(a) There is hereby adopted by the governing body of the city, for the purpose of prescribing regulation, governing conditions hazardous to life and property from fire or explosion, that certain code and standards known as the International Fire Code, 2012 Edition as amended including all the Appendix chapters, and the thereof and the whole thereof, save and except such portions as hereinafter deleted, modified or amended by section 7-203 of this article one (1) copy which Code and Standards have been and are now filed in the office of the clerk of the City of Colwich, Kansas, and the same are hereby adopted and incorporated as fully as if set out at length herein, and from the date on which this ordinance shall take effect, the provisions thereof shall be controlling within the limits of the city.
(b) The code hereby adopted shall be enforced by the chief of the fire department or his/her designee.
(Code 2004)
(a) Section 307.1.1 is amended to read “Open burning, except as given an exception by the fire code official, shall be prohibited in the Colwich city limits.
(b) Section 2804.4 is amended to read, “Facility may have an approved standpipe and hose system in lieu of an automated sprinkler system.”
(c) Section 5601.2.4 is amended to read, “the applicant shall file with the jurisdiction proof of a public liability insurance policy of $1,000,000.00”
(Code 2020)
(a) An application for a variance from the International Fire Code (“IFC”) shall be made in writing to the fire code official. The application for a variance shall be evaluated by the fire code official to ensure the proposed design, use, or operation satisfactorily complies with the intent of the IFC as adopted by the City. Additionally, the alternative means, method, or operation that is being proposed will be evaluated to determine whether it is equivalent to that prescribed in the IFC in quality, strength, effectiveness, fire resistance, durability and safety. The property owner or property owner’s representative making the request for variance shall have the burden of proving such equivalency. Upon the consideration of each application, the fire code official shall make a recommendation to the City Council stating whether the application should be approved or denied.
(b) Submittal Requirements. All applications for a variance from a requirement in the IFC shall contain the following information:
(1) The application shall be made in writing, with complete and adequate copies of the appropriate plans & documents necessary to clearly evaluate the project:
(A) Identify relevant project information:
(i) The project name, project number, contact person and phone number;
(ii) The relevant persons’ names and phone numbers.
(iii) Other specific information identifying the project will be required (e.g., specific location, floor number, room number, plan page with gridlines, copies of applicable drawings and construction documents, copies of inspection reports, etc.)
(B) Identify the code section numbers or reference the specific requirement for which the modification or installation is requested.
(C) Provide a background statement to identify, explain or otherwise detail the situation causing the request for a variance.
(D) Detail the alternative measures as part of the variance proposal and how they establish equivalency to those prescribed in the code.
(2) Engineering Evaluation. If the fire code official determines that an engineering evaluation is necessary, it shall be performed and reported by a licensed professional fire protection engineer certifying that the variance requested from the IFC constitutes an alternative or modification from IFC standards that is equivalent to that prescribed in the IFC in quality, strength, effectiveness, fire resistance, durability and safety. All submittals prepared by a professional engineer shall be stamped, signed and shall include their appropriate license number(s).
(c) Evaluation of Application. Each application for a variance will be evaluated by the City Council, upon the recommendation of the fire code official, together with any other application materials. All such requests are evaluated on a case by case basis. Approval of the request is based upon several factors, including, but not limited to:
(1) The level of equivalency achieved, that is, whether granting the requested variance will result in an increased risk of fire, additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public expense, or create nuisances.
(2) The effect of the variance and other related conditions or issues that will be beneficial or not beneficial in the best interests of the City.
(3) All evaluations will be performed in the context of the specific project being reviewed.
If the variance proposal provides an equivalent level of protection considering all related conditions and issues pertaining to the project, the City Council will issue a response letter granting approval. Such approval may be conditional upon implementation of additional requirements listed in the variance response letter that were not part of the original variance proposal. Approval is granted only for the specific project under review and the conditions for approval shall not be construed as applicable to any other project nor should any approval be considered to establish any precedent for future variance approvals.
(d) Costs and Expenses of Application. The applicant is responsible for all costs and expenses associated with the preparation and submittal of the variance application and any evaluation, research or other outside consultation, whether requested by the applicant or the city.
