[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of Unity 9-8-1977 by Ord. No. 9877. Amendments noted where applicable]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Outdoor fires — See Ch. 55.
There is hereby adopted by the Township of Unity, for the purpose
of prescribing regulations concerning conditions hazardous to life
and property, from fire or explosion, that certain code known as the
"Fire Prevention Code" recommended by the American Insurance Association,
being particularly the 1970 Edition as amended from time to time thereof
and the whole thereof, which code is on file in the office of the
Unity Township Supervisors. The Fire Prevention Code is hereby adopted
and incorporated as fully as if set out at length herein, and from
the date on which this chapter shall take effect, the provisions thereof
shall be controlling within the limits of the Township of Unity.
The Fire Prevention Code shall be enforced by the Unity Township
Chiefs Association of the Township of Unity, which shall be comprised
of the Chiefs of each of the volunteer fire companies of Unity Township
and the Ordinance Officer of Unity Township. Together, they shall
be referred to as the "Unity Township Fire Prevention Bureau." The
Chairman of the Unity Township Chiefs Association shall be in charge
of the Bureau of Fire Prevention and along with the Ordinance Officer
shall be responsible for enforcement of this code. The other members
of the Bureau of Fire Prevention shall be the Fire Chiefs of the various
Township fire companies. Neither the Chairman of the Chiefs Association
nor the other members of the Bureau shall be entitled to wages for
their services, and neither the Chiefs Association nor the Ordinance
Officer shall have any control over the individual fire companies
other than inspection for fire hazards or enforcing the Fire Prevention
Code. A report of the Chiefs Association shall be made quarterly and
transmitted to the Board of Supervisors of Unity Township, which shall
contain the activities of the Association during the quarter plus
any recommendations regarding amendments to the code which, in their
judgment, are desirable.
As used in the Fire Prevention Code hereby adopted, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated:
The Chairman of the Unity Township Chiefs Association.
The Attorney for the Township of Unity.
The Township of Unity.
If any complaints are made by a citizen of the Township of Unity
or anyone else, they shall be made either to the Fire Chief of the
district in which the complainant is a resident or to the Chairman
of the Unity Township Chiefs Association or the Ordinance Officer
of Unity Township. Any violations of the code or ordinance shall be
prosecuted by the Ordinance Officer as for the enforcement of any
other ordinance of the Township of Unity.
The boundary limits of the restricted districts in Unity Township
are hereby established as those areas as described in the code and
the restrictions set forth therein as follows:
A.
The
limits referred to in § 16.22 of the Fire Prevention Code,
in which storage of flammable liquids in outside aboveground tanks
is prohibited.
B.
The
limits referred to in § 16.51 through 16.55 inclusive of
the Fire Prevention Code, in which new bulk plants for flammable liquids
are prohibited.
C.
The
limits referred to in § 21.6a of the Fire Prevention Code,
in which bulk storage of liquefied petroleum gas is restricted.
D.
The
limits referred to in § 12.6b of the Fire Prevention Code,
in which storage of explosives and blasting agents is prohibited.
The Township Chiefs Association shall have power to modify any
of the provisions of the Fire Prevention Code upon application in
writing by the owner or lessee or his duly authorized agent when there
are practical difficulties in carrying out the strict letter of the
code, provided that the spirit of the code shall be observed, public
safety secured and substantial justice done. The particulars of such
modification when granted or allowed and the decision of the Chairman
of the Chiefs Association thereon shall be entered upon the records
of the Association, and a signed copy shall be furnished the applicant
and the Unity Township Supervisors.
[Amended 4-25-1998 by Ord. No. O-3-88]
Whenever the Chiefs Association shall disapprove an application
or refuse to grant a permit applied for or when it is claimed that
the provisions of the code do not apply or that the true intent and
meaning of the code have been misconstrued or wrongly interpreted,
the applicant may appeal from the decision of the Chiefs Association
to the Supervisors of the Township of Unity within 30 days from the
date of the decision appealed.
