Any dwelling or dwelling unit which is found to have any of the following
defects shall be condemned as unfit for human habitation and declared to be
a common and public nuisance and shall be so designated and placarded by the
Building Inspector:
A.
One which is so damaged, decayed, dilapidated, unsanitary,
unsafe or vermin-infested that it creates a serious hazard to the health or
safety of the occupants or the public.
B.
One which lacks elimination, ventilation or sanitation
facilities adequate to protect the health or safety of the occupants or the
public.
C.
One in which unsafe equipment, including any boiler,
heating equipment, elevator, moving stairway, electrical wiring or device,
flammable liquid containers or other equipment on the premises or within the
structure which are found to be a hazard to life, health, property or safety
of the public or occupants of the premises or structure.
Whenever the Building Inspector has determined that there has been a
violation of this chapter or has declared a dwelling or multiple dwelling
as unfit for human habitation and constituting a common and public nuisance,
he shall give notice to the owner of such property and shall placard the dwelling
or multiple dwelling as unfit for human habitation. Such notice shall:
A.
Be in writing.
B.
Include a description of the real estate sufficient for
identification.
C.
State the time the occupants must vacate the dwelling
units.
D.
Include an order allowing a reasonable time for repairs
and improvements required to bring the dwelling unit or structure into compliance
with the provisions of this chapter.
E.
Include an explanation of the owner's and/or the occupant's
right to seek modification or withdrawal of the notice by petition to the
Board of Adjustments and Appeals having jurisdiction.
F.
State the penalties for noncompliance.
Service shall be deemed to be properly served upon the owner or occupant
or both of them as follows:
A.
By delivery to the owner personally or to the occupant
personally or to both of them by leaving the notice at the usual place of
abode of the owner with a person of suitable age and discretion;
B.
By depositing the notice in the United States Post Office
addressed to the owner at his last known address by certified mail with return
receipt requested and postage prepaid; or
C.
By posting and keeping posted for 24 hours a copy of
the notice in placard form in a conspicuous place on the premises and by publication
of such notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town of Millsboro.
When a condemnation order is served on an occupant other than the owner
or person responsible for such compliance, the Building Inspector shall allow
the owner or occupant a reasonable time to vacate the property after noncompliance
shall be stated. Owners or persons responsible for compliance must vacate
at the time set for correction of the defects if there is a failure of compliance.
It shall be unlawful for the owner of any dwelling unit or structure
who has received a compliance order or upon whom a notice of violation has
been served to sell, transfer, mortgage, lease or otherwise dispose of such
property to another until the provision of the compliance order or notice
of violation has received compliance or until the owner shall first furnish
the grantee, transferee, mortgagee or lessee a true copy of any compliance
order or notice of violation issued by the Building Inspector and shall furnish
to the Building Inspector a signed and notarized statement from the grantee,
transferee, mortgagee or lessee acknowledging receipt of a copy of such compliance
order or notice of violation and fully accepting the responsibility without
condition for making the corrections or repairs required by such compliance
order or notice of violation.
After the condemnation notice required under the provisions of this
chapter has resulted in an order by virtue of failure to comply within the
time given, the Building Inspector may post on the premises or structure or
parts thereof, or on defective equipment, a placard bearing the words "condemned
as unfit for human occupancy or use" and a statement of the penalties provided
for any occupancy or use or for removing the placard. The owner or the person
or persons responsible for the correction of violations and all other occupants
shall remove themselves from the property on failure to comply with the correction
order within the time specified.
Any person shall occupy a placarded premises or structure or a part
thereof, or shall use placarded equipment, and any owner or any person responsible
for the premises who shall let anyone occupy a placarded premises shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to the penalties provided
for in this chapter.
The Building Inspector shall remove the condemnation placard whenever
the defect or defects upon which the condemnation and placarding action were
based have been eliminated. Any person who defaces or removes a condemnation
placard without the approval of the Building Inspector shall be subject to
the penalties provided by this chapter.
Whenever the Building Inspector finds that an emergency exists on any
premises or in any structure or part thereof or on any defective equipment
which requires immediate action to protect the health and safety of the public
or that of the occupants thereof, the Building Inspector may, with proper
notice and service in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, issue
an order reciting the existence of such emergency and requiring the vacating
of the premises or requiring that such action be taken as the Building Inspector
deems necessary to meet such emergency. Notwithstanding any other provision
of this chapter, such order shall be effective immediately, and the premises
or equipment involved shall be placarded immediately upon service of the order.
Any person to whom such an order is directed shall comply therewith.
The person to whom such an order is directed may thereafter, upon petition
directed to the Board of Adjustments and Appeals, be afforded a hearing as
prescribed in this chapter. Depending upon the findings of the Board of Adjustments
and Appeals at such hearing as to whether the provisions of this chapter and
the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto have received compliance,
the Board of Adjustments and Appeals shall continue such order or modify or
revoke it.
The Building Inspector may order the owner of any premises upon which
is located any structure or part thereof which in the judgment of the Building
Inspector is so old, dilapidated or has become so out of repair as to be dangerous,
unsafe, unsanitary or otherwise unfit for human habitation, occupancy or use,
so that it would be unreasonable to repair the same, to raze and remove such
structure or a part thereof; or if it can be made safe by repair, to repair
and make safe and sanitary or to raze and remove at the owner's option; or
where there has been a cessation of normal construction of any structure for
a period of more than six months to raze and remove such structure or a part
thereof.
The order shall specify a time within which the owner shall comply therewith
and specify the repairs, if any. It shall be served on the owner of record
or an agent where an agent is in charge of the building and upon the holder
of any lien in the manner provided in this chapter for service of condemned
buildings. If the owner or holder of a lien of record cannot be found, the
order may be served by posting it on the main entrance of the building and
by publishing it once each week for three successive weeks in a newspaper
of general circulation in the Town of Millsboro.
Whenever the owner of a property fails to comply with the demolition
order within the time prescribed, the Building Inspector may institute or
cause to be instituted a suit in a court of competent jurisdiction to have
the building so demolished at the cost and expense of the owner, and the cost
of the razing and removal of such building or structure shall become a lien
pursuant to the Charter of the Town of Millsboro.
Any owner or tenant of a structure affected by the order of the Building
Inspector to demolish may, within 30 days after service of such order, apply
to a court of competent jurisdiction for an order restraining the Building
Inspector from demolishing such building or part thereof. The court to which
the application is made shall determine whether the order of the Building
Inspector is reasonable, and if found to be unreasonable, the court may issue
an order restraining the Building Inspector from proceeding.
When any structure has been ordered razed and removed, the Building
Inspector or his designated representative may sell the salvage and valuable
materials resulting from such razing or removal, such materials to be sold
at the highest price obtainable. The net proceeds of such sale, after deducting
the expenses of razing and removal, shall be promptly remitted with a report
of such sale or transaction, including the item of expense and the amounts
deducted, to the person who may be entitled thereto, subject to any order
of a court of competent jurisdiction. If no surplus remains, the report shall
so state.