(Code 2020)
It shall be unlawful for any person to start a fire to any pile of papers, shavings, weeds, brush, leaves, grass or other combustible material on any of the streets, alleys, gutters, parkways, or upon any other public or private grounds in the city; provided however, a fire may be built in any outdoor stove, oven, fireplace barbecue pit, or a portable burner for the purpose of cooking food; provided that any such fire so started shall be extinguished and made safe before the persons starting or maintaining the same shall leave the place where the fire was started; and provided further, that businesses, industries and charities which must, in the conduct of their operation, start fire to combustible material or make fire of any description in the open air, may make application to the chief of the fire department for special permission to start fire to combustible material or to make fire in the open air.
(Ord. 387, Sec. 1; Code 2004)
It shall be unlawful for any person to allow to accumulate or to keep in any part of any building or outside of and adjacent to any building or in any alley, sidewalk, street or premises within 30 feet of any building any rubbish, trash, waste paper, excelsior, empty boxes, barrels or other combustibles which shall constitute a fire hazard.
(Code 2004)
It shall be unlawful for any person to deposit, stack or store any hay or straw within 500 feet of any building located inside the fire limits of the city.
(Code 2004)
It shall be unlawful to keep excelsior or other packing material in any other than metal or wood metal line boxes or bins having self closing or automatic covers. All refuse and trash from rooms where packing or unpacking is done shall be removed daily.
(Code 2004)
It shall be unlawful to store ashes inside of any nonfireproof building unless they are stored in a noncombustible container or receptacle, and a clearance of at least five (5) feet shall be maintained between such container or receptacle and any combustible materials not placed therein. Ashes shall not be stored outside of any building in wooden, plastic, or paper product receptacles or dumped in contact with or in close proximity to any combustible materials.
(Code 2004)
The engines of motor vehicles shall be stopped when the gasoline tanks of such vehicles are being filled with gasoline at service stations or other places where gasoline is supplied to motor vehicles. The driver or person in control of such vehicle when the gasoline tank of same is being filled who refuses, neglects or fails to stop the engine of such vehicle shall likewise be guilty of a violation of this code.
(Code 2004)
It is unlawful for any person to cause or create anywhere within the city, or to permit on any premises under his or her control, any situation or condition that is conducive to or likely to cause or permit the outbreak of fire or the spreading of fire. Any situation or condition conducive to the outbreak of or spreading of fire, is declared to be a fire hazard. Any grassy vegetation shall not exceed the height of 12 inches. The violation of or failure to comply with any law pertaining to the storage, handling or use of inflammable oils, explosives, liquefied petroleum gases, or fertilizers and all wires and other conductors charged with electricity, is declared to be a fire hazard. The placing of stools, chairs or any other obstruction in the aisles, hallways, doorway, or exit of any theater, public hall, auditorium, church or other place of indoor public assemblage, or the failure to provide any such place of public assemblage with sufficient, accessible and unobstructed fire exits and escapes is also declared to be a fire hazard. The obstruction of any street, avenue, alley, fire hydrant or any other condition that might delay the fire department in fighting fire is declared to be unlawful.
(Code 2004)
It shall be the duty of the fire chief to inspect or cause to be inspected by fire department officers, officials of the Kansas State Fire Marshals office or members, as often as may be necessary all buildings, particularly all mercantile buildings, manufacturing plants, warehouses, garages, hotels, boarding houses, rooming houses, theaters, auditoriums and all places of public assemblage, for the purpose of discovering the violation of any fire preventive law or any fire hazard and ascertaining and causing to be corrected any conditions liable to cause fires and to see that all places of public assemblage, hotels and rooming houses have sufficient and unobstructed facilities for escape therefrom in case of fire.
(Code 2004)
Whenever any officer or member of the fire department shall find or discover any fire hazard or shall find in any building or upon any premises any condition which is contrary to this chapter and/or the currently adopted version of the International Fire Code the fire chief or his/her designee shall order the fire hazard or danger from the fire forthwith abated and remedied and such order shall be complied with immediately by the owner or occupant of such buildings or premises. If the hazard or condition ordered abated and remedied is a violation of, or a failure to comply with any law, the fire chief shall report the matter to the city attorney and he or she shall, if he or she deems it advisable, prosecute the offender within the municipal court.
(Code 2004)
(a) The Fire Chief or his/her designee shall give written notice of the Order made under section 7-212 to the owner, occupant or agent of such property by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by personal service to abate the fire hazard or danger from the fire forthwith; provided, however, that if the property is unoccupied and the owner is a nonresident, such notice shall be sent by certified, return receipt requested, to the last known address of the owner. Such notice shall only be given once in connection with any violation.
