards
of fire.
3. Provide protection against fire, explosion and other fire hazards
in the interest of the public health, safety and general welfare.
4. Define and limit the powers and duties of those officers and bodies
that are assigned responsibilities under this Part 6.
5. Require prompt fire safety inspections even without a warrant if
emergency conditions exist.
In the construction of this Part
6, the rules and definitions contained in this section shall be observed and applied, except when the context clearly indicates otherwise:
1. Words used in the singular shall include the plural, and the plural
the singular.
2. Words used in the present tense shall include the future tense.
3. Words used in the masculine gender shall include the feminine and
neuter.
4. The word "person" includes corporations, associations, and partnerships
and other similar entities.
5. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not discretionary.
6. The word "may" is permissive.
7. This Part 6 shall be liberally construed to accomplish its purpose
to protect the public's health, safety and welfare.
8. That the Borough intends to favor the public interest as against
any private interest.
For the purpose of this Part 6, the following terms, phrases,
words and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein:
AGENT FOR AN OWNER
Any person who provides written proof that he/she is/are
authorized to act on behalf of a property owner.
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY (also known as COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE)
Building/buildings or land intended to generate profit, either
from capital gain or rental income from commercially zoned buildings
or five or more residential units. Commercial property includes office
buildings, industrial property, medical centers, hotels, malls, retail
stores, farmland, multifamily housing buildings, warehouses and garages.
Commercial real estate is divided in the following categories:
A.
OFFICE BUILDINGSIncludes single-tenant properties, small professional office buildings, serviced officers, downtown skyscrapers, and everything in between.
B.
INDUSTRIALIncludes smaller properties, often called "Flex" or "R&D" properties, to larger office service or office warehouse properties to the very large "big box" industrial properties, garages, and distribution centers.
C.
RETAILIncludes pad sites on highway frontages, single-tenant retail buildings, small neighborhood shopping centers, shops, and larger centers with grocery store anchor tenants, "power centers" with large anchor stores.
D.
LEISUREIncludes hotels, public houses, Airbnb's, restaurants, fast-food restaurants, cafes, and sports facilities.
E.
HEALTHCAREIncludes medical centers, hospitals, halfway houses and nursing homes.
F.
LANDIncludes investment properties or undeveloped, raw, rural land in the path of future development; or infill land with an urban area, pad sites, and more.
G.
MISCELLANEOUSIncludes any other nonresidential properties such as hospitality and self-storage developments.
FIRE SAFETY COMMERCIAL OPERATING LICENSE
A certificate or document issued by the Building Inspector
after conducting a fire safety inspection and granting permission
to the owner of a commercial property to conduct business in the Borough
of Sharpsburg.
FIRE SAFETY INSPECTION
A critical examination by the Building Inspector to determine
compliance with the 2009 International Building Codes ("IBC"), International
Fire Codes ("IFC"), and International Property Maintenance Codes ("IPMC"),
including means of egress, general precautions against fire and fire
protection systems.
OWNER
Every person who owns a commercial property in the Borough
of Sharpsburg.
PERSON
An individual, proprietorship, corporation, association,
or other legal entity.
Every person who owns a commercial property in the Borough of
Sharpsburg must hold a current, properly issued, and unrevoked fire
safety commercial operating license issued by the Building Inspector
for the specified commercial property.
Every owner who owns a commercial property in the Borough of
Sharpsburg for a period of time in excess of 30 days shall apply for
a fire safety commercial license and shall agree to comply with all
provisions of the 2009 IBC, IFC, and IPMC, or such other more recent
International Codes duly adopted by the Borough of Sharpsburg. The
application form shall be completed and returned to the Borough office
to have a fire inspection properly scheduled.
Upon application, all commercial properties shall be inspected
annually by the Building Inspector for compliance with the provisions
of this Part 6. In the event the Borough Building Inspector refuses
to issue a fire safety operating license, the Building Inspector shall
note all fire safety violations, and shall leave with the owner a
copy of any notice or violation.
Prior to the issuance of a fire safety commercial operating
license, all violations noted on a notice of violation shall be corrected,
as required. Every fire safety commercial operating license shall
be issued for a period of one year, unless sooner revoked.
The fees for registration, inspection, reinspection, follow-up
inspection, inspections requested by owners or tenants, missed inspection
appointment fees, appeal fees and any other fee required in the administration
of this Part 6 shall be established by resolution of Borough Council
and such fees may be reviewed and changed from time to time by resolution.
The issuance of a commercial fire safety operating license is
not a representation by the Borough that the commercial premises inspected
and/or building in which it is located does not contain any violation
of any of the codes referenced in the definition of "codes" above.
Rather, the issuance of a commercial fire safety operating license
represents that, on the date of inspection, no material violation
of any of said codes was noted by the Building Inspector. Neither
the enactment of this section nor the issuance of a commercial fire
safety operating license is a guarantee to any person that no code
violations exist in the premises inspected, nor shall there be imposed
any liability upon the Borough for any errors or omissions which resulted
in the issuance of such license, nor shall the Borough bear any liability
not otherwise imposed by law.
Any person who considers himself/herself aggrieved by a decision
of the Code Enforcement Officer, such as a refusal to issue a commercial
fire safety operating license and/or a decision to suspend or revoke
a commercial fire safety operating license, may file an appeal of
such decision in writing with the Borough Manager within 10 days after
such a decision was communicated to the party allegedly aggrieved
by such decision. The appeal shall be verified by an affidavit and
shall state the grounds for such appeal. The appeal shall be accompanied
by the appeal fee which shall be established from time to time by
resolution of Borough Council. A hearing on the appeal shall be conducted
before a three-person panel, which panel shall be comprised of persons
who have been appointed to the Planning Commission and/or Zoning Hearing
Board. The hearing on the appeal shall be scheduled as soon as reasonably
practicable. The hearing on the appeal shall be conducted in accordance
with the provisions of the Local Agency Law. The decision of the panel shall constitute adjudication
for purposes of the Local Agency Law and party who is dissatisfied
with the decision of the panel may appeal the decision to the Allegheny
County Court of Common Pleas as provided by the Local Agency Law.
If any of the provisions or terms of this Part 6 shall be held
invalid for any reason whatsoever, then, unless such provision or
term is material to this Part 6 as to render this Part 6 impracticable
to perform, such provision or term shall be deemed severable from
the remaining provisions or terms of this Part 6 and shall in no way
affect the validity or enforceability of any other provisions hereof.
All prior ordinances of the Borough of Sharpsburg which are inconsistent
with this Part 6 are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.
This Part 6 shall become effective the first day of January
2020.