[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of
the City of Bradford 6-26-2001 by Ord. No. 2936.4. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A. The citizens of the City of Bradford, Pennsylvania
(hereinafter the "City") have an imperative need to be free from diverse
public nuisances which injure, or which threaten to injure, their
health, safety and welfare, including, but not limited to, any inadequately
protected well, shaft, basement, excavation, abandoned or nondrivable
motor vehicle or equipment, structurally unsound fence or building,
lumber, trash, debris or vegetation, such as poison ivy, oak or sumac,
or other condition which is or may be detrimental to the safety or
health of persons, any condition which may prove attractive but detrimental
to the health or safety of children, whether in a building on the
premises or upon an unoccupied lot, physical conditions dangerous
to human life or detrimental to the health of persons on or near the
premises where the conditions exist, whatever renders air, food or
drink unwholesome or detrimental to the health of human beings, fire
hazards and any public nuisance known at public law or in law or equity
jurisprudence or as provided by the statutes of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania or the ordinances of the City.
B. Accordingly, these regulations of the City's Board
of Health (as prescribed in 11 Pa.C.S.A. § 12301, hereinafter
the "Board") are promulgated to better enable the City to remove,
abate, suspend, alter, prevent or avoid public nuisances, to better
enable the City to recover any and all costs pertaining to the removal,
abatement, suspension, alteration, prevention or avoidance of public
nuisances, to ensure adequate notice to property owners and to those
responsible for public nuisances, to afford property owners and those
responsible for public nuisances an opportunity to eliminate public
nuisances at their own cost prior to the imposition of fines, penalties
and the costs of the City's abatement action, to provide due process
to persons adversely affected by orders of the Board and to afford
a record appeal to persons adversely affected by formal action of
the Board.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
The Board is the local agency with the duty
and with the authority to, inter alia, ascertain whether a public
nuisance, as defined in 11 Pa.C.S.A. § 12320, exists and
to order it removed, abated, suspended, altered or otherwise prevented
or avoided.
The Health Officer, the Building Inspector,
the Code Enforcement Officer and all Health Department and code enforcement
personnel employed by the City shall be, and hereby are appointed,
duly authorized agents of the Board. They shall, inter alia, make
such investigations, examinations and reports as shall suffice to
inform the judgment of the Board, and they shall faithfully execute
its orders.
A. An order of the Board shall set forth the information
prescribed by Article 2306(7) of Act 22 of 2014.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
B. An order of the Board shall provide that any and all
expenses, costs and charges incurred by the Board and by the City,
including, but not limited to, the labor and personnel cost of their
agents and employees, the cost of any and all services utilized by
them and the cost of any and all materials employed by them, shall
be charged to any person determined, in an order of the Board, to
be responsible for a nuisance.
C. An order of the Board shall provide that any and all
expenses, costs and charges shall be promptly and fully paid upon
presentation. An order of the Board shall state that failure or refusal
to promptly pay said expenses, costs and changes upon presentation
shall be a violation of the Board's order within the meaning of 11
Pa.C.S.A. § 12340.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
D. An order of the Board may also contain sufficient
directives to permit the Board and the City and any of their agents,
employees, representatives, experts and contractors to take any compliance
action authorized by, inter alia, Chapter 123 of the Third Class City
Code, 11 Pa.C.S.A. § 12300 et seq., and by these regulations.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
E. An order of the Board may also contain a directive
that no person shall obstruct, impede or otherwise interfere with
the entry and conduct of the Board or its agents, employees, representatives,
experts or contractors. An order of the Board may also contain ancillary
directives not inconsistent with the laws of the commonwealth.
The notice of the Board's order shall clearly
specify:
A. The place and manner of the nuisance or anticipated
nuisance as determined by the Board.
B. The nature or condition thereof.
C. The Board's order with respect to the nuisance or
anticipated nuisance.
D. The names of the persons found by the Board to be
responsible therefor or concerned therewith and the name of the owner,
if any, of the land or premises involved.
E. The date of the Board's order and the number of days
therefrom allowed for compliance with it.
