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County adopts civil-citation provisions of local fire code and accepts state MOU on fire-plan review
Summary
The Board adopted a resolution designating which fire code violations are civil offenses under the county fee schedule and approved a memorandum of understanding with the State Fire Marshal that shifts some plan-review and inspection duties to county permits and inspections.
The Washington County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution listing sections of the Washington County Fire Prevention Code that create civil offenses punishable by fines in the county’s fire code fee schedule, and approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Maryland Office of the State Fire Marshal clarifying enforcement responsibilities.
Greg Cartwright, director of Permits and Inspections and the county code official, said the resolution identifies which provisions of the adopted Fire Prevention Code are enforceable as civil citations and subject to fines under the county’s adopted fee schedule. The county held a public hearing and adopted the local fire prevention code and fee schedule on April 29, staff said.
Cartwright and Deputy County Attorney Rosalinda Pascual presented an MOU between the Office of the State Fire Marshal and Washington County that outlines the state office’s ongoing responsibilities (fire investigation, bomb and explosive permitting, inspection of fireworks, plan review and inspections for state-owned buildings, healthcare and schools) and the Division of Permits and Inspections’ new responsibilities for enforcing adopted fire prevention provisions and conducting plan review and fire inspections locally. Pascual said the county’s revisions had been approved by the state and the final MOU was provided to commissioners the day before the meeting.
Commissioners voted to adopt the civil-citation resolution and to accept the MOU; both motions passed on the record with commissioners saying "aye."
