396.01 Definitions
396.02 Legislative Findings and Declaration of Nuisance
396.03 Notification, Facility Closure Plan, Clean-up, and Fee Requirements
396.04 Duties of Owner, Operator, or Party in Control Prior to Closing or Vacating a Facility
396.05 Building, Structure or Outdoor Location to be Secured Against Unauthorized Entry; Warning Signs
396.06 Inspection of Facility; Investigations
396.07 Authority of City Where Responsible Party Fails to Act
396.08 Relationship to Other Laws
396.09 Contracts for the Sale or Lease of Real Property
396.99 Penalties
As used in this chapter:
(a) “Close” or “closing” means the permanent discontinuation, termination, or cessation of regulated operations at a facility. For purposes of this chapter, “permanent” means a period of time longer than ninety (90) days and does not include transfer of the regulated operation to another entity which will resume the operations within the ninety (90) day timeframe.
(b) “Establishment” means an economic unit generally at a single physical location where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed.
(c) “Facility” means all buildings, equipment, structures, and other stationary items that are located on a single site or on contiguous or adjacent sites and that are owned or operated by the same person. However, in the case of a site or contiguous or adjacent sites that are owned by the same person and on which two (2) or more establishments are located, each portion of the site or contiguous or adjacent sites and the buildings, equipment, structures, and other stationary items located thereon that is occupied by an establishment that is not owned or operated by the same parent corporation as, or does not have common corporate or business interests in or with, another establishment located thereon is a separate facility; and, in the case of a building or structure that is so located and that is occupied by two (2) or more establishments, each portion of the building or structure and the equipment and other stationary items located therein that is occupied by an establishment that is not owned or operated by the same parent corporation as, or does not have common corporate or business interests in or with, another establishment that is located therein is a separate facility.
(d) “Generator” means any person, by site, whose act or process produces hazardous substances at a facility as defined in this chapter or whose act first causes a hazardous substance to become subject to regulation under this chapter.
(e) “Regulated operations” means the production, use, storage, or handling of regulated substances.
(f) “Regulated substances” means all hazardous substances regulated by this Title, as well as petroleum, tires, and any other hazardous element, compound, mixture, solution, material, gas, or substance having characteristics identified as hazardous including flammable, ignitable, corrosive, reactive and toxic substances regulated pursuant to Federal, State, or local environmental laws.
(g) “Vacate” or “vacant” means abandoning a facility where regulated operations have been conducted, or a majority of the facility where regulated operations have been conducted as measured in square footage, such that no regular activities or regular occupancy by persons associated with the facility is occurring. It does not include:
(1) Storage of materials regulated by and in compliance with the remainder of this Title;
(2) Storage of materials being actively used in normal business processes. The burden is on the owner, operator, or party in control to show that the materials are in active use;
(3) Storage of materials that are not regulated substances and that are stored by an entity that is in the commercial storage business as a part of that business.
(Ord. No. 987-2024. Passed 10-7-24, eff. 10-10-24)
(a) Council of the City of Cleveland finds that:
(1) Non-residential sites which are closed for business but vacant and open to entry by the general public attract children to enter who may encounter health or environmental hazards, harbor vermin, serve as temporary abode for vagrants and criminals, invite dumping and illegal storage of hazardous and flammable substances, and are likely to be damaged by vandals or set ablaze by arsonists.
(2) Unkempt and open grounds on such sites invite the dumping of garbage, rubbish, hazardous and other regulated substances, and the accumulation of combustible material.
(3) Thousands of structures in this City are made of wood-frame construction which is more combustible than other building types.
(4) Thousands of structures in this City are situated on narrow lots and in close proximity to one another, thereby increasing the risk of conflagration and the spread of environmental contamination through the water and the air.
(b) All facilities which are injurious to or a menace to the public health, safety or welfare, or which constitute a fire hazard, or which are vacant and open to public entry are declared to be a nuisance and are to be abated in accordance with this chapter.
(c) The owner, operator, or party in control of any facility which is closed or vacant as of the effective date of this chapter shall comply with the requirements of this chapter by July 1, 1999.
(Ord. No. 2020-A-96. Passed 12-14-98, eff. 12-24-98 without the signature of the mayor)
(a) No later than fifteen (15) days before closing or vacating a facility the owner, operator, or party in control of the facility shall submit to the Fire Chief a written notice that the facility will be closed or vacated, accompanied by a check or money order payable to the “City of Cleveland” for the sum of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00). Copies of the notice shall also be submitted to the Director of Economic Development, the Commissioner of Environment, and the Director of Building and Housing.
(b) The notice shall designate a contact person who works or resides in Cuyahoga County and who shall be available both before and after closing or vacating the facility, until the time that the property is transferred to another owner, operator, or party in control. The contact person shall provide access to the facility to City employees and agents to inspect the facility for the purpose of ascertaining compliance with this chapter. The contact person shall respond to requests for information regarding the facility exercising reasonable diligence; however, the designation of a contact person does not preclude a City employee or agent from requesting information from or making notifications directly to the owner, operator, party in control, or generator.
(c) The notice shall include the address and telephone number of the principal office or residence of the owner, as well as the operator or party in control, and the address and telephone number of the contact person.
(d) The notice shall include the date on which the facility proposes to close or be vacated and shall include any plans for transfer of the property to another owner, operator, or party in control, if known.
(e) A person or entity acquiring title to or control over any facility which is closed or vacant shall comply with the notice requirements of this section within fifteen (15) days after acquiring title or control and the facility closure plan requirements not later than thirty (30) days after acquiring title or control.
(f) Facility Closure Plan. Not less than thirty (30) days prior to closing or vacating a facility, the owner, operator, party in control, or generator shall submit to the Fire Chief for review and approval, if appropriate, a facility closure plan. The plan shall meet the following requirements:
(1) Demonstrates that the hazardous substances that are stored, dispensed, handled or used in the facility will be removed, transported, treated, or disposed of in a manner that complies with the provisions of Title XI – Fire Prevention Code of the Codified Ordinances (“this Fire Code”), including permit requirements for removal.
(2) Demonstrates that the methods for removal, transport, treatment and disposal will meet Federal and State law requirements, and will eliminate the need for further maintenance and any threat to public health or safety.
(3) Contains a description that sets forth the procedure for cleaning equipment, removing contaminated soil, sampling and analysis methods for soils, and criteria for determining the extent of decontamination required to meet the requirements of Federal and State law and this Fire Code.
(4) Contains a compliance schedule and a timetable to achieve full compliance with the provisions of this Fire Code.
Whenever a change in an operation or design occurs that will affect the closure or time frame for closure, then the owner, operator, person in control, or generator must first submit a written request for a change in the plan that must include a copy of an amended closure plan. The request for modification and amended closure plan shall be submitted thirty (30) days prior to any date in the original plan that will be affected by the modification. An amended plan must be approved by the Fire Chief.
(g) Every owner, operator, or party in control of a closed or vacated facility shall treat, remove, or dispose of all hazardous substances at the regulated facility in accordance with Federal and State law and this Fire Code within sixty (60) days of closing or vacating the facility unless another timetable is provided in a facility closure plan approved by the Fire Chief.
(h) In addition to any other remedy under this chapter, the Fire Chief may issue abatement orders to the owner, operator, person in charge, or generator to remedy any hazardous or dangerous condition, or orders to conduct the necessary tests to determine the sources of hazardous substances, within the time limit stated in such order, when necessary to prevent any threat to the public health or safety from the hazardous substances at the facility, including for failure to submit a facility closure plan in accordance with division (f) above.
(Ord. No. 987-2024. Passed 10-7-24, eff. 10-10-24)
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