Clear thinking in New Britain Borough

The borough council roundly rejected a proposal to enact a use and occupancy ordinance.

“I don’t know why we want to even enter this conversation,” one council member said.

New Britain Borough Council (Bucks County) recently discussed — and quickly rejected — the idea of a use and occupancy inspection ordinance for property transfers.

The conversation that occurred at a May council meeting was a heartening example of a municipal decision-making process that includes clear-headed analysis and questioning from both elected officials and residents.

“I don’t know why we want to even enter this conversation,” one council member said. “Of course we want houses to be safe. But I don’t understand why we want to insert ourselves in the middle of this, when there actually already exists a process. … I feel like this is taking on a headache.”

Audience member suggests more comprehensive approach

When the council president said one aspect of the proposal that he liked was that it would inspect sidewalks and driveway aprons, a member of the audience noted that the borough can and has inspected those things without getting involved in home sales. 

“A few years ago, we had somebody who went around the borough checking where sidewalks had lifted. And people were notified that they had to repair their sidewalk, because it was a trip hazard,” the audience member said. “The borough could go around and do that at any time, not when someone is selling a property.”

Before long, it was clear that the overwhelming majority of the council thought a use and occupancy inspection ordinance was a bad idea — and so did every resident in the audience who spoke up.

According to the meeting minutes, 

Many residents voiced their concerns and general disagreement about the program and the fact that some of their homes are older and historic and the proposed list is unreasonable on those properties.

The program was tabled and will not be further discussed later.

View the meeting video here.