The following words and phrases when used in this chapter shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
ABATEMENT The removal, stoppage or destruction by any reasonable means of the cause or constitution of a public nuisance.
DEPARTMENT City of Allentown Department of Community and Economic Development.
DIRECTOR The Director of the Department.
EMERGENT PUBLIC NUISANCE A public nuisance of such a severe and substantial nature to justify extraordinary and immediate action, without prior notice to the owner, to avoid personal injury, death or substantial loss of property. Extraordinary and immediate action is authorized if the conditions of the property present a clear, immediate, and substantial danger to (any single one of these criteria, or any number of these criteria in combination): public health, public safety, occupant health, occupant safety; or neighboring properties.
OCCUPANCY The purpose for which a building or portion thereof is utilized or occupied.
OPERATOR Any person who has charge, care or control of a structure or premises.
OWNER Any person, agent, operator, firm, corporation, or other legal entity, having legal or equitable interest in the property; or recorded in the official records of the state, county or municipality as holding title to the property; or otherwise having control of the property, including the guardian of the estate of any such person, and the executor or administrator of the estate of such person if ordered to take possession of real property by a court.
PROPERTY Personal property or real property and any improvements to real property.
PUBLIC NUISANCE A. Conduct or property, or the condition or use of property, defined or declared to be a public nuisance under any provision of this chapter or other law.
B. Conduct or property, or the condition or use of property, if the Department determines that it endangers the health or safety of, or causes hurt, harm, inconvenience, discomfort, damage or injury to, a person or property in the City by reason of the conduct or property or the condition or use of the property, being any of the following:
(1) A menace, threat or hazard to the general health and safety of the community.
(3) A building or structure that is unsafe for occupancy or use.
(4) Property that is so inadequately or insufficiently maintained that it diminishes or depreciates the enjoyment and use of other property in its immediate vicinity to the extent that it is harmful to the community in which the property is situated.
C. Unauthorized accumulations of garbage and rubbish and the unauthorized storage of abandoned or junked automobiles or other vehicles on private or public property, and the carrying on of any offensive manufacture or business.
REPORT A submission averring the existence of a public nuisance.
SUMMARY ABATEMENT Abatement of a public nuisance by the City without prior notice to the owner of the property in accordance with this chapter.
TENANT A person, corporation, partnership or group, whether or not the legal owner of record, occupying a building or portion thereof as a unit.
[Amended 8-2-2023 by Ord. No. 15934; 9-6-2023 by Ord. No. 15941]
A. Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals. There is hereby established a Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals which, if an appeal is taken, shall conduct the hearing on the question of whether a public nuisance, in fact, exists. The Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals may uphold, amend or modify the determination of the Department or extend the time for compliance with the Department's order if the extension is limited to a specific time period.
(1) The Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals shall consist of:
(a) A member of City Council.
(b) A private citizen who owns and operates a business within the City of Allentown.
(c) A private citizen who owns and operates a business within the City of Allentown.
(d) A private citizen who resides within the City of Allentown.
(e) A private citizen who resides within the City of Allentown.
(2) The initial terms of the members of the Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals are as follows:
(a) Two years: the individuals identified in § 406-7A(1)(b) and (d).
(b) One year: the individuals identified in § 406-7A(1)(a), (c) and (e).
(3) After the initial terms have expired, each member of the Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals shall be appointed for a term of two years.
(4) Appointments shall be made in accordance with the appointment procedures established by the City of Allentown Home Rule Charter.
(5) After all members have been appointed, the Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals shall hold an organizational meeting within 30 days to appoint a Chair and Vice Chair. The Council member serving on the Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals may not be appointed Chair or Vice Chair.
(6) Three members of the Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals shall constitute a quorum for purposes of conducting Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals business.
B. Time limitations. An appeal under this section shall suspend the period of time within which the nuisance is to be abated until a decision is rendered by the Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals.
C. Right of appeal. A property owner, operator, or tenant may, within 10 business days of the date of the notice of a determination of public nuisance, appeal, in writing, to the Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals. The written appeal shall be mailed or delivered to:
City Clerk for the City of Allentown
435 Hamilton Street
Allentown, PA 18101
D. Scheduling of hearings.
(1) All hearings for appeals of determinations of public nuisance shall be scheduled within 90 days of the date of service of the appeal.
(2) Notice of the date, time and place of the hearing shall be served upon the appellant and the Director pursuant to §
406-5B above.
E. Decisions. The
Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals shall issue its decision to either grant or deny the appeal within five business days of the date of the hearing. Notice of the decision shall be served upon the appellant and the Director pursuant to §
406-5B above.
F. Time limits for a decision. Failure to hold an appeal hearing within 90 days of the date of service of the appeal shall result in the appeal being granted, unless the Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals and the property owner or tenant agree otherwise. Failure to issue a written decision within five business days of the hearing shall result in the appeal being granted unless the Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals and the property owner or tenant agree otherwise in writing.
G. Final administrative decision. The determination of the Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals shall be a final administrative decision within the City.
H. Local Agency Law. All hearings shall be conducted pursuant to the requirements of the Local Agency Law, 2 Pa. C.S.A. §§ 751 through 754.
I. Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals Solicitor for hearings. The Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals shall select a Solicitor to serve as Solicitor to the Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals for purposes of the appeal hearings.
The owner of the property affected by the orders hereunder shall be presumed to be the person in whose name title real estate is recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds in and for Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.
The lack of knowledge of acquiescence or participation in or responsibility for a public nuisance or violation of a closure under this chapter on the part of the owners, lessors, lessees, mortgagees and all those persons in possession or having charge of the property as agent or otherwise, or having any interest in the property, real or personal, used in conducting or maintaining the public nuisance, shall not be a defense by such owners, lessors and lessees, mortgagees, and such other persons. Owners, lessors and lessees, mortgagees, and such other persons are responsible for their guests, invitees, licensees, and customers.
In abating a public nuisance, the Department may call upon any of the City departments or divisions for assistance, as shall be deemed necessary, or may abate the public nuisance by private contract.
If deemed practicable by the Department, the Department may salvage and sell at private or public sale any material derived from an abatement of a public nuisance. The proceeds of such a sale shall be placed in escrow. The escrowed proceeds may be applied against the amount of the City's costs, fees and penalties relating to the abatement. If the amount of the escrowed proceeds exceeds the amount of the costs, fees and penalties, any excess shall be paid to the owner.
Notwithstanding the right of the City to utilize in rem proceedings to pursue collection of the costs, fees and penalties in the statement of costs as a municipal claim, the person who is the owner of the property at the time of a summary abatement at the time the notice required by §
406-4D is given, or, in the case of a nonsummary abatement, the person who was the owner of the property at the time notice of the existence of the public
nuisance was given, shall be personally liable for the amount of the assessment, including all interest, other charges and, except as provided in §
406-11 (relating to notice of assessment and appeal of charges), civil penalties.
Whenever a public nuisance is abated by the City, the statement of the costs of the public nuisance shall include the City's actual cost of abatement, plus an administrative fee, not to exceed 10%, and a civil penalty. For the first abatement of a public nuisance upon any owner's property within the City in any two-year period, the civil penalty shall be $250. For second and subsequent abatements upon any properties of any owner within the City during any two-year period, the civil penalty shall be $500. The increased civil penalty shall be imposed and collected regardless of whether the second and subsequent public nuisances upon property or properties of an owner involve the same property or the public nuisances are of the same or different character.