Source: https://www.ecode360.com/10688059
Timestamp: 2020-08-09 15:11:21
Document Index: 662062344

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 170', '§ 170', '§ 170', '§ 170', '§ 170', '§ 170', '§ 170', '§ 170', 'art 8', '§ 170', '§ 170']

Borough of Catasauqua, PA Junkyards
§ 170-2 Unlawful acts.
§ 170-3 Junkyards and junk dealers regulated.
§ 170-6 Issuance of permit.
§ 170-8 Transfer of permit.
§ 170-9 Transfer fee.
§ 170-10 Regulations for operation.
§ 170-11 Existing junkyards.
§ 170-12 Compliance.
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Catasauqua 5-4-1992 by Ord. No. 983 (Ch. XI, Part 8, of the 1962 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
The following words when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings except in those instances where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
AUTOMOBILE JUNK OR GRAVE YARD
Any place not enclosed within four walls and a roof where more than one automobile, which does not bear a current Pennsylvania state inspection sticker and/or is not fit for immediate highway use, is stored or disassembled.
Any worn out or discarded material, whether usable or not, especially old rope, chain, iron, copper or other metals, machinery of all kinds or its parts, and abandoned or damaged automobiles or other vehicles, whether power operated or otherwise, and whether or not in a usable condition.
Any person engaged in the business of collecting, accumulating, buying, selling, storing, disassembling, treating or processing of scrap metal automobiles not fit for highway use, second hand building materials, rags, bottles, scrap paper or any junk as previously defined.
An automobile junk or grave yard, as previously defined, and any place where scrap metal, secondhand building materials, rags, bottles, scrap paper or any junk, as previously defined, is collected, accumulated, stored, disassembled, treated or processed.
No junk, including, but not limited to, abandoned or damaged automobiles, shall be thrown, placed, stored or deposited or caused to be thrown, placed, stored or deposited by any person in any ravine, ditch or gutter or on any road, street, avenue, public land, public alley, sidewalk or footpath in the Borough, nor in any public place or private property, vacant or occupied, within the limits of the Borough, except as provided by the terms of this chapter and any amendments hereto.
It shall be unlawful for any person to engage or to continue to engage in business as a junk dealer, or to establish or maintain, or continue to operate a junkyard and scrapyard, within the limits of the Borough, except as provided by the terms of this chapter and any amendments hereto.
Any person engaged in or intending to engage in business as a junk dealer, or operating, or maintaining, or intending to establish or maintain a junkyard or scrapyard within the limits of the Borough, shall obtain a permit from the Borough Secretary for which permit a fee in accordance with the fee schedule is set forth by the Council shall be paid to the use of the Borough.
The permit shall expire one year after the date of its issuance, but may be renewed, under the provisions of this chapter for additional periods of one year each.
The permit provided for in this chapter shall be issued by the Council after written application shall have been made therefor by the person desiring to be permitted. Such permit shall state the name of the person to whom such permit is issued and a premises on which such business is to be conducted, or such junkyard is to be maintained.
Such permit shall be posted conspicuously upon the premises permitted thereunder.
The written application for the permit shall be accompanied by a form, every question of which must be answered, which form will be supplied by the Council.
Applicants shall also submit a plot of the premises used or to be used in connection with such permit.
Upon receipt of an application by the Council, the Council may issue a permit to the person applying therefor dependent upon examination of the application and the appropriate factors pertaining to the operation. Factors to be considered include, but are not limited to, whether or not the proposed junkyard:
Would have an adverse environmental impact on the natural, scenic, historic or esthetic values of the Borough environment.
Would seriously affect the safety and public welfare of the persons within the Borough.
Would seriously interfere with the use and enjoyment of other properties in the immediate vicinity for the purposes already permitted.
Would substantially diminish and impair property values within the neighborhood.
In the event the Council shall issue a permit, it may impose upon the permit and the person applying therefor such other terms and conditions as may be deemed necessary to carry out the spirit and intent of this chapter.
A permit issued under the terms of this chapter shall in no way serve as a substitute for, or waiver of, any permits which may be required by other ordinances of the Borough.
The permit fee shall be paid immediately upon issuance or renewal of the permit. The amount of the permit fee shall be calculated in accordance with the fee schedule as set forth by Council.
No permit issued by the Council shall be transferable by the permittee to any other person unless such a transfer is authorized by Council.
Any person desiring to transfer his permit shall notify the Council in writing, which notification shall be accompanied by an application for a permit, as described in § 170-5 of this chapter by the transferee.
In the event that Council shall approve the transfer of a permit, the transferee shall immediately pay to Borough a transfer fee in accordance with the fee schedule set forth by Council.
Every person permitted under this chapter shall constantly maintain the permitted premises in accordance with any special provisions imposed by the Council and in the manner described by this section and any subsequent regulations adopted by Council.
From and after the effective date of this chapter, no junkyard or scrapyard shall be established or maintained closer than 50 feet to any street or any side property line. All junkyards or scrapyards must be entirely enclosed within a solid wall, solid fence, or other barrier which may be approved by Council. Such fence, wall or barrier shall not be less than eight feet high. The fifty-foot setback area shall be kept clear and vacant at all times. However, whenever such fence, wall or barrier is visible from a public road, or from a residence, or from an adjoining property a landscaped evergreen screen of trees and/or shrubs of four feet or more at planting, and which are capable of attaining a continuous height of eight feet or more, shall be planted along such fence, wall or barrier, or section of same. The minimum acreage of any such junkyard or scrapyard shall be 15 acres.
There shall be established and maintained in all junkyards and scrapyards parallel aisles or roadways of not less than 12 feet in width and not more than 500 feet apart. All aisles or roadways must be kept clear and vacant at all times.
No flammable liquids shall be permitted to remain in any junked container, whether the container is a separate item or is an integral part of another item.
All rags, bottles and scrap paper must be kept within the walls of the building constructed of fire resistant material and no garbage or other organic wastes shall be stored in such premises.
Premises shall at all times be maintained so as not to constitute a nuisance or a menace to the health of the community or residents nearby.
The manner of storage and arrangement of junk, and the drainage facilities of the premises, shall be such as to prevent the accumulation of stagnant water upon the premises and to facilitate easy access for fire-fighting purposes.
No person permitted under this chapter shall burn any motor vehicle or its equivalent at any time. No oil, grease, tires, gasoline or other similar materials that might be dangerous or tend to produce obnoxious smoke or odors shall be burned within a junkyard at any time.
A person permitted under this chapter shall keep records fairly written down in the English language at the time of the receipt of any junk. Records shall include a description of each article received, the date and hour received, and the person from whom such junk was received. All junk received shall be kept and retained upon the licensed premises for a period of 48 hours after the receipt, without disturbing or reducing the size or altering the original form, shape, or condition until said period has elapsed.
No junkyard or scrapyard in existence on the effective date of this chapter shall be maintained, added to or extended unless in compliance with the provisions of § 170-10 of this chapter as to said addition or extension.
Any person whose property is, at the effective date of this chapter, in violation of any of the terms of this chapter, will have 90 days to bring his property into compliance.
If, because of hardship, any person is unable to bring his property into compliance within 90 days, such person shall notify the Council within 60 days of the effective date of this chapter of such hardship, and the Council may, in its discretion, grant a reasonable extension of time to comply with the terms hereof.