[Ord. No. 919, 4-21-1980; Ord. No. 1014, 2-16-1981]
For the purposes of this article, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:
BUILDING
A structure designed, built or occupied as a shelter or roofed enclosure for persons, animals or property and used for residential, business, mercantile, storage, commercial, industrial, institutional, assembly, educational or recreational purposes. A structure of the following dimensions shall fall within this definition: 10 feet or more in width; over 50 feet in length; over 14 feet in height; any combination of one or more of these dimensions. The word "building" as used in this article shall not include a mobile home, mobile office, buildings or other structures constructed in modules or portions of a completed structure which by their design and construction were expressly made to be portable or mobile and moved from one location to another.
BUILDING INSPECTOR
The Building Inspector of the City.
[Ord. No. 919, 4-21-1980]
The Building Inspector and the Police Department shall enforce and carry out the requirements of this article.
[Ord. No. 919, 4-21-1980]
Violation of this article is a misdemeanor, and all such violations shall be punished as provided by § 18-1 of this Code.
[Ord. No. 919, 4-21-1980]
No person shall move any building over, along or across any highway, street or alley in the City without first obtaining a permit from the Building Inspector.
[Ord. No. 919, 4-21-1980]
A person seeking issuance of a permit under this article shall file an application for such permit with the Building Inspector. The application shall be made in writing upon forms provided by the Building Inspector and shall be filed in the office of the Building Inspector. The application shall set forth:
(a) 
A description of the building proposed to be moved, giving street number, construction materials, dimensions, number of rooms and condition of exterior and interior.
(b) 
A legal description of the lot from which the building is to be moved, giving the lot, block and tract number, if located in the City.
(c) 
A legal description of the lot to which it is proposed such building be removed, giving lot, block and tract number, if located in the City.
(d) 
The portion of the lot to be occupied by the building when moved.
(e) 
The highways, streets and alleys over, along or across which the building is proposed to be moved.
(f) 
Proposed moving date and hours.
(g) 
Any additional information which the Building Inspector shall find necessary to a fair determination of whether a permit should issue.
[Ord. No. 919, 4-21-1980]
(a) 
The owner of the building to be moved shall file with the application for a permit under this article sufficient evidence that the building and lot from which it is to be removed are free of any entanglements and that all taxes and any City charges against the same are paid in full.
(b) 
The applicant, if other than the owner, shall file with the application a written statement or bill of sale signed by the owner or other sufficient evidence that he or she is entitled to move the building.
[Ord. No. 919, 4-21-1980]
The permittee or person seeking a permit under this article shall set out in his or her application the route or the streets, highways and alleys over, along or across which the building is proposed to be moved. The permittee shall first submit the route over which the building is proposed to be moved to the City Police Department. The Building Inspector shall not issue any moving permit under this article unless the permittee's route has first been submitted to and approved by the City Police Department.
[Ord. No. 919, 4-21-1980]
Upon receipt of an application under the provisions of this article, it shall be the duty of the Building Inspector to procure an estimate of the expense that will be incurred in removing and replacing any electric wires, street lamps or pole lines belonging to the City or any other property of the City, the removal and replacement of which will be required by reason of the moving of the building through the City, together with the cost of materials necessary to be used in making such removals and replacements. Prior to issuance of the permit, the Building Inspector shall require of the applicant a deposit of a sum of money equal to twice the amount of the estimated expense.
[Ord. No. 919, 4-21-1980]
The Building Inspector shall refuse to issue a permit under this article if he or she finds that:
(a) 
Any application requirement or any fee or deposit requirement has not been complied with.
(b) 
The building is too large to move without endangering persons or property in the City.
(c) 
The building is in such a state of deterioration or disrepair or is otherwise so structurally unsafe that it could not be moved without endangering persons and property in the City.
(d) 
The building is structurally unsafe or unfit for the purpose for which moved, if the removal location is in the City.
(e) 
The applicant's equipment is unsafe and the persons and property would be endangered by its use.
(f) 
Zoning or other ordinances or provisions of this Code would be violated by the building in its new location.
(g) 
For any other reason, persons or property in the City would be endangered by the moving of the building.
[Ord. No. 919, 4-21-1980; Ord. No. 1525, 8-1-1988; Ord. No. 2040-26, 6-2-2026]
The application referred to in § 6-75 shall be accompanied by a permit fee as listed in the most current schedule on file in the Building Department.
