[Adopted as Ch. 5, Art. IV, of the 2001 Code]
A certain document, one copy of which is on file in the Town office of the Town of Preston, being marked and designated as the "BOCA National Property Maintenance Code, Fifth Edition, 1996," as published by the Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc., be and is hereby adopted as the Property Maintenance Code of the Town of Preston, in the State of Maryland, for the control of buildings and structures as herein provided, and each and all of the regulations, provisions, penalties, conditions and terms of said BOCA National Property Maintenance Code are hereby referred to, adopted, and made a part hereof as if fully set out in this article, with the additions, insertions, deletions and changes, if any, prescribed in §§ 141-8 and 141-9 of this article.
The BOCA National Property Maintenance Code is amended and revised in the following respects:
A. 
Section PM-101.1 is amended to add the words "Town of Preston" in the existing blank.
B. 
Section PM-106.2 is amended to insert the fee: $100 to $1,000.
C. 
Section PM-106.2 is amended to insert the number: 180 days.
D. 
Section PM-111.2 is amended "Board of Appeals shall consist of three members appointed for three-year terms."
E. 
Sections PM-111.2.1 and PM-111.2.2 are deleted.
F. 
Section PM-111.5 is amended to three members.
G. 
Section PM-111.y is amended to majority vote.
H. 
Section PM-304.15 is amended to insert the dates: January 1 to December 31.
I. 
Section PM-602.2.1 is amended to insert the dates: October 1 to May 31.
J. 
Section PM-602.3 is amended to insert the dates: October 1 to May 31.
The BOCA National Property Maintenance Code is amended and revised in the following respects:
Section PM-112.0: Assessment of Costs, Creation of Lien to Correct Conditions in Violation of BOCA National Property Maintenance Code/1996.
Section PM-112.1: Definitions.
For the purposes of this section, the following words have the meanings ascribed to them by this section:
Owner: Any person, firm, conservator, receiver or officer who owns, holds or controls the whole or any part of the freehold title (control of the freehold title is not intended to mean a tenant under any type of written or oral tenancy) to any real property, including, but not limited to, vacant land, buildings, dwelling units, residential or commercial real property, etc., with or without accompanying actual possession thereof, and shall include, in addition to the holder of legal title, any vendee in possession thereof, but shall not include a mortgagee or trustee under deed of trust, unless said mortgagee or trustee is in actual possession.
Rubbish: The waste materials commonly referred to as rubbish and garbage, including garbage from normal household living conditions, including waste, foodstuffs of vegetable or animal origin, paper products, fabrics, plastic and metal containers, bottles, crockery and other similar materials, and combustible and noncombustible waste materials, including the residue from the burning of wood, coal, coke and other combustible materials, paper, rags, cartons, boxes, wood excelsior, rubber, leather, tree branches, grass, hedge or shrub trimmings, tin cans, metals, mineral matter, glass, crockery, abandoned, not currently registered or inoperable machinery, equipment, appliances or vehicles, tires, play and recreation equipment, furniture, bottles, wastepaper, cardboard, sawdust piles, rubbish from building construction or reconstruction, uprooted tree stumps, street refuse, and other waste materials.
Section PM-112.2: Miscellaneous.
A.
The provisions of this article shall apply to any real property within the limits of the Town of Preston.
B.
The decision of the Town's Code Enforcement Officer as to whether particular articles are rubbish, as herein defined, shall be final and if articles of rubbish have been mixed with other articles not constituting rubbish, as herein defined, the Code Enforcement Officer shall be entitled to treat all such mixed articles as rubbish.
C.
The Town of Preston, Maryland, its officers, employees, agents or contractors are hereby authorized to enter upon any real property within the Town of Preston to remove such rubbish and to do any and all other matters upon such property as are reasonably necessary and proper to enforce this article.
D.
The correction of any condition by the Town of Preston, Maryland, under authority of this article shall not relieve the owner of the property on which such condition existed from criminal prosecution or punishment, whether misdemeanor or municipal infraction, for having caused or allowed such unlawful condition to arise or for having failed or refused to correct the same.
E.
If any section or part of section of this article shall be held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect the remainder of this article or the context in which such section or part of section so held invalid appears, except to the extent that an entire section or part of section may be inseparably connected in meaning and effect with the section or part of section to which such holding shall apply.
Section PM-112.3: Accumulations of rubbish prohibited - exceptions.
A.
No person shall allow rubbish to remain, to be deposited or to accumulate, either temporarily or permanently, on his property. This section shall not apply to those persons who store rubbish in a lawfully permitted manner for the purpose of regular municipal collection.
Section PM-112.4: Notice.
The Town of Preston's Code Enforcement Officer is hereby authorized to notify the owner of the property as determined by the official tax rolls of the Town of Preston to remove or properly dispose of the rubbish from the subject property. Said notice shall be made pursuant to Section PM 112.8 set forth in this article.
