Sec. 7-39. - Application.

This division shall apply to every fraternity and sorority house as hereinafter defined, within the corporate limits of the Town of Chapel Hill and its extra-territorial planning jurisdiction.

(Ord. No. 96-11-11/O-5a, § 1. 11-11-96; Ord. No. 97-10-27/O-2.2, § 1, 10-27-97)

Sec. 7-40. - Definitions.

Fraternity and sorority house under the terms of this division shall mean any building used as a dwelling and occupied by and maintained exclusively or primarily for college, university, or professional school students who are affiliated with a social, honorary, or professional organization recognized currently or in the past by a college, university, or professional school.

(Ord. No. 96-11-11/O-5a, § 1, 11-11-96)

Sec. 7-41. - Automatic fire sprinklers in fraternity and sorority houses.

An automatic fire sprinkler system meeting the requirements of NFPA Standard #13 or #13R is required to be installed in each fraternity and sorority house in accord with the compliance deadlines in section 7-42.

In addition, all connections shall be located on the street side of each building, and activation of the sprinkler system shall activate both a local building alarm and a supervisory alarm at a twenty-four (24) hour certified and licensed alarm monitoring service.

(Ord. No. 96-11-11/O-5a, § 1, 11-11-96)

Sec. 7-42. - Compliance period.

Existing fraternity and sorority houses shall come into compliance with this division within five (5) years of its effective date.

If an existing structure is proposed to be converted to use as a fraternity or sorority house, compliance with section 7-41 shall be required prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy for use as a fraternity or sorority.

If an existing structure is being used as a fraternity or sorority house and renovations at a cost exceeding 50 per cent of structure's taxable value are proposed prior to the date on which compliance with this division would otherwise be required, compliance with section 7-41 shall be required prior to a new certificate of occupancy being issued following such renovations.

New structures shall be required to comply with the terms of this division before a certificate of occupancy is issued for use as a fraternity or sorority house.

(Ord. No. 96-11-11/O-5a, § 1, 11-11-96)

Sec. 7-42.2. - Exemption for certain detached, secondary buildings.

Existing fraternities and sorority buildings are exempt from section 7-42 if they meet the following conditions:

(1)

Have no more than one thousand (1,000) square feet of floor area and are not directly connected to the main building used for sleeping;

(2)

Have no facilities used for sleeping;

(3)

Have a supervised automatic alarm system is installed throughout the building and the alarm system:

1.

Meets applicable National Fire Protection Association standards;

2.

Includes manual alarm pull stations on each level of the building; and

3.

Is interconnected to the alarm system of the building with sleeping facilities.

(Ord. No. 96-11-11/O-5d, § 1, 11-11-96)

Sec. 7-43. - Automatic sprinkler system not to be disabled.

Upon the occupancy of any new structure as a fraternity or sorority house or upon the completion of the installation of an automatic fire sprinkler system in an existing fraternity or sorority house, no person shall shut off or disable such automatic fire sprinkler system and no owner or resident of such house shall fail to prevent the shutting off or disabling of such a system. Provided, however, that a sprinkler system may be shut off in order to perform maintenance work on the system during the time that qualified maintenance personnel are on the premises performing necessary maintenance work. Such maintenance work shall only be conducted after notice to and approval by the Town Fire Department.

(Ord. No. 96-11-11/O-5a, § 1, 11-11-96)

Sec. 7-44. - Penalties.

(a)

Criminal penalties. Violation of any provision of this division shall be a misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine of $500.00 or imprisonment for not more than 30 days.

(b)

Civil enforcement. This division may be enforced by civil penalty or appropriate equitable remedy as may be authorized by applicable N.C. General Statutes, including but not limited to G.S. Sec. 160A-175, G.S. Sec. 160A-432 and G.S. Sec. 143-139.

(Ord. No. 96-11-11/O-5a, § 1, 11-11-96)

Secs. 7-45—7-47. - Reserved.

Editor's note—

Ord. No. 91-10-14/O-4, § 2, adopted Oct. 14, 1991, amended the Code by deleting provisions contained in §§ 7-39—7-47. Said provisions pertained to high rise buildings and derived from Ord. No. O-74-14, adopted March 18, 1974.