Source: https://ecode360.com/11698333
Timestamp: 2020-08-04 09:11:39
Document Index: 656372096

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 185', '§ 185', '§ 185', '§ 185', '§ 185', '§ 185', '§ 185', '§ 185', '§ 185', 'art 3']

Township of West Whiteland, PA Junkyards
§ 185-2 License required; application; annual fee.
§ 185-3 Restrictions on licensed operator.
§ 185-4 Operational requirements.
§ 185-5 Right of inspection.
§ 185-6 Power to pass new regulations.
§ 185-7 Junkyard Inspector.
§ 185-9 Accumulation and removal of nuisances.
§ 185-10 Alternative legal proceedings.
§ 185-11 Exemptions prior to effective date.
Chapter 185 Junkyards
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of West Whiteland 5-2-1966 by Ord. No. 11 (Ch. 13, Part 3, of the 1983 Code of Ordinances). Amendments noted where applicable.]
Solid waste and recycling — See Ch. 264.
Unless otherwise expressly provided, the following words shall, for purposes of this chapter, have the following meanings:
The Board of Supervisors of West Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Any place where junk as herein defined is stored or accumulated. Any premises as herein defined having a derelict or an abandoned vehicle or vehicles. The presence of any unlicensed vehicle and/or any vehicle not bearing a current PA MVC inspection sticker thereon shall be prima facie evidence such vehicle is derelict or has been abandoned.
[Amended 10-4-1982 by Ord. No. 86]
Any parcel of land situated in West Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, having a separate tax map parcel number for county assessment purposes.
No person shall be a junk dealer or own, lease, operate or maintain a junkyard as herein defined within the Township without first obtaining a license to operate a junkyard as a junk dealer. The annual fee for such a license shall be $100 and the license shall be effective for one calendar year only, each license terminating on December 31 of the year for which it is issued, subject to renewal upon reapplication. Application for a license or any renewal thereof shall be filed in writing with the Secretary of the Board and shall contain the applicant's sworn statement setting forth applicant's name and address, together with the names and addresses of all other persons interested in the business, an accurate description of the premises upon which the business is to be conducted and the junkyard located, including the Chester County Tax Map parcel number and a statement that applicant will comply with this chapter and any regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter. Upon receipt of the application and license fee of $100 by the Township, if the application complies with the provisions hereof, the Secretary of the Board, or the Board, shall, within 10 days, issue its license authorizing the operation and maintenance of a junkyard upon the premises by the junk dealer. Such license shall at all times be conspicuously displayed upon the junkyard premises. The license shall be nontransferable both as to the junkyard premises and junk dealer.
No person licensed under this chapter shall, by virtue of one license, keep more than one place of business or maintain or operate more than one place of business or maintain or operate more than one junkyard within the Township of West Whiteland, nor shall any person engage in business as a junk dealer or operate or maintain a junkyard in any place other than the place designated upon his license, nor shall any person operate upon any of the roads or highways in the Township of West Whiteland whether from a vehicle or upon foot as a scavenger or an itinerant buyer or seller of junk.
All junk shall be stored behind a fence, as specified in Subsection B below, which fence shall be set back at least 50 feet from all lot lines of the premises occupied by the junkyard. Whenever such fence or any art of such fence is visible from a public road or from a residence of any adjoining property, a landscaped screen or trees and/or shrubs, of varieties capable of attaining a continuous height of six feet within two years, shall be planted along such fence or section of fence in such numbers and varieties as to effectively conceal the use from the surrounding properties. All required open areas between fence and lot lines shall be maintained continuously in good order and free of weeds and scrub growth.
Every junkyard shall be completely fenced with a heavy duty chain-link or wire mesh fence at least six feet in height with gates of similar fencing material, which gates shall at all times be securely locked except during business hours when an adult attendant employed as such is on the premises. Such fence shall have maximum openings of four square inches, and the wire mesh shall be of a maximum size and strength of No. 10 gauge steel wire.
No junkyard shall cover an area in excess of five acres.
