Borough of Montgomery, PA Property Maintenance

All noxious weeds, brush and poisonous vines growing upon any lot or between the property line and the street or curbline on the streets in front thereof or alongside of their property in the Borough of Montgomery about to ripen seed or over six inches in height are hereby declared a public nuisance and abatable as such, and should any person or persons, firm or corporation, either as principal or agent or tenant or owner, refuse or neglect to destroy such weeds, brush or poisonous vines after notice has been given to said tenant or owner of the property containing such weeds, brush or vines to destroy said weeds, brush or vines within five days from the date of said notice from the Code Enforcement Officer, he or she shall be guilty of violating this article.

§ 330-2 Violations and penalties.

Any person or persons, firm or corporation (whether owner or tenant) maintaining a public nuisance as declared in this article relative to cutting of grass and/or weeds through neglect and neglecting or refusing to comply with this article shall be guilty of violating this article and shall, upon conviction thereof, before any Magisterial District Judge, be penalized to pay a fine of $50. If the violation is not corrected within the five-day time period, or should the same violation reoccur within a thirty-day period, the fine shall be $100 per day that the violation continues until it is corrected. The Borough shall have the right to correct the violation with either the hiring of an outside agency to make the necessary corrections or have Borough employees make the necessary corrections. Should this action be taken, the property owner shall be billed at a rate of $25 per man hour used to correct the violation. Failure to pay this fee shall cause a lien to be placed on the property as in accordance with applicable laws. A violator shall be liable for any such fines plus all costs of prosecution and, in default of payment of such fines and costs, be penalized to imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 30 days. The imposition of one penalty for any violation shall not excuse the violation or permit it to continue. The application of the penalty shall not be held to prevent the enforced removal of prohibited conditions.

Article II Adoption of Standards

[Adopted 6-14-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-3]

§ 330-3 Adoption of Property Maintenance Code.

[Amended 10-11-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-3]

For the purpose of protecting the public health, safety and welfare in all buildings and premises in the Borough of Montgomery, the Borough adopts as its Property Maintenance Code, The International Property Maintenance Code, 2012 Edition, subject to provisions in this article amending, deleting, adding to and making insertions in that code. Copies of that code have been placed on file in the office of the Borough Secretary, and will remain on file there. That entire Property Maintenance Code, except for those portions that are deleted, amended or modified in the following sections of this article, is adopted and incorporated into this article, as fully as if set forth verbatim in this article; and, from the date on which this article takes effect, that code, with the provisions of this article incorporated into it, shall be controlling throughout the limits of the Borough in all matters to which that code applies. In this article, the International Property Maintenance Code may be referred to as "the code" or "this code."

§ 330-4 Amendments made in Property Maintenance Code.

The code adopted by § 330-3 of this article is amended and modified in the following respects:

Wherever the words "name of jurisdiction" appear in brackets in the code, the words "The Borough of Montgomery" shall be inserted in place of those bracketed words. Likewise, the words "Borough of Montgomery" shall be substituted for the word "jurisdiction" wherever that word appears singly in the code without being preceded by the words "under the."

Wherever the term "appointing authority" is used in the code, it shall mean the Borough Council.

Whenever the term "legal representative of the jurisdiction" is used in the code, it shall mean the Borough Solicitor.

Wherever the term "legislative body of this jurisdiction" is used, it shall mean the Borough Council.

Section 101.1 shall be amended to read as follows:

101.1 Title: This code shall be known as the "Property Maintenance Code of the Borough of Montgomery" hereinafter referred to as "the code" or "this code."

The following section is to be added after Section 102.8:

Section 102.9 Saving Clause: Except where this code specifically provides otherwise, this code shall not affect violations of any other ordinance, code or regulation in effect in this Borough at the time of enactment of this article, and any such violation shall be punishable to the full extent of the law under the provisions of those ordinances, codes, or regulations in effect at the time when the violation was committed.

Section 103.5 shall be amended to read as follows:

103.5 Fees: The fees for activities and services performed by the code official in carrying out his or her responsibilities under this code shall be determined from time to time by resolution by the Montgomery Borough Council.

The following sentence shall be inserted at the end of Section 105.2, Alternative materials, methods and equipment:

Information, in adequate detail, describing the approved alternative material or method shall be inserted in the permanent records of the code official dealing with this code.

Section 104.8 of the code is amended to read as follows:

104.8 Coordination of inspections: Inspection of premises, the issuance of notices and orders and enforcement thereof shall be the responsibility of the code official so charged by the jurisdiction. Whenever inspections are necessary by any other department, agency or officer of the Borough, the code official shall make reasonable effort to arrange for the coordination of those inspections so as to minimize the number of visits by inspectors, and to confer with the other departments, agencies or officers for the purpose of eliminating conflicting orders before they are issued. A department, agency or officer shall not, however, delay the issuance of any emergency orders.