[Ord. No. 919, 4-21-1980]
The Building Inspector shall retain all fees and deposits paid or deposited pursuant to the provisions of this article in his or her office or with the City Clerk. Upon his or her refusal to issue a permit under this article, the Building Inspector shall return to the applicant all deposits. After the building has been removed, the Building Inspector shall return to the applicant the expense deposit required under § 6-79, after he or she has deducted the sum sufficient to pay for all the costs and expenses incurred by the City by reason of the removal of the building. Permit fees deposited with the application shall not be returned. The general deposit required under § 6-83 shall not be returned; however, the Building Inspector is authorized to deduct from such deposit the sum sufficient to pay for all damage done to property of the City by reason of the removal of the building. When such sums or any other amounts are deducted from such general deposit, it shall be the duty of the permittee to make additional cash deposits with the Building Inspector sufficient to maintain the general cash deposit in the sum required under § 6-83 so long as the permittee has a license from the City to move buildings.
[Ord. No. 919, 4-21-1980]
Any person doing the business of moving buildings in, on, upon or across the streets, highways or alleys in the City, prior to obtaining a license from the City for the moving of buildings in the City, shall first deposit with the Building Inspector a cash deposit of a general nature in the sum of $2,500 as indemnity for any damage which the City may sustain by reason of damage or injury to any highway, street, alley, sidewalk, fire hydrant or other property of the City which may be caused by or be incidental to the removal of any building over, along or across any street in the City and to indemnify the City against any claim of damages to persons or private property, and to satisfy any claims by private individuals arising out of, caused by or incidental to the moving of any building over, along or across any street in the City. However, any person filing an application hereunder may, in lieu of the general cash deposit required above, file with the Building Inspector a bond, approved as to form by the City Attorney, executed by a bonding or surety company authorized to do business in the State of Alabama in the amount of $2,500 conditioned upon the assurance that this article and other applicable ordinances and laws will be complied with. Such bond shall run to the City for the use and benefit of any person or persons intended to be protected thereby and shall be conditioned on the payment of any damage to public or private property and the payment for any damages or losses resulting from any malfeasance, misfeasance or nonfeasance or negligence in connection with any of the activities or conditions upon which the permit applied for is granted.
[Ord. No. 919, 4-21-1980; Ord. No. 2040-26, 6-2-2026]
Every permittee under this article shall:
(a) 
Move a building only over streets designated for such use in the written permit.
(b) 
Notify the Building Inspector and the Police Department in writing of a desired change from the moving date and hours as proposed in the application.
(c) 
Notify the Building Inspector in writing of any damage done to property within 24 hours after the damage or injury has occurred.
(d) 
Cause red lights to be displayed during the nighttime on every side of the building while standing on a street, in such manner as to warn the public of the obstruction, and shall at all times erect and maintain barricades across the streets in such manner as to protect the public from damage or injury by reason of the removal of the building.
(e) 
Remove the building from the City streets on or before the expiration of the moving date and hours set forth in the application as required under § 6-75.
(f) 
Comply with the City Building Code, the zone regulations, the Zoning Ordinance and all other applicable provisions of this Code and other ordinances and laws upon relocating the building in the City.
(g) 
Pay the expense of any traffic officer required to accompany the movement of the building to protect the public from injury.
(h) 
Remove all rubbish and materials and fill all excavations to existing grade at the original building site so that the premises are left in a safe and sanitary condition.
(i) 
See that the sewer line is plugged with a concrete stopper, the water shut off, and the meter returned to the Municipal Utilities Board. The permittee shall also notify the gas and electric service companies to remove their services.
[Ord. No. 919, 4-21-1980]
The City shall proceed to do any work necessary to leave the original premises of a building in a safe and sanitary condition, where the permittee does not comply with the requirements of this article, and the cost thereof shall be charged against the deposits of the permittee.
[Ord. No. 919, 4-21-1980]
The permittee under this article shall be liable for any expenses, damages or cost in excess of deposited amounts, and the City Attorney shall prosecute an action against the permittee in a court of competent jurisdiction for the recovery of such excessive amounts.
[Ord. No. 919, 4-21-1980]
The provisions and terms of this article shall not relieve any other oversize load on or upon the streets and highways of the City, which may be other than a building, from complying with the laws of the state regulating and governing oversize loads.