No junkyard shall operate on Sunday nor between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., except to remove any wrecked automobile from any public highway.
All junk shall be stored and arranged so as to permit access by fire-fighting equipment, and to prevent accumulation of stagnant water. Junked automobiles shall be spaced in rows with at least 15 feet between each double row to permit movement of fire equipment. Junk shall not be piled to a height of more than six feet from the ground.
All gasoline and oil shall be drained from any junked automobile into containers and removed from the junkyard premises within 12 hours from arrival on the said premises of the junked automobile. Gasoline or oil shall be stored at only one location on the licensed premises, and no more than 100 gallons in aggregate of gasoline and oil shall be stored above ground.
All weeds on any junkyard shall be kept mowed and shall not be permitted to go to seed.[1]
Editor's Note: See also Ch. 316, Weed Control.
An adult attendant shall at all times during business hours remain on the junkyard premises.
No burning or melting of any junk shall be permitted in any junkyard nor in the Township.
Paper, rags, plastic materials and rubbish shall not be stored outside and shall not be accumulated or remain on any junkyard premises for more than one month.
Junkyards shall at all times be maintained in such manner as to cause no public or private nuisance nor to cause any menace to health or safety of any persons off the premises, nor to cause any excessive or offensive or noxious sounds or odors, nor to cause the breeding, harboring or infesting of rats, rodents or vermin, nor to cause a violation of any health or sanitation law, ordinance or regulation of any governmental body.
Permanent records of all junk received or removed from any junkyard shall be kept by the junk dealer on the premises, containing the name and address from whom received or delivered and the date thereof and a description of the junk which shall at all times be open to inspection by any member of the Board or its duly authorized agent or any law enforcement officer.
No junk shall be removed from any junkyard nor broken up, reduced or altered in shape or form for a period of 48 hours after the same is placed on the junkyard premises.
The Board may, from time to time, adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of this chapter upon giving notice to the licensee affected by such regulations.
The Township Supervisors may appoint and provide for the compensation of a Township employee to be known as the "Junkyard Inspector." It shall be the duty of the Junkyard Inspector to make monthly inspections of all junkyards licensed pursuant to the terms of this chapter and to file with the Board of Supervisors a written report on each such inspection. In making such inspections, the Junkyard Inspector shall ascertain whether the provisions of this chapter are being complied with, shall note any violations thereof on his report of inspection, shall check the licensee's records of junk received and removed with his inventory, shall examine the titles to all junked automobiles on the premises and shall check into such other matters as come within the scope of this chapter.
Any person, firm or corporation who violates or permits the violation of any provision of this chapter shall be subject to a fine in the amount of at least $25, but not to exceed $600, plus all court costs, including reasonable attorney fees incurred by the Township. Each twenty-four-hour period that a violation of this chapter continues shall constitute a separate offense. Upon a finding of liability for committing said violation or permitting said violation, in a civil enforcement proceeding commenced by the Township, the defendant shall pay the fine, plus all court costs, including attorney fees. No judgment shall be imposed until the date of determination of a violation by a District Justice. If the defendant neither pays nor timely appeals the judgment, the Township may enforce the judgment pursuant to the applicable Rules of Civil Procedure.
Any accumulation of garbage, rubbish or other junk in violation of the terms of this chapter shall be deemed a nuisance and shall be removed by the owner of the property on which such accumulation exists within 10 days of the receipt of a notice sent to the property owner by United States certified mail by the Board or its duly authorized agent, in default of which said accumulation may be removed by or at the direction of the Township Supervisors and the cost of such removal shall be collected from the owner, together with the above-mentioned penalty by summary proceedings.
The Board or any person may take any appropriate action at law or in equity, civil or criminal, to enforce the provisions of this chapter, and this chapter shall in no way restrict any remedies otherwise provided by law.
Junk dealers and junkyards operating and existing in the Township on the effective date [May 10, 1966] of this chapter shall not be required to obtain a license nor comply with the licensing provisions prior to September 1, 1966, and the license fee for the period ending December 31, 1966, shall be $50 only.