F. The alternative remedy of the Board in case of noncompliance.
G. Notice that the persons affected thereby may apply,
within the time set for compliance with the order, to the Board for
a hearing and may request such stay of execution or modification or
rescission of said order as they shall believe just and proper.
H. The signature of the President of the Board, attested
by the Secretary.
Any condition or usage whatsoever in or about
the buildings, structures or land, or the streets or private ways
and places, or elsewhere, within the City, whether public or private,
which the Board shall find to be detrimental to the public health
is hereby declared to be a public nuisance. Whenever in these regulations
the words "public nuisance" or "nuisance" is used, they shall be deemed
to mean a nuisance detrimental to the public health unless a different
meaning is specified. The powers of investigation and entering upon
premises vested in the Board and its agents and employees pursuant
to its orders shall be available for the determination of public nuisances.
The agents of the Board are authorized to enter any structure or premises
at reasonable times to inspect, subject to constitutional restrictions
on unreasonable searches and seizures. If entry is refused or not
obtained, the agents of the Board are authorized to pursue recourse
as provided by law, including, but not limited to, seeking the issuance
of a search warrant.
Whenever the Board shall determine, after such
examination, investigation or hearing as shall suffice to inform its
judgment, that a public nuisance exists or is about to exist, it may
order the nuisance to be removed, abated, suspended, altered or otherwise
prevented or avoided. Notice of such order, bearing the official title
and the official seal of the Board and the number of days for compliance
therewith and the alternative remedy of the Board in case of noncompliance,
shall be served upon the person, if any, whom the Board deems responsible
therefor or concerned therein, and upon the owner or abutting owner
of the land, premises or other places whereon such a nuisance is or
is about to be, if any. In case no such party or parties can be discovered
by the Board, the order shall be served by posting a copy or copies
thereof conspicuously upon the premises for a period of at least 10
days.
A. In any case where the persons ordered by the Board
to abate or prevent a public nuisance or anticipated public nuisance
refuse or neglect to do so within the time specified in the original
or any subsequent order of the Board, then, unless the said order
shall have been suspended by a proper appeal to the McKean County
Court of Common Pleas and proper bond posted, the Board may direct
its Health Officer and employees to execute said order; or if the
execution of said order requires the grading, paving or repaving of
private alleys or any similar work upon any property whatsoever within
the City or any other work or services that may best be performed
or contracted for by the agencies and employees of the City itself,
then the Board shall certify its order to City Council under its official
seal, and Council shall thereupon proceed to cause the execution of
the order.
B. In any case where the Board or the Council thus abates
or prevents or causes the abatement or prevention of a public nuisance,
the cost and expense of such work, services and materials shall be
charged to the persons affected in their proper proportions; and upon
nonpayment of such charges, the City may file a lien therefor upon
the affected premises in the name of and for the use of the City,
as provided by law for municipal claims, in addition to the other
remedies available for collection of debts due the City. The lien
shall attach as of the time the work was commenced, which shall be
fixed by the certificate of the Health Officer or of the City Engineer
filed with the City Administrator.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
Whenever a public nuisance is abated by the City, the statement
of the costs of the public nuisance shall include the City's actual
cost of abatement, plus an administrative fee, not to exceed 10%,
and a civil penalty. For the first abatement of a public nuisance
upon any owner's property within the City in any two-year period,
the civil penalty shall be $250. For second and subsequent abatements
upon any properties of any owner within the City during any two-year
period, the civil penalty shall be $500. The increased civil penalty
shall be imposed and collected regardless of whether the second and
subsequent public nuisances upon property or properties of an owner
involve the same property or the public nuisances are of the same
or different character.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
In addition to any fines imposed by the Board
for noncompliance with its orders, any person violating any order
of the Board, or who shall obstruct or interfere with any person in
the execution of any order of the Board, or willfully and illegally
omit to obey any such order, commits a summary offense and, upon conviction,
shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 or to imprisonment
for not more than 90 days, or both.
A. Any order of the Board and any subsequent notice required
to be given by the Board pursuant to Chapter 123 of the Third Class
City Code, 11 Pa.C.S.A. § 12300 et seq., and these regulations
shall conclusively be deemed to have been properly served if a copy
thereof is:
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
(2) Sent by certified or first-class mail addressed to
the party's last known address.