The Board of Supervisors and the Chairman of the Chiefs Association
and the Ordinance Officer shall act as a committee to determine and
specify, after giving affected persons an opportunity to be heard
and after a proposal by the Board of Supervisors, any new materials,
processes or occupancies which shall require permits in addition to
those now enumerated in the code. The committee shall post such list
in a conspicuous place in the Township Office and distribute copies
thereof to interested persons.
[Amended 12-11-1980; 5-17-1985; 4-25-1998 by Ord. No. O-3-88]
The Fire Prevention Code hereby adopted is amended in the following
respects:
A.
Division
VII, § 16.792, Fire Control, is amended by adding Subsections
b through f as follows:
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b. In addition to the other requirements of this code, every
self-service filling station located in the Township of Unity shall
comply with the following regulations:
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(1) There shall be installed on each service island
a total suppression system designed by a suppression system engineer
and approved by the Unity Township Fire Prevention Bureau; and
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(2) Said system will have automatic firing capability
and also manual firing capability from the service island and from
the control point in the station.
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c. There shall be installed for each self-service station a
fire alarm box, self-energized, located on the outside of the station's
structure. This box will activate automatically if there is a firing
of the suppression system either automatically or manually.
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d. There shall also be a manual pull station located at the
control desk in the station.
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e. This amendment shall apply to all new stations and existing
stations in the Township of Unity.
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f. All existing stations in the Township of Unity shall be in
compliance with this amendment within two years from the date of its
adoption.[1]
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[1]
Editor's Note: "This amendment" refers to the ordinance adopted
5-17-1985.
B.
Section
28.3b is amended to read as follows:
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b. Where conditions are such as to make smoking a fire or explosion
hazard in any areas of piers, wharves, warehouses, stores, industrial
plants, health-care occupancies, laboratories, places of assembly,
schools, school buses and in open spaces where flammable, combustible
or hazardous materials are manufactured, stored or handled, the Chief
of the Bureau of Fire Prevention is empowered and authorized to order
the owner or occupant in writing to post "No Smoking" signs in each
building, structure, room or place in which smoking shall be prohibited.
The Chief of the Bureau of Fire Prevention shall designate specific
safe locations, if necessary, in any building, structure or place
in which smoking is to be permitted.
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[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 52-9.1, Fire insurance proceeds,
was repealed 2-10-2022 by Ord. No. O-1-2022.
[Amended 2-28-1986 by Ord. No. O-1-86; 4-25-1988 by Ord. No. O-3-88; 11-28-2000 by Ord. No. O-10-00]
A.
Any person who shall violate the provisions of this chapter or any
section of the Code adopted hereby or fail to comply therewith, or
who shall violate or fail to comply with any order made thereunder
or who shall build in violation of any detailed statement of specifications
or plans submitted or approved thereunder or any certificate or permit
issued thereunder, or who shall fail to comply with such an order
as affirmed or modified by the Supervisors of Unity Township or by
any court of competent jurisdiction, within the time fixed therein,
shall severally for each and every such violation and noncompliance
respectively, be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, together
with costs of prosecution and reasonable attorney's fees incurred
by Unity Township in the prosecution of this chapter or, in default
of the payment thereof, by imprisonment for not more than 30 days.
The imposition of one penalty for any violation shall not excuse the
violation or permit it to continue, and all such persons shall be
required to correct or remedy such violations or defects within a
reasonable time; and when not otherwise specified, each 10 days that
a prohibited condition or conditions are maintained shall constitute
a separate enforceable offense.
B.
Notwithstanding the foregoing penalty, Unity Township may, if it
deems it appropriate, proceed in an action in equity to cause an injunction
to issue, either preliminarily or otherwise, or to have a court of
competent jurisdiction issue a restraining order against any person
or other entity from a violation or violations of the within chapter.
