[Adopted 2-1-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-654]
A. 
The Council of the Borough of Port Vue has determined that it is in the best interest of Borough residents to establish alternative procedures in addition to citations that will enable residents and code enforcement officials to work together to reduce and eliminate code enforcement issues throughout the Borough without the necessity of issuing citations that require an appearance and hearing before the local magistrate. The enforcement alternatives in this article are in addition to and intended to supplement and not replace all Borough property maintenance and related ordinances which have as their purpose achieving a safe, clean and respectful environment and community for all who reside in the Borough of Port Vue.
B. 
The purpose of this section is to provide for a mechanism by means of issuance of a ticket rather than citation and/or to provide for a local agency appeal process. In the effort to protect the health, safety, and general welfare of the Borough residents and their guests, as well as Borough property values, Council desires to amend its Code and implement an ordinance providing for the issuance of tickets, citations, and penalties to owners and/or occupiers of property that are not appropriately maintained in a timely manner and to provide a local agency appeal process in the event the violation is not corrected.
C. 
The Borough finds that the resolution in this manner is beneficial from a two-fold perspective in that it affords the Borough of Port Vue the option to maintain and enforce its laws through the established citation method or through a local agency appeal procedure, and permits an individual so accused, when ticketed and not cited, to resolve the dispute in a manner that does not unduly burden the resident by requiring the issuance of a citation and attendance at a court hearing.
The provisions of this article shall apply to all existing and future properties and structures.
A. 
Any violation of the Borough's Property Maintenance ordinance as provided for in Chapter 227 may be cause for issuance of a notice of violation/violation ticket (hereinafter "notice of violation").
B. 
The issuance of a notice of violation shall in no way preclude the Borough of Port Vue from proceeding with any other enforcement mechanism available by and under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This article is not meant to supersede or repeal any other established methods of enforcement, including the citation of an individual for an ordinance violation that proceeds to a Magisterial District Judge and the Court of Common Pleas.
A. 
The notice of violation shall be in writing and shall identify the property address (if applicable), include a statement of the violation(s), and specify the maximum time frame to take corrective action.
B. 
The notice of violation shall include a detailed description of the corrective action necessary and provide detail of the fine to be levied in the event that corrective action is not taken.
C. 
Upon finding a violation, the Code Enforcement Officer and police officers of Port Vue Borough may issue violation tickets and/or citations to the owner, tenant, landlord, and/or occupant of the property at issue or to the individual known to have violated this article.
D. 
The designated Borough official shall serve the Notice of Violation on the violator in one of the following manners:
(1) 
By handing the Notice of Violation to the violator;
(2) 
By handing the Notice of Violation to be served to an adult member of the household or other person in charge of the residence at the residence of the person to be served;
(3) 
By leaving or affixing the Notice of Violation ticket to the property where the violation exists;
(4) 
By handing the Notice of Violation to the violator's agent or to the adult person in charge thereof at any office or usual place of business of the violator; or
(5) 
By mailing the Notice of Violation to the violator's last name address by first-class mail with a certificate of mailing.
E. 
If the violation is not addressed to the satisfaction of the designated official within five days from the issuance of the Notice of Violation, the designated official shall issue a violation ticket to the violator consistent with the service of process described above. The violation ticket shall be in writing and shall identify the property address, include a statement of the violations, specify the maximum timeframe to take corrective action and detail the fine for the nonpayment of the ticket within the prescribed timeframe.
F. 
The fine for the first notice of violation shall be $25.
G. 
If the violation is not addressed to the satisfaction of the designated official within five days after the issuance of the first violation ticket, the designated official shall issue a second violation ticket; if the violation is not addressed within five days of the second violation ticket, a third violation ticket shall be issued.
H. 
The fine for the second violation ticket shall be $50 and the fine for the third violation ticket shall be $75.
I. 
Any person who receives an initial violation ticket for any offense under this article, within five days of receipt of the violation ticket, may:
(1) 
Admit the violation and pay the fine in full; or
(2) 
Deny the violation and request an appeal before an official designated by the Borough to hear such appeals, who shall not be the individual who issued the original Notice of Violation.
(3) 
The hearing on such an appeal shall be held within 10 days of a request for an appeal, and the person against whom the violation has been issued, has the right to call witnesses at a hearing scheduled for that purpose. The formal rules of evidence shall not apply at this hearing.
(4) 
A decision on the appeal shall be issued by the hearing officer within five days of the hearing.
