Jul 25, 2019 2 min read

South Strabane Township supervisors voted Tuesday to adopt the 2015 Edition of the International Property Maintenance Code.

“Most municipalities already have this code,” said Jim Barnes, the township’s director of public safety. “It will give us more tools to work with to make quicker compliance.”

Barnes said that previously, the township used ordinances approved over the last 50 years to regulate property maintenance and structures.

“This will streamline a lot of processes to get the violation handled quicker,” he said. “That way everybody’s on the same page.”

The main difference between the international code and the township ordinances are “verbiage detail,” Barnes said. For example, under the international code, the township can use stop-work orders for earth disturbance, grading and filling, in addition to building construction.

“Our ordinance didn’t go the extra steps on a lot of things,” Barnes said.

Previously, the township wasn’t able to address high grass on commercial properties, only residential. But under this newly adopted code, they’ll be able to address both. The code will also update the township’s regulations on abandoned vehicles, and other junk issues such as tire piles, disposed appliances or other trash.

It also allows the township to address unsafe structures more easily, Barnes said. Previously, a complaint of an unsafe structure would go to the supervisors, who would then have to hire an engineer to investigate the property, often taking upward of 45 days. This code allows for that investigation to be done by the township’s building code enforcement officer, saving time and money.

“The goal is to get the complaint or violation into compliance as quick as possible,” Barnes said.