Township of Birmingham, PA Chapter 88 Property Maintenance

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Birmingham 11-7-1994 by Ord. No. 94-13. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 88-1 Adoption of standards; copies to be on file.

[Amended 6-7-2004 by Ord. No. 04-11; at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]

There is hereby adopted by the Board of Supervisors of Birmingham Township the International Property Maintenance Code, 2018 Edition, as now and as hereafter supplemented, reissued, amended and revised, as published by the International Code Council, Inc. Not fewer than three copies of the International Property Maintenance Code, 2018 Edition, are filed in the office of the Secretary of Birmingham Township, and the same is hereby adopted and incorporated as fully as if set out at length herein."

§ 88-2 (Reserved) [1]

[1] Former § 88-2, Definitions and word usage, was repealed 6-7-2004 by Ord. No. 04-11.

§ 88-3 Additions, insertions and changes to standards.

[Amended 6-5-1995 by Ord. No. 95-01; 7-1-1996 by Ord. No. 96-08; 4-21-1997 by Ord. No. 97-05; 6-7-2004 by Ord. No. 04-11; at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]

The following amendments, additions, deletions, and changes are hereby made to the International Property Maintenance Code, 2018 Edition:

A. Section 101.1 shall be amended by the deletion of the words "[NAME OF JURISDICTION]" and the replacement thereof with the words, "Birmingham Township."

B. The heading of Section 103 shall be deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

"SECTION 103 ENFORCEMENT"

C. Section 103.1 shall be deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

"103.1 General. The Board of Supervisors shall, by resolution, appoint a Building Code Official who shall be certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania under the Act. The Building Code Official shall be responsible for administration and enforcement of this code. The Building Code Official shall be referred to in this Code as the 'Code Official.'"

D. Section 103.5 shall be deleted in its entirety and reserved.

E. Section 106.4 shall be deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

"106.4 Violation penalties. Any person who shall violate a provision of this code or shall fail to comply with any of the requirements thereof shall be guilty of a summary offense, punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 per day, plus costs and attorney's fees, and, upon default of the payment of the fine and costs, imprisonment not to exceed 90 days. Each day that a violation continues shall be deemed a separate offense."

F. Section 304.14 shall be amended by the deletion of the words, "[DATE]" and the replacement thereof with "June 1" and "October 30."

G. Section 802.3 shall be amended by the deletion of the words, "[DATE"] and the replacement thereof with "October 15" and "April 15."

H. Section 602.4 shall be amended by the deletion of the words, "[DATE"] and the replacement thereof with "October 15" and "April 15."

§ 88-4 Removal of diseased or dangerous trees from public streets and public rights-of-way.

[Amended 3-6-2000 by Ord. No. 00-03]

A. The property owner or person in possession and control of property within the Township shall be responsible for maintaining any and all trees, branches, vines, shrubs and other landscaping on their property so that they do not unreasonably affect or interfere with the health, safety or welfare of the public or the right of the public to the unobstructed use of the public roads or public property. If the condition of any tree, branch, vine, shrub or other landscaping on private property in the Township, because of disease or otherwise, unreasonably affects or interferes with the health, safety or welfare of the public or the right of the public to the unobstructed use of the public roads or property, the Township shall send written notice via certified mail to the property owner or person in possession and control of the property ordering that such obstruction be cut and/or removed from the public road or public property within 30 days from receipt of the notice. If the property owner fails to remove such obstruction within 30 days, the Township may enter the property and remove the obstruction. Thereafter, the Township's cost of cutting and/or removing the obstruction shall be billed to the property owner or the person in possession and control of the property and shall be due and payable within 10 days of the date the Township bills the property owner for the cost of the cutting and/or removal of the obstruction. If the amount of the bill is not paid within 10 days, all amounts due and owing shall be deemed to be delinquent and shall be subject to a penalty of 10% of the amount billed.

B. If the billing is not paid within 15 days, the Township may file an action in assumpsit or any proceeding otherwise provided by law to recover the amount of the delinquent bill together with any costs, attorney's fees or expenses, or may file a municipal lien against the property pursuant to the procedure established in the Pennsylvania Municipal Lien Law[1] for any amounts due and owing the Township. Such lien shall be collected in the manner provided for by law for the filing and collection of such municipal liens. All of the Township's remedies shall be cumulative.

[1] Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 7101 et seq.

C. In the event that a tree, branch, vine, shrub or other landscaping has fallen into the Township right-of-way and obstructs the use of the public roads or is creating a hazardous condition which requires immediate attention, the Township will immediately remove the obstruction from the right-of-way and bill the property owner for the cost of removing the obstruction.

D. In addition to the legal remedies above, any person who shall violate any provision of this section shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought before a Magisterial District Judge under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs of prosecution. In default of payment thereof, the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 90 days. Each day or portion thereof that such violation continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense.

[Added at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]