B. In case no responsible parties or property owners
can be discovered by the Board, its order may be served by posting
a copy or copies thereof conspicuously upon the premises for a period
of at least 10 days.
If any person affected by an order of the Board
shall apply for a hearing within the time provided in the order, the
Board shall promptly notify all interested parties of the time and
place of the hearing. The Board shall enter upon its minutes the facts
and proofs as it may receive and its proceedings on such hearing and
thereafter may rescind, modify or reaffirm its order and require execution
of the original or of a new or modified order as it shall determine
and direct. The persons affected shall be notified of the Board's
final order and within 10 days from the mailing or personal delivery
of such notice may appeal therefrom to the Court of Quarter Sessions,
which appeal may operate as a supersedes if the Court, upon proper
cause shown, so orders, and provided that the appellants post bond,
approved by the Court, for the use of the City, with sufficient surety
to cover all the expense and costs of executing the Board's order.
A. The application for an appeal hearing before the Board
shall have attached to it a copy of the Board's order. The application
for an appeal hearing shall precisely and thoroughly set forth, in
separate numbered paragraphs, any and all factual and legal bases
upon which the person adversely affected by the Board's order seeks
to challenge said order at the appeal hearing. The application for
an appeal hearing shall set forth the address to which the Board shall
deliver notice of when and where the appellant is to appear for the
appeal hearing. The application for an appeal hearing shall set forth
the appellant's telephone number. Any appellant from an order of the
Board shall file a minimum of 10 copies of his application for an
appeal.
B. The request for an appeal hearing before the Board
shall be filed with the Secretary of the Board on the second floor
of Bradford City Hall, 24 Kennedy Street, Bradford, Pennsylvania,
16701. Subject to the time limitations set forth in the order of the
Board, a request for an appeal hearing before the Board may be filed
by mail. Subject to the time limitations set forth in the order of
the Board, a request for an appeal hearing before the Board may also
be filed in person at the aforesaid address Monday through Friday,
between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., prevailing time. Any
request for an appeal hearing before the Board which is received after
the filing deadline shall be rejected as untimely filed.
C. In all cases in which a corporation is a property
owner of record or is adversely affected by the order of the Board,
all requests for hearings before the Board shall be executed by an
officer of said corporation, stating the title of such officer, or
by a duly authorized employee of the corporation which shall be accompanied
by a verified certification that he is authorized to act on behalf
of the corporation. In all cases in which a partnership or sole proprietorship
is a property owner of record or is adversely affected by the order
of the Board, a principal of such business organization shall execute
the request for an appeal hearing before the Board.
D. The application for an appeal hearing, any subsequent
communications with the Board and any documents or written matter
sought to be introduced before the Board at the appeal hearing shall
be submitted in a minimum of 10 copies. The required number of copies
of any and all documentary evidence sought to be introduced before
the Board shall be delivered to the Secretary of the Board on the
second floor of Bradford City Hall, 24 Kennedy Street, Bradford, Pennsylvania
16701, not later than 24 hours prior to the scheduled appeal hearing.
Failure to comply with this requirement shall, in the discretion of
the Board, constitute grounds to disqualify the proposed documentary
evidence.
E. The Board will generally allow approximately one hour
for an appeal hearing. If the appeal hearing involves unusually complex
issues of law or fact, additional time may, in the discretion of the
Board, be allotted only if said request is made with the filing of
an application for an appeal hearing.
F. Failure of any person adversely affected by the Board's
order to appear at the appeal hearing, after due notice thereof, shall
be considered an abandonment of the appeal hearing request and shall
cause the dismissal of the appeal. The Board may, at its discretion,
grant an appeal hearing continuance of no more than 30 days. All requests
for a continuance of any appeal hearing shall be made in writing and
shall, unless wholly impracticable, be filed with the Board at least
five business days before the date set for the appeal hearing. Said
written postponement request shall, in numbered paragraphs, precisely
and thoroughly set forth the grounds relied upon in support thereof.
