[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of Darlington 9-29-1972 by Ord. No. 17. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
From and after the effective date of this chapter,
it shall be unlawful for any person, association of persons, firm
or corporation to build, construct or erect any building, structure
or billboard within the limits of the Township of Darlington or to
place, move, locate, or park a mobile home or trailer on any lot,
parcel or plot of land within the limits of the Township of Darlington,
unless such person, association of persons, firm, or corporation shall
first have made application, in writing, to the Township Secretary
or any other duly authorized representative of the Township for a
building permit in accordance with the terms of this chapter, and
shall have been issued such a building permit.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following
words or phrases shall, for the purpose of this chapter, have the
meaning herein indicated:
As applied to a building or structure, means a change or
rearrangement in the structural parts or in the existing facilities,
or in the enlargement or change in structural dimensions, whether
by extending on a side or end or by increasing or decreasing in height,
or the moving from one location to another. Ordinary repair and maintenance
work such as repainting, residing, reroofing, installing storm doors
and windows and work similar in character and purpose shall not be
considered as alterations or remodeling.
Includes any surface or fabric, material, device or sign,
the size of dimensions of which exceeds an area of 32 square feet
for each surface or face, bearing lettered, pictorial, or other sculptured
matter designed to convey information visually and exposed to public
view.
Includes build, construct, reconstruct, erect, extend, alter,
remodel, place, move or locate upon, or any physical or mechanical
operation or grading work upon the land required for the building,
construction, location or placement of a building, structure, prefabricated
or modular units or structures, billboards, mobile homes, trailers
and similar structures or units upon the land.
A transportable single-family dwelling intended for permanent
occupancy, contained in one unit, or in two or more units designed
to be joined into one integral unit capable of again being separated
for repeated towing, which arrives at a site complete and ready for
occupancy except for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations,
and constructed so that it may be used without a permanent foundation.
[1]Includes a building or structure designed, cut and constructed
in units, modules, or sections at a factory or shop, transported to
a site, assembled and constructed into one integral structural unit,
and whether a permanent or semipermanent foundation is constructed
underneath.
No grading or excavation for foundation, nor
the construction, erection, extension, alteration, or remodeling of
a building or structure or any addition thereto, placement or parking
of mobile homes or trailers, or occupancy of streets or alleys with
building materials or temporary structures or trailers for construction
purposes shall be undertaken or permitted until a building permit
therefor shall have been issued by the Township Secretary or any other
duly authorized representative of the Township.
All applications for building permits shall
be submitted on forms prescribed by the Township of Darlington and
shall set forth the location of building, structure, mobile home or
trailer, and the distance from the adjacent building or buildings,
the character and purpose for which the same will be used and the
materials to be used in the construction of the same, the estimated
value of the construction, mobile home or trailer, and any deed restrictions
governing construction and placement of mobile homes or trailers on
the property.
All applications for building permits shall
be accompanied by a plot plan drawn to scale, showing thereon the
actual dimensions of each lot or parcel of land to be built upon or
occupied, the size and location of each building, structure, mobile
home or trailer to be erected or placed upon each lot or parcel of
land, and such other data and information as may be necessary to enable
the Township Secretary or any other duly authorized representative
of the Township to determine that the proposed building, structure,
mobile home or trailer and the use of the land will conform to the
provisions of the rules, regulations and requirements governing the
subdivision and development of land, as adopted or as may be adopted
by the Township of Darlington.[1]
All applications for building permits shall
be accompanied by a permit fee payable to the Township of Darlington
in accordance with a fee schedule to be adopted by the Board of Township
Supervisors to defray or to help to defray the cost of issuing said
permits.
Upon receipt of any application for a building
permit, the Township Secretary or any other duly authorized representative
of the Township shall act thereon within 10 days. Upon approval of
an application, the Township Secretary or any other duly authorized
representative of the Township shall immediately notify the applicant
and issue to him a building permit, which permit shall be posted conspicuously
upon the premises so that it may be seen from the street or highway.
Such a permit will be deemed cancelled and the permit fee forfeited
unless active work on the project described or referred to in the
application is commenced within 90 days from the date of the issuance
of the building permit, and the construction, building and project
is completed within 12 months from the date of issuance of said building
permit, unless for cause shown the time is extended by the Township
Secretary or other duly authorized Township representative.
Should the application for a building permit
be rejected, the applicant may appeal such action to the Board of
Supervisors of the Township of Darlington, within 15 days of the date
of such refusal, by filing with the Board of Township Supervisors
notice, in writing, specifying the grounds for said appeal.
Upon appeal to the Board of Supervisors, the
Board shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal and
give notice thereof by certified mail at least six days prior to the
hearing to the parties in interest at the address filed with the appeal,
and decide the same within 15 days following the hearing.
Any person, association of persons, firm or
corporation who shall violate any provisions of this chapter shall,
upon summary conviction thereof before a Magisterial District Judge,
be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 together with the
costs of prosecution for each violation and, in default of the payment
of such fine and costs, shall undergo imprisonment in the Beaver County
Jail for a period of not more than 90 days. Each day's continuance
of a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, after conviction
thereof, shall constitute a new and separate offense, punishable by
like fine, penalty or imprisonment.