Section 106.4 of the code is amended to read as follows:

106.4 Violation Penalties: Any person who violates any provision of this code shall, for every such violation, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $1,000 and costs of prosecution and, in default of payment of fine and costs, to undergo imprisonment for not more than 30 days. Provided: each day on which a violation continues after due notice has been served, in accordance with the terms of this code, shall constitute a separate offense."

Section 108.1 of the code is amended to read as follows:

108.1 General: When a structure or part thereof is found by the code official to be unsafe, or when a structure or part thereof is found unfit for human occupancy or use, or is found unlawful, and the procedures prescribed by the Building Code under the heading "Unsafe Structures and Equipment" shall be found to be inadequate or unsuitable to remedy the situation, that structure or part thereof may be condemned pursuant to the provisions of this code and may be placarded and vacated. It shall not be reoccupied without approval of the code official. Unsafe equipment shall be placarded and placed out of service.

Section 110.1 of the code is amended to add the following sentence at the end of that section:

Provided: The intent of this section 110.0, Demolition, is to provide a procedure to be available for use in cases where the procedures prescribed by the Building Code under the heading "Unsafe Structures and Equipment" or "Demolition" shall be found to be inadequate or unsuitable to remedy the situation.

Section 201.4 of the code is amended to read as follows:

201.4 Terms not defined: Where terms are not defined under the terms of this code, they shall have ascribed to them their ordinarily accepted meanings or such as the context herein may apply.

Section 304.14 of the code is amended to read as follows:

304.14 Insect screens: During the period from May 1 to November 1, every door, window and other outside opening used or required for ventilation purposes serving any building containing habitable rooms, food preparation areas, food service areas, or any areas where products used in food for human consumption are processed, manufactured, packaged or stored, shall be supplied with approved tightly fitting screen of not less than 16 mesh per inch and every swinging door shall have a self-closing device in good working condition.

Section 307.1 of the code is amended to read as follows:

307.1 Garbage and Rubbish: The accumulation, storage, collection and disposal of garbage and rubbish shall be governed by provisions in Chapter 374 of he Borough's Code.

Sections 307.2 through 307.3.2 are deleted.

Section 602.2 of the code is amended to read as follows:

602.2 Residential occupancies: Every dwelling shall be provided with permanently installed heating facilities capable of maintaining a room temperature of 68° F. (20° C.) in all habitable rooms, bathrooms and toilet rooms based on the outside design temperature required for the locality indicated in Appendix D of the International Plumbing Code. Cooking appliances and portable heaters are not permitted as the main heating source.

Section 602.3 of the code is amended to read as follows:

602.3 Heat supply: Every owner and operator of any building who rents, leases or lets one or more dwelling units, rooming units, dormitories or guest rooms on terms, either expressed or implied, to furnish heat to the occupants thereof, shall supply sufficient heat during the period from October 1 to May 1 to maintain the room temperature specified in Section 602.2 during the hours between 6:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. of each day and not less than 60° F. (16° C.) during other hours.

Section 602.3(1) of the code is amended to read as follows:

602.3(1) Exceptions: 1. When the outdoor temperature is below the outdoor design temperature for the locality, the owner or operator shall not be required to maintain the minimum room temperatures, provided that the heating system is operating at full capacity, with supply valves and dampers in a full open position. The winter outdoor design temperature for the locality shall be indicated in Appendix D of the International Plumbing Code.

Section 602.4 of the code is amended to read as follows:

602.4 Occupiable work spaces: Every indoor occupied work space shall be supplied with sufficient heat during the period from October 1 to May 1 to maintain a temperature of not less than 65° F. (18° C.) during the period the spaces are occupied.

§ 330-5 Repealer.

Ordinance No. 1995-18 of the Borough of Montgomery, adopted December 12, 1995, entitled the BOCA National Property Maintenance Code/1993, 4th Edition, and all other ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.

§ 330-6 Effect on other provisions.

Nothing in this article or in the Property Maintenance Code hereby adopted shall be construed to affect any suit or proceedings impending in any court, or any rights acquired, or liability incurred, or any cause or causes of action acquired or existing, under any act or ordinance hereby repealed as cited in § 330-5 of this article; nor shall any just or legal right or remedy of any character be lost, impaired or affected by this article.

§ 330-7 Publication requirements.

The Borough of Montgomery Secretary is hereby ordered and directed to cause this article to be published one time in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette at least 15 days prior to final enactment, together with the date of its introduction, specifying its general nature and listing its table of contents, and shall also cause to be published one time in said Williamsport Sun-Gazette notice of the final enactment of this article.