[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Albion 7-13-2023 by Ord. No. 01-2023. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be referred to as the "Borough of Albion
Quality of Life Ticketing Ordinance."
The following words, terms, and phrases, when used in this chapter,
shall be defined as follows, unless context clearly indicates otherwise:
Any person residing or working within the Borough of Albion
designated to accept service on behalf of a legal owner or operator
of a business or dwelling.
A written document issued to a person in violation of a Borough
ordinance which specifies the violation and contains a directive to
take corrective action within a specified time frame or face further
legal action.
Any person, agent, operator, firm or corporation having a
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 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.
Includes the singular and plural and shall mean and include
any natural person, firm, corporation, partnership, business trust,
other association, estate, trust, foundation or institution. The term
also includes the governing authority for a county or municipality,
and a government entity other than the commonwealth.
Any police, officer, code enforcement officer, building code
official, authorized inspector, public official and/or employee designated
by the Mayor or the Borough to enforce federal, state and/or Borough
laws, rules, regulations and/or ordinances.
A form issued by a public officer to a person who violates
a provision of this chapter. The violation ticket is an offer by the
Borough of Albion extended to a person to settle a violation by paying
the fine in lieu of a citation being issued against the violator.
The following chapters are deemed and ordained to be under the
jurisdiction of this enforcement process as quality of life violations:
Upon finding a quality of life violation, any public officer
may issue a quality of life violation ticket(s) to the owner and/or
occupant of the property at issue or to the individual(s) known to
have violated this chapter.
A violation ticket shall be served upon a violator by handing
it to the violator, by handing it at the residence of the person to
be served to an adult member of the household or other person in charge
of the residence, by leaving or affixing the notice or violation ticket
to the property where the violation exists, by handing it, at any
office or usual place of business of the violator, to his/her agent
or to the person for the time being in charge thereof, or by mailing
the notice to the violator's last known address of record.
Each day a violation continues or is permitted to continue may
constitute a separate offense for which a separate fine may be imposed.
A.
Any person who violates this chapter shall pay a fine as set forth
herein for each offense, plus all direct and indirect costs incurred
by the Borough for the cleanup and abatement of the violation.
(1)
For the first offense of violation of this chapter within a twelve-month
period, a ticket shall be issued in the amount of $25.
(2)
For the second offense of violation of this chapter within a twelve-month
period, a ticket shall be issued in the amount of $50.
(3)
For the third offense of violation of this chapter within a twelve-month
period, a ticket shall be issued in the amount of $100.
(4)
For the fourth offense and all subsequent offenses of violation of
this chapter within a twelve-month period, a ticket shall be issued
in the amount of $300.
B.
Failure of the person to make payment within 10 days of the date
of service of a violation ticket shall result in the filing of a citation
with the Magisterial District Judge.
C.
If violations are continuous or egregious, code officials have the
right to issue citations without first issuing tickets, provided notice
has been given.
A.
Any person or business violating this chapter is hereby directed
to satisfy the Borough of Albion and its citizens, upon issuance of
a quality of life ticket, by correcting the violation in question.
A public officer is authorized and empowered to cause a violation
to be corrected. The cost shall be determined by the Borough Code
Enforcement Officer in order that the Borough shall be compensated
for both direct and indirect costs and expenses incurred.
B.
The Borough of Albion and/or its contractor, per the direction of
the Borough, reserves the right to abate the violation in question
at the expense of the owner. If the Borough has effected the abatement
of the violation, the total cost thereof, to include hourly wages
and all items and materials used, may be charged to the owner of the
property, tenant, or offending party. A bill/invoice will be generated
to the violator for payment separate from the quality of life ticket,
which will also be paid separately.
C.
In all instances where the Borough abates the violation, in addition
to the fine set forth in the quality of life ticket, the Borough is
authorized to recover from the offending party, the owner of the property,
or tenant the abatement charges and such other charges established
by the Code Enforcement Officer and the rules and regulations.
D.
The Borough reserves the right to perform any necessary work to abate
any violation once 48 hours passes from the date of issuance of the
quality of life ticket. Should the violation, at the discretion of
the Code Enforcement Officer, present imminent danger and/or pose
a health hazard and/or risk, the Borough reserves the right to perform
the abatement immediately. The Borough will perform this work at a
rate of $75 per hour, per worker, and forward the cost of any material
necessary for the abatement. The Borough reserves the right to charge
an additional 20% on all material purchases to cover all miscellaneous
expenses, such as wear and tear on equipment.
E.
The Borough reserves the right to direct a contractor to perform
the abatement of the violation in question once 48 hours passes from
the date of issuance of the quality of life ticket. Should the violation
present imminent danger and/or pose a health hazard and/or risk, the
Borough reserves the right to direct the contractor to perform the
abatement immediately. The contractor will submit a bill for its work
to the Borough of Albion, and the Borough will forward these costs
to the violator. The Borough reserves the right to add a 30% processing
fee in addition to the cost of the contractor.
Any person, firm, business or corporation who shall fail, neglect,
or refuse to comply with any of the terms or provisions of this chapter,
or of any regulation or requirement pursuant hereto and authorized
hereby, shall, upon conviction before the Magisterial District Judge,
be ordered to pay a fine of not less than $300 and not more than $1,000
for each offense, or imprisoned no more than 90 days, or both.
The Magisterial District Judge may order the violator to make
restitution where appropriate, to pay the Borough's costs of
collection/citation proceedings, and to pay the Borough's reasonable
attorneys' fees associated with the prosecution of the same.
A.
All relevant ordinances, regulations, and policies of the Borough
of Albion, Pennsylvania, not amended shall remain in full force and
effect.
B.
Any ordinance or part of an ordinance conflicting with the provisions
of this chapter shall be subordinate to this chapter to the extent
of such conflict, and the language contained in the chapter shall
control.
All ordinances and parts of ordinances inconsistent herewith
are hereby repealed.
If any sentence, clause, section or amendment of this chapter
is for any reason found to be unconstitutional, illegal, or invalid,
such unconstitutionality, illegality, or invalidity shall not affect
or impair any of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses, sections
or amendments of this chapter. It is hereby declared as the intent
of the Borough Council that this chapter would have been adopted had
such unconstitutional, illegal, or invalid sentence, clause, section,
or amendment thereof not been included herein.
This chapter shall become immediately effective July 13, 2023,
as permitted by law.
