Monday night, Tyrone Borough Council adopted an ordinance to amend a previous ordinance as it relates to how the borough deals with certain types of building construction, specifically residential repairs and renovations.
Council recessed its regular meeting for a brief public hearing to receive comments on the ordinance. No one offered any comment on the issue, so the hearing was adjourned and the regular meeting resumed.
Ordinance number 1220 was adopted to allow for the amending of a previous borough ordinance (number 1209) which took effect in July of last year.
The move came as a result of months of discussions after the state legislation revised Pennsylvania’s Uniform Construction Code shortly after the borough and many municipalities in the state decided to “opt in” to use it.
In November, borough council agreed on which direction to take to enforce the code after state lawmakers had made revisions to the UCC which made it less strict for certain types of residential construction. Governor Ed Rendell signed those changes into law in July.
The borough, which already had a building code, passed an ordinance to enforce the UCC with an effective date of July 1, 2004. A new fee schedule was also adopted.
According to information in previous Daily Herald articles, since Tyrone had a previous building code prior to the adoption of the UCC , the borough had the right under state law to chose one of three options in terms of enforcing the UCC for residential repairs. The revisions to the UCC signed into law in July did not affect the commercial part of the code.
Code Enforcement officer Tom Lang had briefed council and the public on the issue during meetings last year. He explained he was using the borough’s pre-July 1 code for the issuing of residential permits for repairs and alterations. Under state law, the borough was allowed to revert to the old code. After the revisions to the UCC took effect in mid-July, Lang told council that he was enforcing residential repair and permit issues under the borough’s old code. However, the new fee structure remained in effect.
He also explained the borough had three options on how to enforce the code regarding residential matters.
Under the first option, the borough could enforce the UCC using the revisions signed into law in July. Under the second option, the borough could use its pre-July 1 code for residential issues. That code did not require permits for work done on existing plumbing, electrical or mechanical systems. Finally the borough could adopt an ordinance which would require permits for residential repairs and alterations which would reflect the requirements of the UCC prior to the exemptions which the state agreed to allow in July. Under that option, permits and inspections would be required for plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems.
Mayor Patricia Stoner had asked council to come up with their opinions on the issue. The mayor said she and councilman Bill Fink were the only members of council to submit such recommendations.
In an Oct. 8, 2004 memo to council the mayor said she favored reverting back to the borough’s previous code (option two) with some changes. At a November meeting, the mayor reiterated those ideas and councilman Fink concurred with the recommendations.
The ordinance adopted Monday contained the following language based on the mayor’s recommendations: “…to not require permits for the following types of non new construction: Interior repairs and replacements; floor replacement and coverings; hot water tanks; plumbing and electrical work; exterior and interior painting; window and door replacements that do not increase the size of the same; driveways (with certain exceptions); and private property sidewalks that do not touch upon a public street.”
The ordinance would continue to require permits for all new residential and commercial construction; roof replacements; retaining walls over four feet in height; fences; and new construction such as homes, accessory structures, house additions, garages, sheds, carports and similar structures.
After council’s decision in November, solicitor Larry Clapper was instructed to prepare an ordinance to reflect the mayor’s recommendations. It was that ordinance which council adopted on Monday night.
The mayor also recommended the fee structure for residential repairs and alterations be rolled back to the ones in place under the pre-July 1 code.
Last month, the council voted to restructure its fee schedules to reflect the recommendations. Those changes took effect on Jan. 1, 2005.
The fees for permits would revert to $20 for the first $1,000 of construction costs and $5 for every $1,000 thereafter.
