[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Harrisburg
by Ord. No. 10-1972. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Whenever any department, bureau or division of the City, through
a representative thereof, deems that an emergency situation, as hereafter
defined, exists which necessitates immediate action to protect the
public health, safety or welfare of persons in the City or to protect
the property of any such persons, he or she shall report such fact
to the Codes Administrator or designee, who may, without prior notice,
issue a written order which shall contain the following:
A.
A description of the situation which constitutes the emergency;
B.
The name of the party responsible to correct the situation in order
to eliminate the emergency which exists;
C.
The time within which the party responsible is required to eliminate
the conditions which constitute the emergency;
D.
The action which must be taken by the party responsible to eliminate
the conditions which constitute the emergency;
E.
The address and description of the premises at which the emergency
exists;
An emergency situation shall be deemed to exist when the continued
existence of such situation poses a present threat of damage or harm
to the health or safety of persons in the City or to property within
the City.
The written order authorized by § 8-301.1 shall be posted at a conspicuous place on the premises involved and shall be served on the party responsible to correct the conditions which constitute the emergency by certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, directed to the last known address of the party responsible. Service shall be deemed to have occurred on the date on which the order was delivered or attempted to be delivered as set forth on the return receipt. If the identity or last known address of the party responsible to eliminate the conditions which constitute the emergency is not available or unknown, then the order shall be advertised one time in a newspaper of general circulation within the City. If the identity of the party responsible to eliminate the conditions constituting the emergency is unknown, then the advertisement shall be directed to "The owner (or occupant) of the premises at ___________________________________, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania." Service of the order shall be deemed to have been made three days after such advertisement appears.
Appeals from an emergency order must be filed in writing with
one of the following Boards or the Director of Building and Housing
Development within three days after service of any order:
D.
With the Fire Chief, if the facts giving rise to the emergency situation
are such that two or more of the aforesaid Boards, or any such board
or boards and the Director of Building and Housing Development (Director),
have jurisdiction of the appeal, in which event the Codes Administrator
may select an appropriate Board or the Director with whom the appeal
must be filed. However, the Board or Director to whom the appeal has
been directed may subsequently refer the matter for disposition to
another Board or the Director if it is determined that another Board
or the Director is better qualified to consider the appeal.
Any existing building or structure which, in the opinion of
the Codes Administrator, is dangerous, unsafe, or unfit for human
occupancy in accordance with these Codified Ordinances shall be deemed
a public nuisance per se.
[1]
Editor's Note: This section derives from Ord. No. 3-1972.
If the party responsible to eliminate the conditions giving
rise to the emergency fails to file a timely appeal with the appropriate
Board or the Director, as applicable, and does not comply with the
emergency order, then the City, acting through its duly authorized
representatives or persons employed by the City, may take the necessary
measures to have the emergency eliminated. In order to eliminate an
emergency, representatives of the City, or any party employed by the
City to correct such conditions, may enter upon the premises involved
without the permission of the owner, tenant or occupant, but only
if such entry will not cause a breach of the peace. If the party responsible
does file a timely appeal, then the City shall not take further action
until proceedings relative to such appeal have been concluded and
an order issued by the Board or Director to whom the appeal was taken
and the time for further appeal shall have expired.
A.
If the Codes Administrator determines that the continued existence of any emergency situation constitutes a grave and immediate threat to the safety or health of persons within the City or their property, he may direct representatives of the City or other duly qualified parties to employ the necessary measures to have the emergency eliminated without the necessity of first issuing an emergency order in accordance with § 8-301.1.
B.
If the Codes Administrator proceeds to eliminate an emergency situation in accordance with the provisions of Subsection A hereof, then the City shall not bring an action in assumpsit for any expenses incurred in doing so or enter a municipal claim against the premises involved until written notice of the intention of the City to institute such proceeding or enter such claim has been served on the party who was responsible to eliminate the condition(s) giving rise to the emergency, which service shall be made in the manner set forth in § 8-301.3 for service of an emergency order. The notice shall contain the following:
(1)
A description of the situation which constitutes the emergency;
(2)
The name of the party who is responsible to eliminate the conditions
which constitute the emergency;
(3)
The date on which the necessary measures were employed whereby
the emergency was eliminated;
(4)
A description of the work employed in order to eliminate the
emergency;
(5)
A statement setting forth the expenses incurred in order to
eliminate the emergency;
(6)
A statement that suit will be instituted against the party responsible
and/or a municipal claim entered against the premises involved in
the event that payment of the expenses incurred in order to eliminate
the emergency is not made to the City within a period of 10 days;
(7)
The time within which an appeal from the notice must be filed
and the identity of the Board or Director of Building and Housing
Development with whom an appeal must be filed.
C.
An appeal from the notice must be filed in writing within three days after service with the Board or Director to whom an appeal could have been taken in accordance with § 8-301.4 if an Emergency Order had been issued in accordance with § 8-301.1. The Board or Director to whom the appeal is directed may subsequently refer the matter for disposition to another Board or the Director if it is determined that another Board or the Director is better qualified to consider the appeal.
D.
If such an appeal is filed, the Board or Director to whom the appeal is taken shall determine whether the facts which caused the Codes Administrator to proceed in accordance with the provisions of Subsection A hereof did constitute a grave and immediate threat to the safety or health of persons within the City or to their property and whether the procedures followed by the City relative to the emergency were in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. If an appeal is taken, the City shall not institute a suit in assumpsit or enter a claim for expenses incurred in eliminating the emergency until the proceedings before the Board or Director relative to such an appeal have been concluded and an order issued by such Board or Director and the time for further appeal has expired. The proceedings before any Board or Director shall be in conformity with the procedures set forth in the ordinance establishing the Board and, in the case of an appeal to the Director, the procedure shall be in accordance with the procedure set forth in the Fire Prevention Code governing appeals.[1]
If the City is required to eliminate the conditions which constitute an emergency situation in accordance with the provisions of § 8-301.6 or 8-301.7, and if the facts giving rise to the emergency involve two or more parties or properties, the expenses for eliminating the emergency situation shall be divided equally among the parties or owners of the properties involved, unless it is determined that any party or property is not responsible for the conditions which constituted the emergency, in which event the expenses shall be equally divided among the remaining parties or owners of the properties involved. In any case, where expenses are to be divided among parties or owners of properties as aforesaid, if an objective method exists for apportioning such expenses among the parties or owners involved, then the expenses shall not be divided equally among the parties or owners but may be apportioned in accordance with the objective method employed.
If the City is required to execute an emergency order for failure of the party responsible for property(ies) to comply with the same, or if the City eliminates an emergency situation in accordance with § 8-301.6, any expense incurred in doing so, together with a penalty of 10% of such expense, may be collected from the party responsible in an action in assumpsit. In addition, if the party responsible is the owner of the premises involved, the expenses and the penalty may be entered as a municipal claim against the property in accordance with the provisions of law governing the entry of a municipal claim.
Any person who violates the provisions of this chapter shall be subject to the general code penalty, § 1-301.99 of these Codified Ordinances.
