§ 7-82. Application; criteria for issuance

Application for a secured building permit shall be made to the office of the chief building official of the City of Paris, on forms as the building official shall require. To qualify for the issuance of a secured building permit, the owner and the property proposed for permitting shall satisfy all of the following requirements:

(1) The building shall be structurally sound, including sound structural supports and support members and a structurally sound roof such that the property is not in danger of collapse, does not experience deterioration from the weather or the elements, and does not constitute an immediate or long-term threat or menace to health or safety. The building official, or on proper appeal, the building and standards commission of the City of Paris, shall determine the standards for and shall adjudge the structural soundness of a particular building or structure for which a secured building permit is sought.

(2) At the time of application, and during the entire term of the permit, the building shall remain vacant.

(3) At the time of the application, and during the entire term of the permit, all utilities shall be disconnected from the premises.

(4) At the time of the application, and during the entire term of the permit, the building shall be secured. For purposes of this article, a building shall be considered secured if all windows are covered if broken, all open access doorways are covered securely, and all other openings or access to the building are secured from entry from the outside. In securing said building, the permittee shall be required to comply with any plan for securing the building specified by the building official. In securing said premises, the owner may use plywood or other material acceptable to the building official and stencil thereon a notice to read substantially as follows:

"SECURED BUILDING MATERIALS; REMOVAL, SALE, OR PURCHASE OF THIS MATERIAL WITHOUT CONSENT OF THE OWNER SHALL CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF CHAPTER 7, ARTICLE IV OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF PARIS, PARIS, TEXAS, AND SHALL SUBJECT THE VIOLATOR TO FINES OR PENALTIES."

(5) During the term of the permit, the structure shall otherwise comply with all city ordinances or regulations dealing with the control of weeds, vectors, abandoned vehicles, abandoned junk, or other ordinances as the same shall apply to the external condition of the premises.

(6) The owner of the building as part of the permitting process shall agree in writing that the police department, fire department, building inspection department, or any other applicable department of the City shall have access to the premises at all times while on official business. The building owner shall likewise agree in writing that, save and except for officials of the City as specified herein, only the building owner or the owner's lawfully authorized agent shall have access to and enter the building during the time that such building is governed by a secured building permit.

(7) No enforcement action is currently pending against the property or its owner before the City's building and standards commission or under any other city ordinance; provided, however, that a secured building permit may be issued upon a finding by the building and standards commission in an enforcement proceeding, and in response to a request by the owner, that a property the subject of such proceeding is otherwise qualified for such a permit. In the event of such a finding, the property owner shall comply with all the terms and conditions for the issuance of said permit as set out herein, and upon issuance of such permit, the enforcement action then pending before the building and standards commission shall be abated, but not dismissed. For so long as a valid secured building permit is maintained for the property, the pending enforcement action shall remain in abated status, but at such time as the property is no longer governed by a valid secured building permit, the abated enforcement action shall be placed upon an ensuing agenda of the building and standards commission for review and subsequent action.

(Ord. No. 2002-032, § 4, 6-10-02)