G. The Board will not be bound by the strict rules of
evidence normally applied in the Courts. The Board may, in its discretion,
hear any and all evidence which it considers probative and helpful
in deciding the appeal hearing.
H. All parties will be required to exercise proper and
appropriate decorum during the appeal hearing. Eating and drinking,
with the exception of water for counsel and persons on the witness
stand, are not permitted in the hearing room. The Board's telephones
are not available for use by parties, counsel or witnesses unless
calls are, in the judgment of the Board, necessary to assure the orderly
conduct of the appeal hearing. All copying of materials required for
the appeal hearing before the Board shall be done by the parties prior
to the hearing. When the need for copies could not be anticipated
beforehand, copies may be made on the Board's copying machine at a
cost as set from time to time by resolution of the City Council, where
applicable. At the close of each hearing, the parties are responsible
for assuring that any discarded papers and other refuse on the counsel
table and seating area occupied by the party and its witnesses are
disposed of in the proper containers in either the hearing room or
outside its doors.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
I. In all cases, any person appealing from an order of
the Board shall submit, not later than 24 hours prior to the scheduled
appeal hearing, a list of all proposed witnesses, together with a
brief synopsis, not exceeding one paragraph per witness, of each witness's
anticipated testimony. Failure to comply with this requirement shall,
in the discretion of the Board, constitute grounds to disqualify the
testimony of any proposed witness.
J. In all cases involving expert witnesses, the written
qualifications of any proposed expert witness, including proof of
compliance with Pennsylvania licensing and certification, and the
written reports of any proposed expert witness shall be submitted
to the Board at least 72 hours prior to the proposed expert testimony.
Expert witnesses shall not be permitted to express opinions other
than those contained in their submitted report. Failure to comply
with this requirement shall, in the discretion of the Board, constitute
grounds to disqualify the proposed expert witness.
K. Notwithstanding the foregoing, failure to timely produce
the requisite number of any documents or written matter required by
these regulations may, in the discretion of the Board, constitute
a failure to perfect the appeal and may result in a dismissal, with
prejudice, of the appeal.
L. The Board expressly reserves the right to waive any
specific requirement with regard to these regulations which, in its
judgment, shall expedite the appeal hearing and better enable it to
make a final determination.
A. All appeal hearings before the Board shall be open
to the public and shall be conducted in accordance with these regulations
and in accordance with the Local Agency Law, 2 Pa.C.S.A. § 551
et seq. All testimony before the Board shall be stenographically recorded,
and a full and complete record shall be kept of the proceedings before
the Board. All factual findings of the Board shall be supported by
substantial evidence.
B. At the conclusion of the hearing before the Board
and after such review and consideration as may be required, the Board
will render its decision and therein may rescind, modify or reaffirm
its order and may require execution of the original or of a new or
modified order.
C. The order of the Board after hearing shall be entered
in its minutes by the Secretary of the Board, and a copy of such order
shall, within five days after the appeal hearing before the Board,
be delivered to the person(s) who appealed from the Board's order,
either in person or by mail to the address shown on the application
for hearing. The agents of the Board shall, unless excused, attend
each appeal hearing of the Board and shall furnish the Board with
such information relating to the nuisance as the Board may require.
A. When approved, printed and advertised by the City
Council as required in the case of ordinances, these regulations shall
have the force of ordinances of the City.
B. All prior ordinances, rules and regulations and parts
thereof inconsistent with these regulations are hereby specifically
repealed.
Nothing contained in an order of the Board or
in these regulations is intended, or shall be construed, as a waiver
by the Board or by the City of their rights to take additional or
further enforcement actions or investigations with respect to any
violations of law or nuisances caused by a party to an order of the
Board or existing on property owned or occupied by a party to an order
of the Board.
If any sentence, clause, section or part of
these regulations is, for any reason, found to be unconstitutional,
illegal or invalid, such unconstitutionality, illegality or invalidity
shall not affect or impair the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses,
sections or parts of these regulations. It is hereby declared, as
the intent of the City Council and of the Board, that these regulations
would have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal or invalid
sentence, clause, section or part hereof not been included herein.
This amendment shall take effect upon final
passage.