City Code, ExplainedBetaPardon our dust while we build this out — expect some changes along the way.

This chapter lets the City designate a building or dwelling a "nuisance property" when repeated crimes or code violations happen there or nearby within a 180-day period, and sets out notice, hearing, and penalty procedures for owners and occupants who allow that to happen.

Who this affects

Property owners, tenants, and other occupants (including their guests or invitees) whose building or its premises rack up multiple qualifying violations; it also affects anyone attending events at such a property.

Key rules

• A property gets a nuisance property designation if, within a 180-day period, it has three or more separate violations of PA criminal statutes and/or City ordinances, three or more City Code property-maintenance violations, three or more City Code zoning violations, or a combination of three offenses across those categories.
• No owner, occupant, guest, or customer may allow or permit a building or dwelling to become a nuisance property.
• An owner or occupant is deemed to have allowed the designation if they personally committed the acts, if invitees or event attendees they sponsored committed them, or if they received written notice and the facts were true but they failed to abate.
• No one can be prosecuted under § 155-3 until the Code Enforcement Officer serves written notice and the person fails or refuses to abate; the Code Enforcement Officer, Chief of Police, or their designees jointly sign and give this notice after a second or subsequent qualifying act.
• Written notice must state that a nuisance property designation exists, the date and facts of the acts relied upon, and the date, time, and place to appear for a meeting before a citation is filed, and must warn that failure to appear may result in prosecution.
• Following a subsequent act, an informal conference is held with the City Administrator, Code Enforcement Officer, Chief of Police, or their designees, where the owner or occupant may argue against a citation being filed.
• The City Administrator may, after the conference, set a list of actions and deadlines to abate the nuisance, or may instead recommend that a citation be filed.
• The City Administrator may impose conditions such as eviction proceedings against identified individuals, written notice barring someone from the premises, leases requiring eviction for criminal activity, physical improvements like fencing or lighting to mitigate crime, or ceasing commercial activity in the building.
• Prosecution may begin if the owner/occupant commits a § 155-3 violation, fails to attend the informal conference, or fails to comply with the City Administrator's conditions within the given time.
• The Code Enforcement Officer may also pursue equitable relief in court, in the City's name, to abate the nuisance and enjoin the owner, renter, or occupant from continuing the violation.
• Upon a finding of guilt, a court may additionally require crime-mitigating property improvements, written leases requiring eviction for criminal activity, periodic submission of tenancy lists to the Police Department, or other conditions related to abating the nuisance.

Penalties

A fine of not less than $300 nor more than $1,000 for each offense; each day a violation continues after due notice has been served is a separate offense, and violations may also be prosecuted as municipal infractions.

Notable and archaic details

• Even a single instance of certain combined violations, or acts committed by an owner's or occupant's guests or invitees (not just the owner/occupant themselves), can trigger the nuisance designation and liability.
• The chapter refers to abating a "disorderly house nuisance" in § 155-8, a phrase not otherwise defined or used elsewhere in the chapter's text.