(5) 
Any individual who is dissatisfied with the results of said hearing shall have the right to appeal that decision to the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, within 15 calendar days after receipt of the notice of the decision.
A. 
The Borough reserves the right to abate the violation in question at the expense of the owner if the violation is not abated by the property owner within five business days after receipt of the third violation ticket or after 10 days from the appeal decision under § 227-281 above. Should the violation, at the discretion of the public officials, present imminent danger and/or pose a health hazard and/or risk, the Borough reserves the right to perform the abatement immediately. The Borough will perform this work at a rate of $60 per hour, per person. The Borough reserves the right to charge an additional 20% on all material purchases to cover all miscellaneous expenses, such as administrative costs and wear and tear on equipment, if the Borough has abated the violation, the costs thereof may be charged to the owner of the property, tenant, landlord or offending party. A bill/invoice will be generated to the violator for payment separate from the quality of life ticket. This section shall not limit the Borough's right or ability to abate as provided for in any other provision of the Port Vue Borough's Code of Ordinances or pursuant to state law.
B. 
If the Borough is required to take corrective action as referred to in Subsection A above, the cost thereof shall constitute a lien against the individual or property to whom the Notice of Violation had been issued.
C. 
Contractor cleanup. The Borough reserves the right to direct a contractor to perform the abatement of the violation as an alternative to Borough abatement under Subsection A above. Should the violation present imminent danger and/or pose a health hazard and/or risk, the Borough reserves the right to direct the contractor to perform the abatement immediately. The contractor will submit a bill for his work to the Borough, and the Borough will forward these costs to the violator. The Borough reserves the right to add a processing fee of $100 in addition to the cost of the contractor.
D. 
At the option of Borough Council, any person who fails to abate a violation within the time period provided in § 227-28 above, and/or fails to make payment for the violation ticket as outlined in § 227-28 of this article, shall be directed, by written notice to the owner and occupiers of the premises to appear before an Appeal Board, appointed by Council on an as-needed basis, which shall conduct a hearing in conformity with the provisions of a Local Agency Hearing. Such notice of hearing shall be by personal service or by certified mail. If the premises are vacant, service of such notice shall be made by posting a copy thereof in a conspicuous place on the premises and mailing a copy of such notice by certified mail to the owners and occupiers of the premises upon which the violation occurs at their last known post office address. By majority vote of the Appeal Board, the violation ticket may be upheld or denied or the violation ticket and/or any associated costs, fines or penalty amounts may be modified. The Appeal Board will issue written notice of the decision, along with any refunds applicable, within 10 calendar days of the hearing. The owners or occupiers of the premises on which the violation has been determined to exist shall correct the violation commencing within 15 calendar days from the service of the written notice of the Appeal Board decision from the Borough Manager. The notice of the decision of the Appeal Board shall be served in the same manner as the notice of the hearing set forth in this section is served. Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Appeal Board may appeal the decision of the Appeal Board to the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, within 15 calendar days after receipt of the notice of decision or the posting of the decision at Borough Municipal Building and upon the premises affected. If the procedure set forth in this section is followed, it shall be as an alternative to and in place of issuing a citation under § 227-30 of this article.
As an alternative to the procedure in § 227-29 above, a person in receipt of a third Notice of Violation ticket shall have five business days after the issuance of the ticket to address the violation to the satisfaction of the designated enforcement official of the Borough. In the event that the violation is not addressed within that time, a citation may be issued by the Borough's designated enforcement official in accordance with the procedures provided for by the local District Justice.
At the direction of the Borough, all tickets and costs of abatement for which payment is not received within 45 days of the issuance may be turned over by the Borough to a collection agency for receipt. The Borough may place liens on properties wherein a nuisance was removed and abated, pursuant to 53 P.S. § 7101 et seq.
The penalty and collection provisions of this article V shall be independent, not mutually exclusive, separate remedies, all of which shall be available to the Borough as may be deemed appropriate for carrying out the purpose of this article. The remedies and procedures provided in this article for violation hereof are not intended to supplant or replace to any degree the remedies and procedures available to the Borough in the case of a violation of any other Port Vue Borough Code or ordinance, whether or not such other code or ordinance is referenced in this article and whether or not an ongoing violation of such other code or ordinance is cited as the underlying ground for a finding of a violation of this article.
In the event any existing Borough ordinance or part thereof conflicts with the provisions of this article, the same shall be and is hereby repealed insofar as the same affects this article.
This article shall become effective immediately.