Title
Ordinance Amending Chapter 17 of the Greensboro Code of Ordinances with Respect to Nuisances - Define Repeated Fire Code Overcrowding Violations a Nuisance
Body
Department: Fire
Council District: all
Public Hearing: NA
Advertising Date/By: NA
Contact 1 and Phone: Kevin Pettigrew, Deputy Fire Marshall, ext 7822
Contact 2 and Phone: Becky Jo Peterson-Buie, Deputy City Attorney, ext 2320
PURPOSE:
This text amendment revises Chapter 17 of the Code of Ordinances by adopting Article IV, Unsafe Occupancy, to define repeated flagrant overcrowding in violation of the Fire Code as a public nuisance. The adoption of this Article enables the City to pursue additional legal remedies under G.S. ? 160A-175 for the abatement of public nuisances.
BACKGROUND:
The Greensboro Fire Department has experienced several incidents of large-scale overcrowding of commercial venues where the business operators allowed overcrowding significantly greater than 25% of the approved occupancy capacity of the business location. Current existing fire code violation remedies appear to be insufficient to deter repeated occurrences. At the July 29, 2014 Council Work Session, staff presented proposed changes to the Greensboro code of ordinances to address these public safety needs.
The proposed Article is intended to address public safety needs by declaring three or more occurrences within one year's time of overcrowding by more than 25% of the occupancy capacity to be a public nuisance. The proposed Article also declares a public nuisance to be five or more occurrences of overcrowding violations by more than 10% of the occupancy capacity within a year's time, or three or more occurrences of overcrowding violations by more than 10% of the occupancy capacity within a year's time where at least one such occurrence also included a violation of the fire prevention code for defective fire prevention equipment or locked/obstructed means for patrons and employees to e...
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