Ordinance 36-B

TOWNSHIP OF SPRING ARBOR DILAPIDATED BUILDINGS ORDINANCE
AN ORDINANCE TO SECURE THE PUBLIC PEACE, HEALTH, SAFETY, WELFARE, AND CONVENIENCE OF THE RESIDENTS AND PROPERTY OWNERS OF THE TOWNSHIP OF SPRING ARBOR, JACKSON COUNTY, MICHIGAN, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, BY THE REGULATION OF UNCOMPLETED, ABANDONED, DILAPIDATED, OR DETERIORATED BUILDINGS INJURIOUS TO LIFE OR HEALTH, WITHIN SAID TOWNSHIP; TO PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR THE VIOLATION THEREOF; AND TO REPEAL ALL ORDINANCE AND PARTS OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT THEREWITH.
ORDINANCE NO. 36-B

At a regular meeting of the Township Board held in the Township Hall on the llth day of June, 1990, at 7:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, the following Ordinance was heard and passed:

THE TOWNSHIP OF SPRING ARBOR ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. TITLE
This Ordinance shall be known and cited as the Spring Arbor Township Dilapidated Buildings Ordinance.

SECTION 2. REGULATIONS

2.1 Construction Time Limits
All buildings and parts thereof erected on or before the effective date of this Ordinance shall be completed and fully and permanently enclosed within the time limit set forth in the building permit, or in the alternative, shall be torn down and removed, and any excavation thereunder filled in to grade level.
All buildings and parts thereof thereafter erected shall be fully enclosed in accordance with the building permit issued therefore, within one (1) year from the issuance of said permit, or the commencement of said construction whichever shall first occur. This regulation shall not apply to the construction of large buildings containing more than 50,000 square feet of first floor space.

2.2 Building Conditions
No building or structure, whether now existing or hereafter erected, shall be left in a dangerous or hazardous condition by virtue of abandonment, disrepair, depreciation, damage by fire, collapse, or act of God, or by virtue of any other cause, but shall be forthwith repaired or rehabilitated, and the dangerous or hazardous condition removed by the owner or occupant thereof, or in the alternative, torn down and removed, and any excavation thereunder filled to grade level.

2.3 Hazardous Condition of Structure
No building so damaged or destroyed to such an extent that the cost of repair and rehabilitation to place it in a safe, sound, and sanitary condition exceeds 75% of the assessed valuation of the building, at the time the repairs or rehabilitation are to be made, shall be repaired or rehabilitated unless it is made to comply in all respects with the provisions of all Spring Arbor Township Ordinances governing such building. Any building so damaged or destroyed to such an extent that the cost or repair and rehabilitation to place it in a safe, sound, and sanitary condition exceed 100% of the assessed valuation at the time when the repairs or rehabilitation are to be made, shall be deemed unfit for human habitation and shall be immediately vacated, and unless made to comply with all the provisions of the Spring Arbor Township Building Code, shall be demolished and removed.

2.4 Human Habitation Requirements
Whenever it shall be certified by the building inspector or health officer of the Township that a building is infected with contagious disease or is unfit for human habitation, or dangerous to life or health by reason of want of repair or of defects in the drainage, plumbing, lighting, ventilation or the construction of the same, or by reason of the existence on the premises of a nuisance likely to cause sickness among the occupants of said building, the building inspector or health officer may issue an order requiring all persons therein to vacate such building within not less than 24 hours nor more than 10 days for the reasons to be mentioned in said order. In case such order is not complied with within the time specified, the building inspector or health officer may cause said dwelling to be vacated. Whenever the building inspector or health officer is satisfied that the danger from said building has ceased to exist or that it is fit for human habitation, he may revoke said order or may extend the time within which to comply with same.

2.5 Public Nuisance
Whenever any building or premises or the plumbing, sewage, drainage, lighting, or ventilation thereof is, in the opinion of the building inspector or health officer, dangerous or detrimental to life or health, such officer may declare that the same, to the extent he may specify, is a public nuisance, and may order the same to be removed, abated, suspended, altered, or otherwise improved or purified, as the order shall specify.

2.6 Attractive Nuisance
Whenever any building or premises is abandoned and in a state of disrepair by reason of broken windows, open doors, accumulation of litter within said building, and said building serves as an attractive nuisance for minors and other persons gathering or playing in such building the same shall be repaired and rehabilitated by the owner thereof upon receipt of such condition in writing by the building inspector or health officer of the Township. Failure by the owner thereof to take action to repair and rehabilitate said building after receipt of such notice shall constitute a violation of this Ordinance. In the event that said building is not repaired or rehabilitated by the owner in accordance with the notice received from the building inspector or health officer, then the same shall be demolished and removed, and any excavation thereunder filled to grade level.

SECTION 3. PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS
Any person, firm or corporation who violates any of the provision of this Ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not more than Five Hundred ($500.00) Dollars, or by imprisonment in the County jail not to exceed ninety (90) days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day that a violation continues to exist shall constitute a separate offense. In addition to the imposition of such fines and penalties, any building which continues to violate the provisions of this Ordinance after the owner or occupant has been ordered by the building inspector or health officer of the Township to make the same comply or to demolish or to remove such building, may, in the discretion of the Township Board, be made to comply or be demolished and removed by such Township Board or its agents, and the costs thereof collected from the owner or occupant of said premises. If the owner or occupant refuses to pay such costs, the same may be assessed against the property of the owner or occupant and collected in the same manner as are taxes assessed under the general laws of the State of Michigan. The owner or occupant who pays such costs may collect from the person or other entity who caused such violation to exist, for such sum so expended, in an appropriate action at law.
The foregoing remedies and fines shall be in addition to the rights of the Township to proceed at law or equity to obtain Judgment against the owner for any costs associated with the suit or demolishing the building or grading to ground level, including collection of said costs in the same manner as taxes are assessed under the general real property tax laws of the State of Michigan.

SECTION 4. REPEAL OF ORDINANCES IN CONFLICT
All ordinances, resolutions or orders, or parts thereof, in conflict with the provisions of this Ordinance are, to the extent of such conflict, hereby repealed.

SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE
This Ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after pub-lication.
MEMBERS PRESENT: Byron F. Gallagher, Estella Beardslee, Joan M. Myers, Marston Fortress, Troy Ganton, James C. Videto and Willis C. Williams
MEMBERS ABSENT: None
AYES: Gallagher, Beardslee, Myers, Fortress, Canton, Videto, Williams
NAYS: None

Adopted: June 11, 1990
Effective: July 21, 1990