[Ord. No. 1537, 6-12-2023]
This article is enacted to provide for the safety and welfare of the citizens of the Town of McCandless by requiring a fire safety inspection of all commercial properties in the Town of McCandless.
[Ord. No. 1537, 6-12-2023]
A fee shall be paid by the building or business owner for the inspection provided for in this article. The fee shall include the original inspection and one reinspection, if needed. Any additional reinspections, at the discretion of the Fire Marshal, may also be charged a fee. The inspection fee and reinspection fees shall be established by Council by resolution. The fee shall be payable prior to the inspection. Council may, by resolution, amend the fees from time to time.
[Ord. No. 1537, 6-12-2023]
(a)
Existing occupancies. From the effective date of this article, all commercial buildings or occupancies shall be required to receive an inspection to determine if such building or occupancy is in compliance with the Town's adopted fire codes as set forth in Part 15 of the Codified Ordinances of the Town of McCandless. Fire inspections will be conducted at regular intervals as determined in the sole discretion of the Fire Marshal. Any building or occupancy that is deemed a high-life hazard occupancy shall be inspected annually. Some examples of a "high-life hazard occupancy" include but are not limited to: schools, day-care centers and assisted living facilities. For multifamily dwellings, only common areas are required to be inspected, not individual dwelling units. However, the owners of individual dwelling units are not exempt from ensuring that their units comply with all applicable fire codes.
(b)
New occupancies. All new occupancies shall be required to obtain a commercial occupancy permit, issued by the Planning and Development Administrator. A fire safety inspection must occur prior to occupying the new space.
(c)
Failure to obtain a commercial occupancy permit. The Town may send the building owner, building occupant or the owner's legal agent a notice of violation of this article, along with a request for inspection. The owner/agent shall, within 10 days from the date of such Town notice, submit a completed commercial occupancy permit application and schedule their required fire safety inspection. Any occupancy that fails to obtain an occupancy permit shall be deemed a violation of this article, and the Fire Marshal shall have the authority to placard the building and require all occupants to evacuate the structure until a commercial occupancy permit has been secured and the building is deemed safe in the sole discretion of the Fire Marshal.
[Ord. No. 1537, 6-12-2023]
(a)
The Fire Marshal shall be authorized to enter and inspect all commercial structures in the Town to determine whether the building or building occupant is in compliance with the Town's adopted fire safety codes.
(b)
The Fire Marshal shall provide a fire inspection report to the owner, owner's legal agent or building occupant. The report will outline any violations that were observed during the inspection. The owner, owner's agent or building occupant will be given at least 30 days to remediate any violations, with the total time to be provided in the sole discretion of the Fire Marshal. If there are no violations observed during the inspection, the owner or owner's agent will receive a report indicating that the building or occupancy passed the inspection.
(c)
The Fire Marshal shall deny issuance of a commercial occupancy permit to the owner, owner's legal agent or building occupant if the Fire Marshal determines that the building or occupant is in violation of any applicable fire code, in which case no occupancy permit shall be issued until all violations have been remediated to the satisfaction of the Fire Marshal. Nothing herein shall prohibit the Fire Marshal, upon good cause shown, from issuing a temporary commercial occupancy permit pending the abatement of any fire code violations and reinspection, where the Fire Marshal, in his/her sole discretion, is satisfied that such temporary occupancy does not pose a danger to the safety and welfare of the building's tenants or to other persons or property within the Town.
(d)
All inspections under this article shall be conducted at reasonable times with prior notice to the applicant, owner, landlord, or manager, and subject to constitutional protections, including those pertaining to unreasonable searches and seizures. Prior to seeking entry to conduct an inspection hereunder, the Fire Marshal shall display proper credentials. If permission to enter to conduct an inspection as authorized under this article is not obtained or is refused by an applicant, owner, landlord, or manager, the inspection of any such unit or building shall not be conducted, and the Fire Marshal is hereby authorized to pursue entry as provided by law.
[Ord. No. 1537, 6-12-2023]
(a)
Nothing in this article is intended to nor shall it be deemed to restrict or prevent any other inspection by the Fire Marshal of any commercial property within the Town of McCandless at any time upon proper cause shown and/or as otherwise provided or authorized under law.
(b)
Nothing in this article shall restrict the Town's Building Inspector or Code Enforcement Officer from accompanying the Fire Marshal on the inspections required by this article.
(c)
Any person who shall violate any provision of this article, including failure to timely apply for a commercial occupancy permit; failure to submit to proper inspection; failure to file any required reports; filing inaccurate, untimely or incomplete applications or reports; or for any other violation of this article, shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than the greater of $1,000 or the then maximum fine as permitted under Pennsylvania law at the time of the violation.
(d)
For the purpose of this article, each day a person is in violation of any provision of this article shall be considered a separate offense.
(e)
Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to preclude the Town from seeking other relief or availing itself of any remedy that may be at law or in equity to prevent continuing violations of the terms of this article or of any other ordinance found to exist as a result of the Fire Marshal's inspections conducted hereunder. Nor shall any provision of this article be deemed to prevent the Town from instituting other legal proceedings and seeking relief in the courts of equity of the commonwealth if the Town shall deem such action necessary to abate any violation of this article or any other Town ordinance.