[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of
Baldwin 5-18-1992 by Ord. No. 641. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Alarm systems — See Ch. 62.
Brush, grass and weeds — See Ch. 70.
Building construction and housing standards — See Ch. 74.
Dangerous buildings — See Ch. 77.
Numbering of buildings — See Ch. 80.
Open burning — See Ch. 81.
Uniform construction codes — see Ch. 83.
Fire prevention — See Ch. 89.
Solid waste — See Ch. 136.
Trees, shrubs and bushes — See Ch. 150.
Zoning — See Ch. 168.
This chapter shall be known as the "Property Maintenance Code
of the Borough of Baldwin."
[Amended 9-19-1994 by Ord. No. 673; 9-19-1996 by Ord. No. 702; 10-16-2000 by Ord. No. 742; 4-21-2015 by Ord. No. 863]
To promote and protect the public health, safety and welfare
of the residents of the Borough of Baldwin and for the purpose of
codifying and regulating the design, construction, alteration, demolition,
execution, repair, maintenance, mechanicals, energy use and fuel gas
usage, fire safety and removal of all buildings, homes, structures
and/or edifices in the Borough of Baldwin and to prescribe reasonable
standards for the use of materials, roofing and construction components
in such structures in the borough, the Borough Council of the Borough
of Baldwin hereby adopts those certain codes known as the International
Building Code 2009; the International Fire Code 2009; the International
Fuel Gas Code 2009; the International Energy Conservation Code 2009;
the International Mechanical Code 2009; the International Residential
Code 2009, the International Property Maintenance Code 2009, the American
National Standards Institute 117 - Accessibility Code 2009, and National
Electrical Code 2014, herein referred to as the 'codes,'
as hereinafter modified. Copies of the code have been and are now
on file in the office of the Borough Manager of the Borough of Baldwin.
The provisions, standards, specifications and interpretations of the
aforesaid codes are hereby adopted by reference to the same and they
are incorporated herein as fully as if they had been set out at length
herein.
Any references in the aforesaid codes to terms such as "municipality,"
"city" or any other reference to a governmental authority shall be
held to mean the Borough of Baldwin; any terms used in the codes referring
to building inspection, inspector, code officer or other person authorized
to enforce the codes shall be held to mean the Zoning Officer of the
Borough of Baldwin or any inspectors hired by the Borough to accomplish
the purposes set out in this chapter. The Borough Council of the Borough
of Baldwin is hereby authorized to appoint and hire inspectors to
carry out the provisions of this chapter, but the Zoning Officer of
the Borough of Baldwin shall be the primary official responsible for
the administration and enforcement of this chapter.
All terms used in this chapter shall be defined as the same
are more fully defined in the codes, except that in the event there
is a conflict between the definition contained in the codes and the
terms that are defined in the Zoning Ordinance of the Borough of Baldwin,
Ordinance No. 440, adopted the 29th day of September 1972, as amended,
then the definition as set forth in the Zoning Ordinance of the Borough
of Baldwin shall prevail.[1] For these purposes, the definitions section of the Zoning
Ordinance of the Borough of Baldwin is incorporated herein by reference
thereto, the same as though it had been fully set forth herein at
length.
The Property Maintenance Code adopted herein is hereby modified
in the following respect:
A.
Sections 111.1 through 111.3 are deleted in their entirety from the
code, and substituted therefor shall be the following:
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PM-111.1: Any person shall have the right to appeal
by requesting the Zoning Officer to seek an interpretation of the
ordinance from the Building Officials and Code Administrators International,
Inc.; in the event that such a decision is adverse to the applicant
or not forthcoming, the applicant may then request that an arbitrator
be appointed to determine the issue and to render a decision. The
arbitrator shall be an architect selected by the Borough and the applicant.
All costs of the arbitrator shall be paid for by the applicant.
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PM-111.2: Any person aggrieved by the decision
of the arbitrator shall have the right to appeal to the Court of Common
Pleas of Allegheny County within 30 days of the date of the arbitrator's
decision in accordance with the rules of court.
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Whenever a conflict shall occur between the provisions of this
chapter and the code adopted hereunder and the provisions of any other
ordinance of the Borough of Baldwin, particularly the Zoning Ordinance
and the Subdivision Ordinance of the Borough of Baldwin,[1] then such conflict shall be resolved by interpreting the
ordinances so that the strictest interpretation of the conflicting
ordinance shall be the one that prevails, and the administration or
enforcement of the matter shall proceed under the provisions of the
ordinance containing the strictest standard or interpretation.
The Zoning Officer of the Borough of Baldwin appointed under
the provisions of the Zoning Ordinance of the Borough of Baldwin or
any inspector appointed by the Borough Council of the Borough of Baldwin
under the provisions of this chapter shall be authorized to and is
hereby directed to be the official responsible for the administration
and enforcement of this chapter; he shall be responsible to inspect
the construction, alteration, demolition or removal of all structures
to ascertain that the same is conducted pursuant to the provisions
of this chapter. He shall issue permits as the same are required,
after first having obtained all necessary approvals, and he shall
condemn all unsafe structures and shall order the same to be razed
or repaired and made safe and secure as the interest of the public
safety may require. He shall have authority after exhibiting proper
identification and in the discharge of his official duties to enter
any building, structure or premises at any reasonable hours to enforce
all laws relating to matters covered under the provisions of this
chapter, and he shall be authorized to issue such citations or to
file such complaints before a District Magistrate as may be required
for the enforcement of this chapter.
In addition to the penalties set forth in the code adopted hereunder,
any person who shall violate any of the provisions of the code or
of any ordinance incorporated herein and adopted hereby or any person
who shall erect, construct, alter, repair, demolish or remove any
building, structure or edifice covered hereunder or permit, suffer
or cause the erection, alteration, repair, demolition or removal of
any building or structure or portion thereof covered hereunder in
violation of this chapter or of any ordinance incorporated herein
shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter and shall, upon conviction
thereof by a District Magistrate, be punishable by a fine of not less
than $100 nor more than $300 together with costs of prosecution and,
in default of payment of such fine or costs, shall be imprisoned for
not more than 10 days. The owner of any building, structure, home
or edifice or portion of the same or of the premises wherein a violation
of the code shall exist, or who shall cause a violation of the same,
or any owner, tenant, contractor, agent or employee who may commit
a violation of this chapter or assist in the commission of such a
violation shall each be guilty of a separate offense and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be punishable by a fine not less than $100 nor more
than $300 and costs of prosecution or, in default of payment of such
fine and costs, shall be imprisoned for not more than 10 days; and
provided, further, that each day that a violation of any of the provisions
of this chapter continues shall be considered a separate offense.
The term "person," as used herein, shall mean any individual, a member
of a partnership or the officer of any corporation, which officer
authorizes or participates in any action or omission to act which
constitutes a violation of this chapter.
Nothing in this chapter or in the code hereby adopted shall
be construed to affect any suit or proceeding now pending in any court
or any rights acquired or liability incurred hereunder nor any cause
or cause of action accrued or existing under any act or ordinance
repealed herein.