Section PM-112.5: Authority of Town to remove rubbish when owner fails to do so.
Upon the failure, neglect or refusal of any owner so notified to remove or properly dispose of such rubbish within 10 calendar days after service of notice as provided for in Section PM-112.4, the Town of Preston's Code Enforcement Officer is hereby authorized and empowered to cause such condition to be corrected by removing and disposing of such rubbish and is hereby authorized and empowered to pay for the disposal of such rubbish or to order its disposal by the Town of Preston's Department of Public Works.
Section PM-112.6: Charge for removal to be included in tax bill.
When the Town of Preston has effected the removal of such rubbish by its own employees or has paid for the removal of such rubbish by its agents or contractors, the actual costs thereof and any related expenses plus an administrative fee of $200 shall be charged to the owner of such property and, if not sooner paid, such charge shall be carried on the records of the Town of Preston and shall be collectible in the same manner as real estate taxes are collected.
When the Town of Preston has, for the second time or subsequent time(s) at such property, effected the removal of such rubbish by its own employees or has paid for the removal of such rubbish by its agents or contractors, the actual costs thereof and any related expenses plus an administrative fee of $500 shall be charged to the owner of such property, and, if not sooner paid, such charge shall be carried on the records of the Town of Preston and shall be collectible in the same manner as real estate taxes are collected.
Section PM-112.7: Financial.
A.
There is hereby established in the Town of Preston and accounted for within the General Account a separate restricted fund balance in the amount of not less than $2,500. The purpose of this account is for paying the costs of correction and all expenses incident thereto that the Town of Preston may order or cause pursuant to this article. The Commissioners, upon approval by two-thirds vote, may increase or decrease the amount of this account during any time of the year. This account is established and is to be used for said purpose for so long as the Commissioners deem it appropriate.
B.
There shall be deposited to the credit of said account such amounts as may be appropriated for the account or for the purposes of the account, the charges assessed and collected pursuant to this article and all other receipts of whatever nature derived from the operation of said account.
C.
Not later than six months after the end of each fiscal year, the Clerk-Treasurer of the Town shall submit to the Commissioners a report of the financial condition of the account and the results of the operations and collections for such fiscal year. Said report shall include, but not be limited to, the itemized accounts of unrecovered charges and administrative fees and the names of the delinquent property owners.
D.
Any tax authorized to be collected under this article may be paid without interest within 30 days from the date the Town effected removal of such rubbish. Interest of 1 1/2% per month shall be charged on all unpaid amounts after the expiration of 30 days from the date of such removal. If any such tax or part thereof shall remain unpaid after the expiration of one year from the date of such removal, the subject property may be sold for such tax or unpaid portion thereof with interest and administrative fees thereon at the next ensuing annual tax sale in the same manner and under the same conditions as property sold for delinquent general real estate taxes, if said tax with interest and administrative fees thereon shall have not been paid in full prior to said sale.
Section PM-112.8: Notice procedure.
A.
Any notice required to be served pursuant to Section 112.0 et seq. shall be deemed to have been served by any of the following methods:
(1)
When forwarded to the last known address of the owner as recorded in the official tax rolls of the Town of Preston, by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, such receipt shall constitute prima facie evidence of service upon such owner if such receipt is signed by an owner. Valid service upon the owner shall be deemed effected if such notice shall be refused by the owner and not delivered for that reason;
(2)
When personally delivered to the person to be notified;
(3)
When left with a person of a suitable age and discretion at the usual residence or place of business of the owner or person to be notified; or
(4)
If service cannot be effected in accordance with (1), (2) or (3), when published once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation within the county and a copy of the same posted on the subject property.
Section PM-112.9: Appeals.
Within 10 days from the service of notice as provided for in this article, the owner or his agent may file a written notice of appeal with the Commissioners stating in detail the reasons as to why the action proposed by the Code Enforcement Officer should not be taken. Upon receipt of such notice of appeal, the Commissioners shall schedule a hearing within 30 days, shall notify owner of the date and time of the hearing, and on the designated date and time shall hear the merits of the appeal. The Commissioners may reverse the action of the Code Enforcement Officer for any error of fact or law, or upon a finding that the enforcement constitutes an undue hardship upon the property owner.
If the owner is dissatisfied with the decision of the Commissioners, he shall have the right to appeal to the Circuit Court of Caroline County, provided that such appeal is taken within 30 days after the entry of the Commissioners' decision. The owner shall be notified of the Commissioners' decision either 1) orally at the hearing or 2) in writing within seven days following said hearing.
Nothing in this article or in the Property Maintenance Code hereby adopted shall be construed to affect any suit or proceeding impending in any court, or any rights acquired, or liability incurred, or any cause or causes of action acquired or existing, under any act or ordinance hereby repealed as cited in § 141-7 of this article, nor shall any just or legal right or remedy of any character be lost, impaired or affected by this article.