[Added 6-19-2017 by Ord.
No. 963]
The purpose of this article is to protect the public health,
safety, and welfare, and to prevent the depreciation of property values
due to a person's actions or property constituting a violation of
the conditions of this article.
No person shall erect, construct, cause, continue, maintain, or permit any public nuisance within the Borough of Mount Oliver. Any person who shall cause, create, or maintain a nuisance or who shall in any way aid or contribute to the causing, creating, or maintenance thereof shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter and shall be liable for all costs and expenses attendant upon the removal and correction of such a nuisance and to the penalty provided in § 87-33 of this article.
It shall be the responsibility of tenants and property owners
to maintain their property in a nuisance-free manner and also to be
responsible for the abatement and/or correction of any public nuisance
that has been determined to exist on their property.
The following shall be deemed public nuisances and a violation
of this article:
A.
Unburied carcasses: carcasses of animals, birds, or fowl not intended
for human consumption or food, which are not buried or otherwise disposed
of in a sanitary manner within 24 hours after death.
B.
Household pet waste: accumulations of bodily waste from all household
domestic animals and fowl that is handled, stored, or disposed of
in a manner that creates a health hazard.
C.
Food or breeding places for vermin, insects, etc.: Accumulations
of decayed animal or vegetable matter, trash, rubbish, garbage, rotting
lumber, bedding, packing material, scrap metal, animal and human fecal
matter, or any substance in which flies, mosquitoes, or disease-carrying
insects, rats, or other vermin can breed, live, nest, or seek shelter.
D.
Toxic and hazardous materials: any chemical and/or biological material
that is stored, used, or disposed of in such quantity or manner that
is, or has the potential to create, a health hazard.
E.
Holes and openings: any hole or opening caused by improperly abandoned
cistern, septic tank, dug well, etc., or any improperly abandoned,
barricaded, or covered up excavation.
A.
Any dwelling or dwelling unit found to have any of the following
defects shall be condemned as unfit for human habitation and shall
be so designated and marked as unfit with a placard by the Code Officer:
B.
No person shall continue to occupy, rent, or lease quarters for human
habitation which are declared unfit for human habitation by the Code
Officer. For the purpose of this article, "unfit for habitation" includes
lacking potable water or a properly functioning septic system, or
an adequate and functioning heating system.
C.
Any dwelling or dwelling unit condemned as unfit for human habitation,
and so designated and marked by the Code Officer, shall be vacated
within a reasonable time, as specified by the Code Officer.
A.
If the existence of a public nuisance is confirmed, a written cleanup
and/or abatement order will be issued specifying the action needed
to abate and/or correct the nuisance, the time period allowed to abate
and/or correct the nuisance, and the possible penalty if the nuisance
is not abated and/or corrected.
B.
In the case of an immediate health hazard or in cases where the person
responsible for a nuisance refuses to abate and/or correct it within
the time period specified in the written order, the Borough may abate
the nuisance and/or correct the violation, with the cost of such abatement
and/or correction to be recovered directly from the responsible person
or as otherwise authorized by law.
All violations of this article shall be subject to forfeiture
of not less than $250, nor more than $500 per offense, together with
applicable surcharges and costs of prosecution. Each day of continued
violation shall constitute a separate offense.