(b) The notice to be given hereunder shall state:
(1) that the owner, occupant or agent in charge of the property is in violation of this Chapter of the Code of the City of Colwich;
(2) that the owner, occupant or agent in control of the property is ordered to abate the fire hazard or danger from the fire within 5 days of the receipt of the notice;
(3) that the owner, occupant or agent in control of the property may request a hearing before the governing body or its designated representative within five (5) days of the receipt of the notice or, if the owner is unknown or a nonresident, and there is no resident agent, 5 days after notice has been published by the city clerk in the official city newspaper;
(4) that if the owner, occupant or agent in control of the property does not abate the fire hazard or danger from the fire forthwith, or fails to request a hearing within the allowed time the city or its authorized agent will abate the fire hazard or danger from the fire and assess the cost of the abatement, including a reasonable administrative fee, against the owner, occupant or agent in charge of the property;
(5) that the owner, occupant or agent in control of the property will be given an opportunity to pay the assessment, and if it is not paid within 30 days of such notice, it will be added to the property tax as a special assessment;
(6) that no further notice will be given to cure this nuisance fire danger; and,
(7) that the Fire Chief or his/her designee should be contacted if there are questions regarding the order.
(c) If there is a change in the record owner of title to property subsequent to the giving of notice pursuant to this subsection, the city may not recover any costs or levy an assessment for the costs incurred by the abatement upon such property unless the new record owner of title to such property is provided notice as required by this article, unless the fire danger becomes an immediate hazard and is abated pursuant to that section of this Chapter.
(d) The fire chief or his/her designee shall keep a record of and copies of all such orders and notices and shall follow up such notices at the expiration of the time for compliance therewith and when complied with make proper entry, and if not complied with, file complaint with the municipal court against the property owner and/or occupant.
(Code 2004)
(a) If the owner, occupant or agent in charge of the property has neither alleviated the conditions causing the alleged violation nor requested a hearing within the time periods specified, the Fire Chief or his/her designee shall abate or remove the conditions causing the violation.
(b) If the city abates or removes the nuisance pursuant to this section, the city shall give notice to the owner or his or her agent by certified mail, return receipt requested, of the total cost of the abatement or removal incurred by the city. The notice shall also state that the payment is due within 30 days following receipt of the notice. The city also may recover the cost of providing notice, including any postage, required by this section.
(c) The notice shall also state that if the cost of the removal or abatement is not paid within a 30-day period, the cost of the abatement or removal shall be collected in the manner provided by K.S.A. 12-1,115, and amendments thereto, or shall be assessed as special assessments and charged against the lot or parcel of land on which the nuisance was located and the city clerk, at the time of certifying other city taxes, shall certify the unpaid portion of the costs and the county clerk shall extend the same on the tax rolls of the county against such lot or parcel of land and it shall be collected by the county treasurer and paid to the city as other city taxes are collected and paid. The city may pursue collection both by levying a special assessment and in the manner provided by K.S.A. 12-1,115, and amendments thereto, but only until the full cost and applicable interest has been paid in full.
In addition to any administrative action involving abatement, any person who shall violate the provision of this code or shall fail to comply with any of the requirements thereof, or who shall act in violation of the directive of an official or of a permit or certificate issued under the provisions of this code shall be subject to prosecution in the municipal court of the City. Each day of violation shall be a separate violation. Furthermore, such person may be required to repair or correct any violation and pay all costs associated therewith.
Every summons and complaint charging a violation or violations of this article shall state the name of the defendant, the code section number or numbers alleged to have been violated, the general type of the offense to which each section or ordinance relates, the date and place of each alleged violation and that the defendant is required to appear to answer the charges on a date and at a time and place designated in the complaint or summons. The complaint or summons shall be signed by the Fire Chief.
The imposition of the penalties herein prescribed shall not preclude the City from instituting an appropriate civil action to restrain, correct, or abate a violation of this ordinance, and specific authority for such is hereby granted to take any action or imposing any penalty allowed by State law, the Code of this City, or this Article.
When in the opinion of the Fire Chief any fire hazard constitutes an immediate hazard requiring immediate action to protect the public, the Fire Chief or his/her designee, with the assistance of the Police Chief or his/her designee, may direct the property to be made safe, including directing the public works director to erect barricades, or cause the property to be vacated, chemicals or combustibles removed, intentional fires extinguished, or otherwise made safe without delay. Such action may be taken without prior notice to or hearing of the owners, agents, lienholders and occupants. The cost of any action under this section shall be assessed against the property as provided in Chapter 4-211.